Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the same time last year, some 500 would have been held back. At the start of this year, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, held 500 back for expected demand in the autumn. What the Minister has done is to bring those 500 forward to meet existing demand, as such, when the NCSE had held those 500 back for a demand it expected in the autumn. It would be fair to assume that the demand it was expecting to supply with those 500 teachers will still be there. As it is now July, some type of forward planning is needed from the Minister with regard to how many teachers he will provide through exceeding the cap and bringing in another 500 to replace that 500 in order to meet the demand expected by the NCSE. What is the Minister's position on that?