Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputies O'Brien and Ó Ríordáin have already touched on some of the questions I was to ask and I will keep it brief. I welcome Professor Buckley and thank her for taking the time to come. Of course, I welcome Ms Patricia Griffin who has been a long-time advocate of children and adults with Down's syndrome.

I have a couple of questions. There is a report of the National Council for Special Education due out soon and I wonder whether or not Ms Griffin or Ms Gina Grant have fed in a submission to it.

Professor Buckley stated IQ is not a good model for assessing children. I wonder, when a child with Down's syndrome goes to school, at what stage is he or she assessed for IQ. Is it when he or she starts school or before he or she starts school, and is there a continuous assessment to ascertain whether or not his or her IQ is dropping?

I am concerned about the poster that went out about the two sisters, where Ruby, if she had a speech and language disorder, would receive resource teaching hours whereas Zara does not because she has Down's syndrome. Is Professor Buckley stating that Zara would not get support, if she had a speech and language disorder, merely because she has Down's syndrome?