Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their patience with us today. I was very impressed with the proposed new model. I attended the briefing by the NCSC at the Department of Education and Skills. It is a very positive step. I spent several years dealing with those challenges in the classroom from the parents’, the administrative and the teaching points of view. It is very welcome and I look forward to its adoption.

The collaboration between the HSE and CoAction in west Cork leads to the good work there. One of my children uses that service and we are blown away by the level of service and the therapies available, especially speech and language, occupational, and all the four main therapies. I do not want to make my colleagues jealous by boasting about this wonderful service.

To give credit where credit is due, it is exceptional and parents are very appreciative. I do not believe they realise how lucky they are in west Cork. They believe the standard there is the standard across the board.

What are we doing to measure outcomes in the area of early intervention? The amount of therapy my little two and a half year old girl is receiving is impressive. My hope is that when she goes to primary school, there will not be the same draw on resources. How far have we proceeded in measuring the outcomes? I would like to know the NCSE perspective. Perhaps the HSE is measuring also.