Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Will the representative from the National Parents Council expand on the issue of peer support? I have noticed when I speak to principals, those on the boards of management or parents of children with special educational needs such as dyslexia dyspraxia, Asperger's syndrome or elements of all three, that there would be consensus on the part of some parents that they would not want to have a full-time SNA attached to a student because of the reasons outlined in terms of difficulties in trying to explain it to other classmates or because it would not be seen as appropriate. Dyspraxia or Asperger's syndrome are learning difficulties but the student would have issues around toileting. I can understand the peer support programme and I wonder how it will work. There is no doubt that some students may need access to an SNA but may not necessarily need a full-time SNA.

I wonder how we can balance that.

My final question relates to the Department. Can the witnesses give us an update on the National Council for Special Education's resource allocation pilot scheme? How many schools are involved in it? Do they know how much it will cost to administer SNAs in accordance with that scheme? Do they have an opinion on the failure to provide for a full National Educational Psychological Service allocation? I think that failure needs to be addressed because it obviously ties in with the whole issue.