Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was nodding in agreement when she spoke on this issue. She is correct that this is doing a greater disservice to pupils from disadvantaged communities. The committee must get up and running again and be placed on a statutory footing in accordance with the Education Act. I will continue to make this call and I commend Professor Hyland on raising the issue.

I was particularly interested in the comments on the practice of co-teaching. Finland is one of the countries where co-teaching occurs. Is this practice applied anywhere else in Europe? How would co-teaching tie in with our new resource allocation model?

I fully concur with Ms Corr on the issue of capitation. It is unacceptable that many schools are forced to raise funds and depend on the goodwill of the local community. This is not good enough. It is also unacceptable that capitation has been linked to other school outcomes because it is a separate issue and one which the Minister must address. What would be an acceptable level of capitation in Ms Corr's opinion?

To address Ms Dempsey, it is shocking to hear about the high levels of injuries being sustained by teachers as a result of assaults. Will she elaborate on the prevalence of the problem? What immediate measures could be introduced to try to curb this unacceptable behaviour? I am glad the INTO referred to the well-being of teachers and so forth, which is of the utmost importance because staff find themselves in dangerous and stressful circumstances.