Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise. I had leave for part of the meeting and did not hear some of the presentations. I appreciate that there has been much toing and froing, which has been a little unfair on the witnesses. I will not ask any specific questions. I just want to say that I agree with many of the sentiments expressed. One can see the difference in children at primary level who have access to programmes such as the school completion programme and those who do not have such access. The witnesses are probably aware of the school completion programme and the work it does. I cannot understand the reason it is not available in all schools, particularly the element of counselling and play therapy around mental health issues. I will not ask specific questions because it would be rude to arrive in with a bunch of queries having not been here for part of the meeting. I would just add that there is good support from this committee in terms of the suggestions that were put forward. It is always good to get concrete suggestions on how we might possibly change things. As Ms Heelan said, we all know what the barriers are. The issue is to get agreement on the best way to fix the system for the future.