Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think Ms Dempsey is right. For children without intellectual disabilities or any social vulnerabilities other than the Covid-19 period it will be difficult enough, particularly those who have been in an ECCE scheme and have had to drop out of it and may or may not go back to childcare or any sort of structured environment for July or August, in addition to the usual two months of settling in for any child. For children with medical or intellectual additional needs of one kind or another, it will be very difficult and disruptive and we will ask departmental officials about that later.

We have already discussed the nature of the different types of regression and I do not want to focus on that too much. I refer to physical, as well as emotional and intellectual, regression. I ask Ms Dempsey to talk me through some of that. Children have made great gains physically and parents are trying to work with them at home. When we talk about transitions, it occurs to me that the physical side is just as difficult in many ways. Can Ms Dempsey talk me through the nature of some of the physical regressions?