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

That is absolutely right. When Ms Lynch uses the phrase "therapeutic supports", which is featured in the survey, it sounds like it must be something external, expensive and perhaps a bit frightening for those who have not accessed it before. However there is a halfway house, namely, training in child psychotherapy and play therapy provided through the colleges of education or otherwise. These supports can help children to settle in and address lower-level issues. The idea of external professional therapeutic supports sounds scarier than it needs to. A lot can be done through the colleges of education and the other support mechanisms Ms Lynch has referenced. This will be the most important element of the reintroduction to school, particularly for the first term. I would be glad to continue that conversation with Ms Lynch.

The return to school and the transition from August to September is a difficult time for lots of children. This does not just concern mental health or children with additional needs. I refer also to children with medical needs. Managers of the neurological unit at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin tell me that every year they make sure they are fully staffed in September because children with neurological issues often experience significant stress. They tend to present a great deal more in September than at any other time.

I would like the National Parents Council to continue to engage with the Department on a couple of practical issues. Blended attendances and the dropping off of children must be managed from the practical perspective of parents. Can the National Parents Council urge schools to organise this on the basis of surnames? It would be crazy for a working mum or dad to drop off their children at two different times and organise the rest of their day around that. Jimmy in first class and Jack in second class should be dropped off at the same time whenever they are attending on the same day. This must be thought about from the perspective of families. Other care supports will be needed to accommodate periods when kids cannot be in school every day. Has that come up in the survey or as a concern of parents? It has certainly been raised with me.