Ms Áine Lynch:

If I could come in there, as the issue of private assessment is an equity issue as well, it is about getting the education system to a point where it will not depend on whether parents can afford private assessments. What has happened in recent years, and Ms Dempsey has referred to this, is that getting resources is now not nearly as linked to assessment as it used to be. Schools are front-loaded with supports and children should be able to get those supports without an assessment from a psychologist. It is based on the teacher's assessment of the student's learning needs. We support the system going that way, rather than opening up the private assessment piece, whereby parents who can afford to get assessments do so and those who cannot do not. That would be an important factor in this regard.