Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I took a note of the Senator's comments. On the on-off approach, as the Senator described it, I cannot give any guarantees about anything because the Department takes its advice from the public health authorities. I cannot give confirmative information about dates either. I said earlier that the Cabinet is meeting today and there is an indication that special schools will go back to 100% capacity in early March. That is the extent of my knowledge because I am the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion and my I am limited to that area. The other decisions are not made by me.

On a catch-up scheme, one of the reasons we put in place the supplementary programme, which will be hugely beneficial, is to provide for the catch-up that children with special needs, in particular, will badly need. Practically every member of the committee has mentioned regression. It is a huge issue for children without additional needs, never mind for those with additional needs, and we are conscious of that. We will probably be in a position to expand that supplementary programme at a later stage. If it is the case that schools have to close before the end of this term or in the next term - we hope that will not happen but cannot be sure - it may well be of assistance then. We also have the summer provision under which every child receives a progress card. These progress cards are given to the school and when the children go back to school their teachers then know what skills they have and do not have. That should be of significant benefit to them.

I understand what the Senator is saying about spina bifida and hydrocephalus and she is right that the nurses' list is provided by the HSE. We are developing a nursing programme through the school inclusion model at a cost of €1.3 million. Hopefully that will be of assistance.