Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for appearing before the committee. I welcome the Estimates she has put before us. First, I commend her and the other Ministers on getting schools almost fully open again. It has made a huge difference to children that all national schools are now back. Only one third of secondary schools have returned but that has still made a big difference. Hopefully, we will ensure that all children in secondary schools get back after the Easter break.

While I do not ask the Minister to comment on this, if she gets an opportunity, she might look at some of the recent reports that have come out. One such report published in theBritish Medical Journalat the end of February spoke about the damage that school closures were having on children and how the science did not support the closure of schools. UNICEF also put out a report in early March which referred to the closure of schools throughout the world as a tragedy for the future of humankind. I am not looking for comments on this, I just wanted to make that point.

On the Estimates, I will ask the Minister a couple of questions about autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classrooms. Obviously, the Department has granted permission for a number of builds. I very much welcome that. To what extent, however, does the Department insist that when new builds are taking place, we ensure ASD classrooms are provided within those new structures? Is this something that is only done on an individual basis?