Mr. John Irwin:

As a management body, the ACCS supports the NCSE pilot projects in regard to supports for schools. It is a good concept. In the Irish context, we do not do therapies well a lot of the time because we do not invest enough in them. Some of the larger schools are investing and buying in expertise in terms of therapies. I gave an example earlier of psychotherapy provision in one of the schools. That school finds that provision invaluable. When a person is dealing with a mental health issue a specialist skill set is required to support him or her. The same applies with regard to the therapies. I refer to the Cluny centre for children with autism. We found it very difficult in our health area to get access to occupational or speech therapies so we purchased that provision. If the desired result is inclusive education, we have to support that. Inclusive education is not cheap. It is very expensive. To achieve the best outcome, we have to invest. I believe every school in the country should have access to a psychotherapist, although not on a daily basis. I am sure Mr. White and Ms O'Connor, as principals, would love to be able to call on a trained psychotherapist when they have children who are presenting with significant challenging needs, perhaps as a result of bullying, but for other reasons as well.