Mr. Paul Crone:

The collaborative approach is the only way to move forward.

We need to be careful that we end up working with a coalition of the willing. One school can end up with three special classes and another with none. Ultimately, the decision has to rest with the Department of Education. There has to be a collaborative element because a school needs to own the decision. That brings me back to the vision piece, namely what we want from Irish education and whether there is a richness in that diversity in every school community. The Department needs to plan for that with schools in plenty of time, in order to give them opportunities to be involved collaboratively and feel they have ownership of the decision.