Ms Paula Prendeville:

I will start by answering the Chairman's question about the early intervention classes. The AIM project is currently being evaluated and the draft report is being reviewed. It would be useful for the committee to wait for that report to be published to see what the plan for early intervention classes is. The Chairman may be referring to newspaper reports about an early intervention class in Cork. Any planning done at local level is based on the what is required at a local level. It would probably be useful to follow up with the committee when we get the evaluation of the AIM model and how it will fit in with the early intervention classes that are specific for children with ASD. Would it be okay that we could respond directly to that?