Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance. I just have a couple of questions. I seek real clarity on the decision that the July provision must be done by qualified teachers. Is this a demand of the parents of children with autism or is it a demand of the Teaching Council or the Department of Education? That is my first question.

Can we increase training days for mainstream teachers in being autism-aware? This would be for two reasons, the first being to help them with early diagnosis as there are still children who are slipping through the gaps. On specific training for working with children with autism, I am not up to date with what the Teaching Council and the Department of Education have done to help teachers have better tools, based on the fact that we have seen a huge increase in the numbers of children with autism.