Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it was with regard to the inflationary side of things. I ask the Minister to provide to the committee any details she has on that and if it is still the same position where it is an opt in or voluntary system. Could the Minister provide any analysis that has been done at departmental level, even to be provided as a supplementary reply after this meeting as I do not expect her to have it with her now? How many contractors or schools have engaged with that? Is it that 90% or 95% of the contractors are having positive engagements and perhaps I am just being contacted by one or two who have had a negative experience?

My final question is more to bring a matter to the Minister's attention, because it is more a question I should be asking the Minister for Health. I wish to raise the issue of Carrigaline Community Special School and the provision of therapies there. It is an education and training board, ETB, school and, to be honest, it is a fantastic special school but the 40 or so students who are there since the school was established over a year ago have had no access to or intervention from the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, teams. When the CDNT was contacted to see if it had had any interaction with the school, it acknowledged on the public record that it had but I understand that interaction amounted to a one 40-minute visit from a therapist and no intervention for any children. We will establish more special schools in the future, and the ETB has done a very good job on Carrigaline. From a parent's perspective, if they are considering sending their child to an ETB school, they do so in the knowledge that their child may or may not have access to therapies. However, if they are sending their child to school which might be run by the Cope Foundation, Enable Ireland or some other provider, at least their child has that access, although people might debate how many hours or interventions they are getting. At least, in that situation, parents have access whereas currently, in the ETB set-up in Cork, at a special school level, they do not. That is something on which we would be delighted to have the Minister's support or intervention in helping us to progress that. Those were my questions and I thank the Minister.