Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are very welcome, and I thank them for coming in. I will just disclose that I was a primary school teacher in a previous life. I am a recovering primary school teacher. It was a long time ago.

I have a question for the witnesses about something that intrigues me. The NCSE announced last year that it was entering into a special partnership with the charity AsIAm to provide a kind of consultancy service to schools across the State. That is a very interesting development, and I am curious to know how this special relationship come about. Did the NCSE approach AsIAm or did AsIAm approach the NCSE? Was there some kind of tendering process? There are significant revenues accruing from the consultancy AsIAm offers. I believe the initial consultation is €500 for a school visit, followed by, I think, €300 for each subsequent visit. On just a quick calculation, between primary and secondary, there are almost 8,000 schools in the State. That is significant revenues, significant income, potentially of up to €1.8 million. First, how did that relationship come about? Is there a tendering process by which other autism centres like, for example, Middletown, could offer their services and enter that space? What kind of governance or oversight was there? Was there a national announcement? Were expressions of interest invited from different charities?

Second, where did the schools get the money to pay for this consultancy? I would have thought that, consistent with our aspirations for inclusivity in education, the State should be providing that funding. Where does the money come from? Does it come from the school contribution that parents are asked to make? Is this the responsibility for providing the supports for kids with additional needs again falling back onto parents and carers?

Third, as a parent and a carer for an adult with special needs, I see that the damage that inviting section 39 organisations in to do what the State should be doing leads to fragmentation, inconsistency and, essentially, chaos. In the way that NEPS is a statutory agency that provides psychological support services in schools, should the consultancy, this partnership that the NCSE has entered into, not be provided by the NCSE itself on a statutory basis? Is this the vision then for other areas of support? I do not know how this relationship came about, but is the NCSE going to ask for further expressions of interest from other charities? For example, would the NCSE invite, at a national level, with this special arrangement it has entered into, charities around psychological supports or well-being? I think the work AsIAm does is absolutely amazing but I was just very surprised by the fit. How did it come about, how is it overseen, what is the governance and what are the safeguards?