Ms Helen Walsh:

Perhaps I will give a general response to that question. We do not have that data for outcomes. Recommendation 6.3 of the policy advice states that an extended steering group or that the NCSE and the Department should apply for assistance from the European agency relating to the technical support instrument, TSI. It is quite a broad brief. The extended steering group has convened for the first time with the TSI. There are multiple considerations in developing our understanding of what the implementation of an inclusive education might look like. That particular extended steering group is going to be working on those particular components, including stakeholder engagement at every possible level across the sector, the development of competence and confidence in our teachers across the sector and addressing challenges that are systemic and local. In that space, and in trying to understand what the Irish inclusive education system might look like, it is inevitable that there will be some level of assessment of outcomes and tracking students needs, alongside another of the policy recommendations in respect of the framework of need. In the long term, it is an invaluable piece of information that we simply do not have. The TSI and the extended steering group may be able to incorporate that into the implementation plan, moving forward.