Dr. Fidelma Brady:

It absolutely was before this whole debacle blew up. There were certainly cases where children with Down's syndrome were in mainstream schools and their parents expressed a level of dissatisfaction with the education they were getting but, in the main, children with Down's syndrome were getting an awful lot of support to develop their sensory issues and motor skills. They were getting a multifaceted curriculum and all aspects of that were being developed. The schools were really trying and engaging with that. We have delivered a number of webinars because there is only one of me in the country. We have been delivering primary and post-primary webinars every month during the school year. We have had between 150 and 200 teachers at the webinars, which would not happen if they did not want to know the best thing to do about the situation. However, those teachers are now being told they will be in a school for only two hours per week and will have to face 30 children. Where are we going to see the difference? The support is going to be spread thinly. Some children might get a bit of support. That is where we need to look at the complex and specific needs.