Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being so late. I listened to the committee proceedings from the start and I thank all our guests. My colleague Deputy Hourigan has been in, so I am not going to go over old ground. I thank the guests for coming in. Overall, they have been quite generous to the Department of Education, because any parent or student listening to this debate would be horrified by how much time it has taken it even to get the small amount they have got. I thank them for being very specific on what is needed.

I have heard about the technology and the need to learn independently. A really good point was made on how the orientation and mobility element could wrap into summer provision. I have been the chair of a school, and for me the variation between schools with respect to the visually impaired is quite clear.

More generally, when national policies are put in place, and in this case there clearly have not been enough national policies, there is so much chasing by parents the fact is that those who have more social and cultural capital in the education system are given preference. Those are general points I wanted to make. I am very conscious that the Cathaoirleach is concerned about the time, but are there any last thoughts on that? Ms Agbona mentioned coming from a family where it was her and her mother, and that just the two of them had to advocate, when her mother did not necessarily know the system. Do the witnesses have any last thoughts on that social capital, the inequality and the battling to get this far, before we go into the next part of the session?