Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is why early intervention and connection, and maintaining that, are important. They mean one catches those things and works with families, which leads to a scenario whereby children become involved in education and then employment and a proper life which breaks a cycle of dysfunction, poverty and all the rest.

The public childcare model goes without saying and fits into the DEIS-plus idea, which involves early childcare and school. Those working in a setting in a disadvantaged area would also deal with kids with challenges, be it autism or whatever else, which means such settings end up dealing with a greater number of such children than many other settings. The ratio of staff to children was reduced in terms of keeping everybody safe and making sure services could provide what they wanted to. Some rooms were developed into sensory rooms. As a business model, that makes things more difficult. We need to take such issues into account.