Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

It was really encouraging to see the Minister of State in Limerick last week. I met him when he visited schools with significant numbers of students with additional needs. I first met him at St. John the Baptist Boys' National School in Garryowen. Another school we visited was Le Chéile National School, which is based in the Southill-Galvone area of the city. The vice principal of that school outlined to us that he estimates that up to 80% of his students have one additional need and nearly 50% have two or more additional needs. I am sure the Minister of State will agree with me and the school that these numbers are incredible. The school has been crying out for additional services, has been passed from one Department to another and has yet to receive additional supports, particularly around speech and language therapy. I raised this matter in the previous Dáil on a number of occasions and in this Dáil as well. During that meeting, the discussion focused on a metric plan to track student development. A relatively small amount of money was needed for this. Has the Minister of State considered the additional supports the Department can provide to the children of Le Chéile National School?