Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

Committee on Disability Matters

Inclusive Education for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. Tiernan O'Neill:

The point is well made. We are still stuck in our silos. We have seen examples of where when pieces of work are jointly commissioned, the impact is huge. A concrete example of that in our school is when we worked with the HSE to evidence the therapeutic work being done in the school. We secured funding for an assistant psychologist for the school, the impact of which is that we now have more than 400 children engaged in well-being and mindfulness programmes on a weekly basis. The social return on the investment is huge. That work was jointly commissioned by the school and the HSE and now we have a clinical psychologist providing the clinical oversight. There are so many ways we could tease that out further and provide the supports that are required in schools.

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