Ms Derval McDonagh:

I will come in on the SNA piece because that is important. It is our understanding, from speaking to SNAs, that their actual roles have not changed as a result of this process. It is important to say that. Of course, we recognise that short window will be a massive challenge for schools but, importantly, when this has been out into the world, the reaction tells us something. One is that all State agencies, including the NCSE and the Department of education, need to communicate to children and families really clearly about the repercussions of any process. What is out there now is some misinformation about the process. It is not all very clear for people. We need to take that seriously. Under public sector duty, all public and State bodies have a duty to communicate effectively with the people who are using the services or the people who are most affected, who are children and families. There is something there in how we communicate about this to make sure there is no misinformation. The reaction also tells us something about how vulnerable people feel in the system in terms of resources and being very concerned about resources potentially being taken away. Again, that comes down to how we communicate about this being critical.

I thank the Deputy for bringing up Grace and the work Inclusion Ireland has done in collaborating with a number of human rights experts across the country. We did that work and published the report recently on Grace because we want to learn lessons from what happened in the Farrelly commission. The best way to learn lessons is to take stock, look back and ask what did not work for Grace as a survivor of those incredibly traumatic decades of neglect and abuse. We now have a unique opportunity with the new commission on historical abuse in schools to do things right and make sure the voice of people who are non-speaking is front and centre in that commission. Unfortunately, and it is very sad and stark to say, one third of the allegations of abuse came from special schools. Therefore, one third of those allegations of abuse could come from people who are now adults and may now be non-speaking or need support to communicate. They have every right to access justice, just like any other citizen of this State. We need to really embed communication supports in that commission. We are willing to do the work and work behind the scenes to make sure that happens, including working alongside the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the commission to make sure it is effective and people's voices are heard to learn the lessons from Grace.