Ms Aisling McGrory:

Our submission came about because the two schools I work with in Donegal never had special school therapy teams, so we set those up. We have had to navigate some different pathways for children who are open to CDNTs and for those who are open to primary care. It is a really good model. We are working with the OTs, SLT, social work such as myself, and physiotherapists. With the new pilot that is coming in, Donegal does not have one of the pilot schools The physiotherapists, the social workers on the team and I are not sure where we will be when the model is rolled out across the country so we are watching that space.

I will go back to Deputy Keogh's point about the home school liaison. Special schools are not DEIS schools. They do not actually get home school liaisons. They do not have that. Social workers in these schools are meeting families at home and doing the communication piece, particularly for families who may have literacy issues themselves, issues navigating systems or do not speak English as their first language. We spoke earlier about completing forms, whether for special education placements or the domiciliary care allowance. We and others have a role in helping parents to navigate the system.