Ms Martina Mannion:

We are conscious of the issue the Cathaoirleach spoke about. The planning and building unit and special education work together intensively every week. We looked at the schools that did not have any special education classes, including large and medium primary and post-primary schools. In primary schools that have eight classes or more and have no special education class or have just one, we have engaged intensively with the patrons and school management bodies. The Cathaoirleach alluded to the NCSE contacting all those schools. That all happened so that we could ensure, to the greatest degree possible, that we could get those additional classes sanctioned by the end of the year in order for parents to have certainty from January about where those new classes would be.