Mr. John Kearney:

It is like asking how long a piece of string is because I was a principal 15 years ago and I would have heard too often that the school next door or down the road was the best school in terms of dealing with special education. Unfortunately, there were scenarios where a poll was done with staff on whether they should embrace and take on special class delivery as such. We have travelled a transformative journey since then and it is reflected in terms of that 500% increase in special classes delivery in that decade. We have much further to travel as a society. I certainly welcome the educational partners. We would have engaged with them through the section 37A consultative process. There was a very strong indication of how working collaboratively and progressively with a view to delivering it. It has delivered so much but there is so much more to deliver and quicker.

I believe the legislation will provide a sharper delivery but there are going to be twists and turns in terms of effective delivery as well-----