Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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It needs to be set up on a national basis so that every area is covered. At the moment it is ad hoc, with strong services in some parts of the country and no backup services in other parts. It needs to be replicated across the entire country and the groups need to be supported financially as well. We have seen situations where support groups are set up by parents and they have to fund raise in order to provide support. We need to do it on a national basis so that every parent in every county has an opportunity to access support.

We are over time. I thank our witnesses for coming here today and for their contributions. I thank them both for the work they do in supporting families and students. We will suspend for five minutes and resume with session B, when we will meet representatives of the County and City Management Association, CCMA.