Mr. Brendan Lennon:

From time to time, parents report to us that they get no service because a visiting teacher has left the service and there is a gap in service provision. That is sometimes an issue in particular areas because the visiting teachers are allocated on a geographic basis. The main thing parents increasingly tell us is that they do not see their visiting teacher anymore. The visiting teachers seem to be less visible on the ground. We do not know whether that is partly because of the change in the management of visiting teachers, who moved from direct management by the Department of Education to the NCSE a number of years ago. As we are at 60%, or a little more than half, of the level of the corresponding service in England, one would expect the service people get will be much less. Parents value the service but it seems that only some parents are seeing their visiting teacher regularly. That may relate to the particular needs of their child but there is certainly a major need for that service to be improved and expanded.