Ms Derval McDonagh:

I thank the Senator for her questions. Regarding establishing trust, first and foremost the Department needs to consider whom it is communicating to when these circulars go out into the broader community. I believe it feels it is communicating directly with schools and school communities, but actually the impact is on children and families as well as on schools. It needs to consider how things are phrased, putting information in a clear and accessible format so that everybody can understand. Before that, there should be a careful consultative process. As the Senator said, it is not just about hearing the data; it is about really engaging with it, offering our advice and feedback, and having some of that taken on board in clear and concrete ways. As Mr. Harris has outlined, in order to develop trust, there needs to be a proper footing for how this engagement happens. We need clear and concrete steps for how we will have further engagement with the Department. People like us need to be included as part of that process.

Under public sector duty and the UNCRPD, the Department has a duty to communicate not only with schools but also with children and families. We would like to see more evidence of that in future.