Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 5 March 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills
Allocations of Special Education Teachers: Discussion
Mr. Turlough Kelly:
I will address Deputy Ó Murchú's question. As Mr. Harris said, I do not believe the intent is to funnel people away from mainstream education but that is the concern a lot of our members are expressing. They are well aware that shutting off access for mainstream education for people who want to access it flies in the face of every shred of policy and best practice at national, European and global level. That is a massive concern that our members have. Overall, regardless of the technicalities of the model and how it may be implemented, there has been a catastrophic failure of communication, which has left a lot of our members and parents deeply distressed. That was something that did not need to happen.