Ms Lucianne Bird:

On demand and waiting lists, there are two sides to our business. Part of the rehabilitative training, school leavers, bridging and transition services is funded by the HSE and referred into directly by the HSE. There is huge growth in demand for services at that side. The specialist training service is funded through the ETB, through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Solas and the ETBs. It is not as well known as it should be and it is not directly promoted through any of the ETBs, thisisFET.ie or any of the other promotion of further education and training systems. It is a bit hidden within the FET ecosystem. That is something that could be addressed. We do a lot of work on outreach because making people aware of services is a critical part of the provision of services to people with disabilities. People say it is one of the best-kept secrets, however. People will only look for the services, as Ms Healy has said, when they need them. It is usually through a referral agency or parent or career guidance in school. We are doing a lot to reach out and make the people who can refer people in aware of the services that are available. We do not have huge waiting lists right across the country for specialist training but there is a huge demand for the HSE bridging. There is significant demand there for the level 2 and 3 courses there. It is about joining up and looking at how over-demand in the HSE can be met with under-demand on the ETB-funded side, if that makes sense. It is an area for discussion. Our view is that we could offer services and support many more students if the service was more widely known.

I was also speaking to my colleague here outside about how people come in and out of service. People do not necessarily want to come to us for the full programme. It is around providing the supports they need to engage, progress, thrive and move on through their educational journeys. It is important to look at NLN as service people come to for what they need. It could be quite transformative within the whole education system if that kind of approach was adopted.