Mr. Dalton Tattan:

I am conscious that some of the points raised by Senator Flynn would probably be most appropriately answered by colleagues from the Department of children, but I will reflect on some of what she said.

We spoke earlier about spaces in special education and the fact that in rapidly developing areas, the State sometimes just does not keep pace with the level of demand. There has been a major State investment in this area in recent years. The fact that the uptake rate in respect of the free preschool year is in excess of 96% - this is not to take away from the point the Senator makes - is of major benefit. The latter can been seen in the context of the children who are then arriving into primary school. Our colleagues from the NCCA may want to say something about that. In terms of crafting a new set of specifications for the primary curriculum, recognising the fact children are getting the benefit of that is also important.

On inclusion, there is the access and inclusion model, which was developed over the past seven or eight years, on the early years side of things. That involves a graduated model and is needs based.