Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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What came to my office was one school, and I am just trying to get a feel for how many more there would be right around the country. I am speaking about ten families. We cannot leave them without support. They missed the application - okay, that is fine - and people cannot make provision for transport until they know whether they have the scheme. Right now they have neither a scheme nor a transport system and the portal for the transport scheme closed on practically the same day. The bottom line is that this seems to be a case of six days not being adequate. This is a very significant scheme, as the Minister has mentioned, for those families who need it very badly. There has to be some formula or mechanism to ensure we do not leave them outside the door.

My second question is regarding the recruitment of the 3,000 SNAs and the 1,500 special education teachers. We can do that and it is very applaudable, but I am anxious for the schools that may not have the facilities and may require investment in facilities to be able to provide for the SNA to teach or mentor a child. I know it is a difficult one to manage. Can the Minister be confident that she can get the 3,000 SNAs and the 1,500 special education teachers?