Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I share the Deputy's disappointment that the group failed to reach consensus. However, its members held very entrenched divergent views. It is important that the National Council for Special Education would try to get an overview of the issue bearing in mind these differing views and the research material available. I am not in a position to propose setting targets as each child is very different. I am guided by what the National Council for Special Education recommends in this regard.

It is interesting to see how many children are mainstreamed in schools. The priority is to teach sign language to the deaf child and his or her siblings and parents. The visiting teachers are doing a very good job in this regard. As it is such a difficult and sensitive issue for the deaf community who have failed to agree, it would be best to await the report of the National Council for Special Education. I am certainly willing to act on whatever it recommends.

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