Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The Minister spoke about appropriately and suitable qualified teachers but many parents think the teacher they have is appropriate and suitable. Does she not accept that this directive may, in turn, put added pressure on these parents? I accept that it is probably coming from the background. A Department of Education and Science inspector's report spoke about how 70% of teachers working with children have no autism-specific training. Does she not accept that this new directive will put far more pressure on parents and that there is concern that children, rather than these teachers, will lose out?

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