Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

What will be the timescale of the audit and how extensive will it be? As the Minister stated, this is not an issue in some schools but it is a major problem in others. While regulations would not be required in most areas, they would be required where it is an issue. I am concerned that the audit be conducted speedily; it should address the areas where discrimination is a problem and action should be taken, if required. I hate to see this drift into a two-tier education system where certain schools are expected to take all the children with learning difficulties while the remainder can sail along and state they are academic schools in which excellent leaving certificate results are achieved and appear in third level entry lists published in the newspapers. However, they do not provide for children with special needs for whom passing the leaving certificate would be a major achievement.

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