Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I can only agree with Deputy Murphy on the vulnerability of the children and of their parents when trying to access a service. I fully understand this and appreciate the stresses and the difficulties. Deputy Murphy asked me to outline how the process for taking responsibility for this area might move forward and where the discussions are going. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has stated it will come back to me. I understand originally it wrote to the former Minister, Mary Harney, on this matter and raised this question. This afternoon, I will meet the National Council for Special Education and I will discuss this issue with the Department of Education and Skills and the Ombudsman for Children to see how it can be best dealt with.

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