Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Department of Education and Skills has reaffirmed that its contribution to the education system, including the teaching of these children, will not change. We will have to discuss in some detail, however, the relationship between the HSE, the management of St. Catherine's and the Department of Education and Skills. There has been some tangling of wires in that area because what was part of a €9 million budget for care may have become part of an education stream of funding also. This is the nub of the problem with regard to governance. In anyone's language, €9 million is a substantial amount of money for a service. We could probably never give enough but at the same time there have been no departmental or HSE cuts in this area. It is important to remember that. It is a matter of getting the governance structures right and rebuilding from there.

The Minister of State said that St. Catherine's grew quickly but unsustainably. It is not that long ago, however, that the school was sustainable. It should be possible, therefore, to bring it back to the previous sustainable model which has served so well for over 30 years.

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