Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I can assure him that we have a good knowledge of the DCU entity. I would be interested in exploring avenues with other higher education institutes, be they institutes of technology or universities, in regard to the development of similar entities.

To be fair, teachers have a number of students to teach within the classroom environment and try to do so to the best of their ability. There may be additional resources that could be provided in a third level academic environment near to where the student lives that might encourage the exceptional needs about which we are speaking. It is an issue on which I have an open mind. The DCU model could potentially be replicated with the willingness of the institutes of technology and universities.

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