Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Deputy acknowledged we brought the numbers back up. When explaining that we would not introduce the new model this year, I announced that we would have a sort of one-stop-shop in regard to these kinds of supports. Therefore, the NEPS, the National Council for Special Education and other supports available will all be in the one area and people will not have to move around different sections of the Department to gain the support and the information they need. One of the things that struck me when consulting parents in regard to special educational needs allocations was that sometimes there is a lack of knowledge because until a parent has a child with special needs, he or she will have no reason to know this information. We need to improve the information we give to parents.

See this speech in context