Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy I am acutely aware of the sensitivities about special education. This is why when we are in a position to front-load the new special needs assistants model in September 2021 - we could not do it this year because of Covid - we will, in tandem, be rolling out the school inclusion model. As the Deputy knows, through investment in the budget, I am in a position to recruit extra therapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. We are extending this to two other community health organisation areas apart from the pilot project we did. The pilot project covers approximately 150 schools and this will cover 200 schools. We intend to roll this out over the next two to three years. It should provide some reassurance to parents. The one thing we do not want is to make any transition without bringing everybody along with us. It will be a wrap-around service in the schools and will include special needs assistants. Overall, it is fair and much more equitable way to deal with the issue.

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