Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 19:

In page 10, subsection (1), line 33, to delete "may" and substitute "shall".

At present the legislation states that an assessment under section 4 shall be carried out with the assistance of persons with experience and the necessary qualifications. However, the legislation states that this may include a psychologist, a medical practitioner, the principal of the school or someone appointed in their place — a qualified social worker, etc. The persons listed are clearly the key personnel in evaluating the educational needs of the child and for that reason the amendment seeks to replace "may" with "shall" to ensure that the expertise of at least one of those persons is utilised in assessing the needs of a particular child. I put down the amendment to ensure that that is the case.