Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Throughout the debate we have been at pains to ensure there will be no delay in the delivery of services and we have accepted a number of amendments that improve the Bill in the other House. If we were to take this amendment on board, the school would be able to delay its compliance with the direction for a week for no good reason.

By the same token, in some cases carrying out a review may take longer than a week as a team of experts must be convened. The more complex the needs of the child, the more experts will be involved in the plan. The appeals board will have power to ensure a direction is issued and there is no reason that it should not be able to set down a timescale if one is needed. It is better to leave this to the discretion of the board than to set down a hard and fast rule to ensure there is no delay. We are seeking a reasonable length of time to ensure the best possible service is delivered.