Joe O'Toole (Independent)

——one can specify the precise number of children with autism or other special needs and so on. The Minister for Finance would be required to prove that he had taken all these facts into consideration before allocating a provision that is adequate. The Bill does not provide any guarantee of such adequacy and allows the Minister for Finance to come up with a figure for special educational needs services which he does not have to justify.

My concerns may be unnecessary and constitute a bottle of smoke. Perhaps I am wrong to present these demands to the Government and I may return to the House in six months time and acknowledge there was no cause for concern and that the Government shovelled money for special educational needs services into schools.