Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo what has been said. The Minister of State has acknowledged that this is a really important set of suggestions. During the year I spent on the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, this came through again and again. If there are 40 children in an area who need supports at primary school, we should know that, X number of years ahead, we will have the same number of children needing supports going into second level. Yet we see that families often have to restart the whole process of children's needs being identified and recognised. We have often said that the transition points, whether from primary to secondary level or from secondary to third level, are very burdensome on families and individuals. It does not need to be so because we can plan for these things and the information is there. It is good that the Minister of State acknowledges this as a good idea. If it cannot be accepted within this Bill, I know that it is something that Senator Warfield and colleagues on the Joint Committee on Disability Matters have highlighted. It needs to be planned. Senator Warfield did not move amendment No. 3, which relates to the exchange of data, but I imagine that mechanisms could be put in place in respect of appropriate forward-planning and appropriate regulatory measures for the sharing of those data in order that there can be better planning and that we do not leave it to families to restart the process at a new educational level.