Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Education Needs of Visually Impaired Students: Discussion

11:00 am

Ms Toni O'Dwyer:

Just to follow on that, the key piece here is that it is incorporated into the support plan. I refer to the Department's recent research indicating that support plans are not being used effectively or widely. For this cohort of children, it is absolutely essential to build in all of that, social skills, physical activity and all the other independent skills that are needed. Once a child enters primary school, from age four on, it must be part of their support plan. The different organisations that need to support that must be included as part of that and recognised for their expertise and knowledge.