Emer Higgins
Dublin Mid-West · Fine Gael · Ireland
“With regard to the background, and as the Senator has touched on, this project was designed on the basis of a 30-year operational lease, with the primary objective of delivering value for money over the lifetime of that lease.”
“Regarding the specific situation in Castlebar that the Senator has raised, Tusla has indicated that following careful consideration, including extensive negotiations, which he referred to, and legal mediation with the developers, it was unable to reach an agreement.”
“They came forward, often at enormous personal cost, and continued to seek answers and accountability when the very systems that should have protected them had failed. For many survivors of child sexual abuse, the abuse does not end when it stops.”
“The strongest projects are those that invest in feasibility studies, site assessments, stakeholder engagement and detailed design from the outset, because decisions made at the earliest stage often have the greatest impact on cost, quality and operational performance.”
“As a result, it made a significant uplift on its original offer. The additional increase sought could not be justified, however, when benchmarked against comparable projects across both Tusla and the HSE. That comes back to the value-for-money argument.”
“Justice Michael White for their significant work and acknowledge how deeply distressing the findings are. They reveal repeated missed opportunities, ignored warning signs and systemic failures that allowed abuse to occur over many years. Children who should have been protected were instead left vulnerable.”
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“The just transition commission of Ireland, as the Deputies will be aware, was established last year as an independent advisory body. A key focus of the commission is to support the Government in its responsibility to provide that Ireland's transition to the national climate objective has regard to the requirement for a just transition to a climate-neutral economy. The mandate of the commission is to prepare and analyse strategic research in relation to a just transition; evaluate, advise and comment on sectoral climate policies; provide strategic advice and engagement on just transition; undertake proactive engagement with communities, sectors or regions facing challenges arising from the transition; and listen to and channel the public voice on just transition.”
“Just transition, as Deputy Whitmore said, probably is not the most obvious name, so let me outline for viewers watching at home what that framework looks like and means in practice. It consists of four principles focusing on the need for an evidence-based approach to plan our response to just transition requirements. It is about equipping people with the right skills to participate in the future economy. It is about ensuring that the costs are shared so that existing inequalities are not exacerbated, and it is about social dialogue to ensure impacted citizens and communities are consulted and empowered. All relevant Ministers are expected to formulate and implement their climate policies through the lens of this framework so that policies are informed by the need to ensure a just transition.”
“These include both policy and legislation changes, as well as the establishment of, as Deputy Whitmore said, the just transition commission of Ireland on an administrative basis last year. It is on the basis of these developments, which provide an established approach to just transition within climate policy, that the Government is opposing the Bill. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 provides for a just transition to a climate-neutral economy which endeavours, insofar as is practicable, to maximise employment opportunities and support persons and communities that may be negatively affected by the transition. To operationalise this provision, the Climate Action Plan 2021 introduced a just transition framework which guides the integration of just transition into climate policy.”
“I acknowledge the work of Deputy Whitmore in bringing forward this Private Members' Bill on the subject of just transition and her and her party's commitment to this topic. I also commend Sinéad Mercier and the unions, which I know worked with Deputy Whitmore on this. I thank Deputy Gibney for her intervention. This time three weeks ago, I was the Minister of State with responsibility for digitalisation, so I am particularly interested in what Deputy Gibney said about AI. In line with the national climate objectives, the Government is fully committed to a just transition to a climate-neutral economy by no later than 2030. There have been significant developments relating to just transition since the Private Members' Bill was presented to the House in 2021.”
“That is what we are trying to do to allow for public and stakeholder engagement. It is a balance, but it is something the Government is committed to achieving.”
“The forthcoming national planning statement will enhance existing policy and legislation around the governance of solar energy developments and provide additional measures and guidance for the ongoing development of solar energy while ensuing compliance with existing and future national, EU and international renewable energy policies and targets. In the interim, which I know the Deputy is concerned about, the existing planning system, supported by Government policy more generally, provides a sufficient, robust policy and legislative framework to facilitate the roll-out of solar energy developments in a sustainable manner and to assist with meeting our renewable electricity requirements. We need to balance the perspectives of local communities and our renewable electricity suppliers.”
“I take this opportunity to reaffirm to the Deputy that the Government and, in particular, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are absolutely committed to working towards the publication of a national planning statement on solar energy development. That is in line with our programme for Government commitments. We are currently undertaking a scoping exercise in that regard. It is at an early stage, but work is under way. This work will include all the appropriate public consultations and the need to ensure the finalised national planning statement is fit for purpose, given the evolving and reforming planning policy context. I take on board the Deputy's point in relation to the social fabric, which is important. That is why public consultation will be at the heart of this too.”
“The conclusions of this review will be factored into any draft national planning statement on solar energy development. Until the finalisation of the national planning statement, it will remain the case that, as with the large majority of development types, there are currently no specific planning guidelines that deal with solar energy development. The Deputy mentioned planning conditions not being adhered to. I highly recommend that he get in touch with planning enforcement in the relevant local authority. In the short to medium term, the planning system provides a sufficient, robust policy and legislative framework in this regard.”
“In the meantime, public participation remains a cornerstone of all substantial decision-making processes in planning legislation. It is of course open to any member of the public to make an observation or submission on a planning application including in relation to solar energy developments. The planning authority is statutorily obliged to consider such submissions before making a decision on the application. The programme for Government also contains a commitment to a land use review to ensure that optimal land-use options inform all relevant Government decisions. The second phase of this review, which is under way, will seek to identify the key demands on land both public and private to inform policies for land use across key Government objectives, improving socioeconomic, climate, biodiversity, water and air quality outcomes.”
“This includes our European obligations such as the renewable energy directive, battery storage facilities and the possible timeframe for publication of the national planning statement. In line with EU directive requirements, a strategic environmental assessment will be carried out on any draft national planning statement regarding solar energy development. The Department intends to undertake a public consultation on the draft statement before it is finalised to give the individuals, communities and organisations the Deputy referred to the opportunity to submit observations on this draft statement. Consequently, any draft national planning statement will be prepared following detailed analysis and consideration of the submissions received during the consultation phase. The finalised draft will be subject to Government approval.”
“As the Deputy may be aware, this provides the statutory basis for the national planning framework and the regional spatial and economic strategies, and introduces provisions for the new national planning statements that will replace section 28 planning guidelines. Therefore, the solar guidelines, once finalised, will issue as a national planning statement under the 2024 Act. This will ensure enhanced clarity and increased consistency across the planning systems at all tiers. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently undertaking a scoping exercise - it is at an early stage - to identify the component factors relevant to the preparation of this national planning statement, including any appropriate environmental reporting and public consultation requirements, which the Deputy called for.”
“However, there is no doubt that further solar capacity is required for Ireland to meet its domestic and international targets. In this regard, the programme for Government reaffirms Ireland’s ambitious targets of 8 GW of solar capacity connected to the grid by 2030. From a planning perspective, the programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new planning guidelines for solar energy development, which the Deputy called for without delay. An important development in this regards is that chapters 1 through 4 of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act of 2024 came into effect on 2 October.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I welcome the Deputy's remarks at the start of his contribution that he is not against renewable energy measures. As he will be aware, the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future has reaffirmed Ireland's targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewables in the near term, with plans to move to net zero by 2050. The deployment of renewable electricity, including solar energy, is vital for Ireland to meet its ambitious domestic targets and international commitments. Solar energy is already a growing source of electricity with approximately 2.1 GW of solar power capacity currently installed in Ireland.”
“The Deputy stated in his initial remarks that the county council has said that it is not possible to take motions that refer to Uisce Éireann and I am quite surprised by that. That is not the standard approach in local authorities up and down the country. I would certainly encourage the Deputy to speak to Councillor Collins and maybe suggest that he take that up with one of the representative bodies, Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, or the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, as that needs to be sorted as well.”
“It also needs to be taken into consideration that Uisce Éireann has said that this situation has stabilised since 31 October and there has been what it describes as "a noticeable easing off in the frequency of bursts." From an initial perspective, we want to reduce and mitigate bursts and Uisce Éireann is working to do that. Taking a longer term approach, it wants to do rehabilitation works on that line. That is something it is now considering doing. When it has made a decision that, it will come back and let public representatives, including councillors, know it had made that decision. I am sure I will be in a position to update the Deputy on timeframes at that point.”
“I cannot because the process is only at the initial stages. A case for the mains rehabilitation works in the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce Éireann. It has not made a determination on that. Only when it makes a determination on that will it be possible to move forward with a timeframe. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when it prioritises water main rehabilitation projects. We have outlined that there have been 18 bursts in a short period of time. That will be taken into consideration.”
“That is why this year the Government provided record funding to Uisce Éireann under the national development plan to ensure that we continue to prioritise these types of infrastructure upgrades and new developments.”
“However, they are limited in what can be rehabilitated each year. A case for mains rehabilitation works for the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce Éireann. I presume this was one of the suggestions the Deputy mentioned came out of the public meeting he attended. As the process is only in the initial stages, it is too early to confirm a timeframe at this stage. Uisce Éireann has committed to me that it will share further updates with elected representatives and the community in this regard once available. Our water and wastewater infrastructure requires substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the standards required of a modern service and to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change.”
“Uisce Éireann has informed the Department that the situation in Adrigole has stabilised since 31 October, and I hope that has been the Deputy's experience and the experience of his constituents. It said there has been a noticeable easing off in the frequency of bursts. Uisce Éireann has given a commitment to continue to monitor the area, mobilise repair crews promptly and provide updates to elected representatives, including Councillor Danny Collins, and the community as more information becomes available. Similar to other townlands across the country facing comparable challenges due to weather-related pressures and ageing infrastructure, Uisce Éireann is working through these systematically. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when prioritising water main rehabilitation projects.”
“For unforeseen unplanned outages, it is not possible to provide advance notice to customers. When these occur, Uisce Éireann immediately mobilises repair crews to investigate the source of the burst and works as a matter of priority to repair the water main and restore normal water supply to impacted homes and businesses as quickly as possible. Uisce Éireann does that for exactly the reasons the Deputy outlined because coffee shops, farmers, families and everybody relies on clean, accessible water. When an unplanned outage occurs and repairs have been undertaken, typically, it takes three to four hours for normal supply to be restored to all customers affected. However, it may take longer for normal supply to be restored to customers at the end of the network or on higher ground as the system recharges.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is obviously a really important issue for the people he represents and it must be very frustrating for them. The Deputy will appreciate the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are, as the Deputy alluded to, matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister has no function regarding the specific Uisce Éireann’s operations in Adrigole to which the Deputy referred. To be helpful, the Department has made inquiries to Uisce Éireann on the Deputy's behalf and has been informed that there were 18 bursts recorded in Adrigole between May and 31 October of this year.”
“Their aim is to ensure our national legislation and our operational practices will accord with requirements under the pact and will ensure the appropriate care and protection of unaccompanied minors.”
“The Department has responded in writing to a range of queries on this issue following the recent appearance at a committee meeting the Deputy referenced. This has given us the opportunity to clarify and expand in more detail on the plans in this area. To be crystal clear, the Minister intends to use the forthcoming pact legislation as an opportunity to amend the statutory mechanism for age determination. Both the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, are absolutely committed to working closely with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality - my own Department - and Tusla on matters relating to unaccompanied minors in the international protection process.”
“I thank the Deputy and fully agree it is a very complex area. We need to make sure we are getting this right. There is a long-standing process around age verification of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in place. That process will continue to be the practice until the new International Protection Bill is enacted and all of the relevant measures behind it come into force. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Deputy for giving us the opportunity to have this discussion on the floor of the House and to put some of that new information on the record of the House. Also, I thank the Deputy's colleagues on the Committee of Public Accounts because I know they also had a number of queries.”
“Additionally, the International Protection Bill 2026 will propose that the determining authority - the replacement for the IPO - will arrange and be responsible for age assessments. It will set out in far greater detail how age is assessed and provide for regulations governing the standards for that process and the qualifications needed for staff. I hope that clarifies the matter.”
“While this has been the long-standing practical process around age verification, there is an acknowledgement that it needs to be adapted. The Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, intend to use the forthcoming International Protection Bill to amend the statutory mechanisms for age determination. The measures under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact set out safeguards and procedural guarantees for unaccompanied minors in the international protection process and will be given effect in the International Protection Bill. The Bill will also provide for appropriate alignment with the screening regulation. As required by the pact measures, the Bill will make provision for the appointment of representatives to assist and safeguard the interests of unaccompanied minors.”
“It also makes provision for the IPO to arrange an assessment to determine an applicant’s age, but this cannot happen without the consent of the person, or Tusla acting on the person’s behalf. Independent of this process, Tusla carries out an assessment to determine the eligibility of the person, who has been assumed to be a minor, to access its services. In practice, and for many years, it is this latter assessment that is taken as being determinative of age for the purposes of both eligibility for services and for the processing of an international protection application. In cases where Tusla decides that the person is not eligible because they are judged to be an adult, the applicant is referred back to the IPO, which will process their application as such.”
“These issues are addressed under the International Protection Act 2015 and the Child Care Act 1991, respectively. The International Protection Act states that where it appears to an immigration officer or an international protection officer that a person seeking international protection is under 18 and has not been accompanied by an adult, the child should be referred to Tusla. At that point, in accordance with the International Protection Act, it is assumed that the person is a minor and that the Child Care Acts and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 apply. The International Protection Act states that Tusla is responsible for making an application for international protection on behalf of the child.”
“I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan. I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this important matter and providing the opportunity to give clarity. I hope the Deputy gets that clarity from the comments that the Minister has asked me to make on his behalf. I am aware that this matter has been discussed by the Committee of Public Accounts and that the Department has responded in writing to a range of queries from the PAC. First, I would like to set out the legislative position regarding age verification. The International Protection Office, IPO, is responsible for determining the age of an applicant, and the Child and Family Agency - Tusla is responsible for determining if an individual is entitled to access its services, including the provision of accommodation.”
“If he does that, I will make sure it gets into the hands of the Minister for Transport, who has asked me to reaffirm that the Government remains committed to making public transport as accessible and affordable as possible, while also ensuring that our system remains financially sustainable in the long term.”
“The Deputy makes a very good argument for this, and I fully appreciate where he is coming from. Something that might help to strengthen the Deputy's case is the fact that the young adult card scheme was broadened in 2022 to include eligible services operated by commercial bus operators on an opt-in basis. Individual commercial operators chose to participate, and the NTA then compensated them for the agreed discount and the fare that was forgone, effectively. This was done to ensure that young people benefited from the reduced fares across both subsidised and participating commercial services. Perhaps there is some hope for the Deputy in the fact that this has happened from a young adult card perspective. It may bolster his case to put forward a proposal that would mirror this specifically for young children.”
“While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, which largely operate without any State subvention. As such, while commercial operators are licensed by the NTA, they determine their own fare structures independently. I am sorry to not have better news for the Deputy on this. I am aware it is something he has campaigned on, cares very passionately about and wants to see provided for children in the areas he represents. All I can say is that this is now policy, is now law and is now happening on PSO services. I will provide the Deputy's feedback on licensed commercial bus services directly to the Minister, but his proposal is not currently in the plan.”
“I am pleased to confirm that the free travel for children between the ages of five and eight initiative, which launched in September of this year, extends free travel on PSO services, thereby building on the previous policy that granted free travel to children under the age of five. This measure was announced as part of the budget 2025 package. It delivers on a key programme for Government commitment to make public transport more affordable and accessible for families. Uptake of this initiative has been really strong. Approximately 25,000 child Leap cards were issued in the first month after the launch of this scheme, and applications are continuing apace. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government's decision did not include provision for extending free travel for children under the age of nine to commercial bus operators.”
“I assure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority of the Government under the programme for Government. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of €940 million represents a significant 43% uplift from last year. It further supports subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, including rural Ireland. This allocation also maintains targeted fare initiatives, such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card for those aged 19 to 25, as part of the NTA's national fares strategy. That of course is in the PSO contracts.”
“I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport. While the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory obligation for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA, which works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. The NTA has statutory responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under PSO contracts. They are the PSOs and the actual public ones.”
“It is clear from what the Deputy has said that his issue is the reliability of the E2. I am really pleased the E1 route now has these additional buses. On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank him for bringing this matter forward. I will of course provide his feedback to the Minister.”
“There are also instances where, as the Deputy has mentioned, performance can drop and financial penalties are therefore applied, unless the cause of the performance issue is outside the control of the operator. There are measures the NTA takes to try to mitigate any such issues. On driver shortages, changes were made to the employment permits system to allow for the issuing of 1,500 permits for bus and coach drivers with the aim of alleviating recruitment challenges by supplementing our workforce with drivers from outside the European Economic Area. The goal is improving service reliability. Public transport operators are hopeful that successful recruitment and retention of critical staff, especially drivers, will lead to improvements in reliability in the coming months.”
“I know the frustrations the Deputy and many of his constituents are feeling. It is not satisfactory to be left waiting at a bus stop as a full bus passes by. I am pleased that the Deputy worked so successfully to ensure there have been additional commuter services on the E1 route. As the Deputy suggested, if the E2 ran on time it might meet demand but some of the issues arise from the fact that there might be driver shortages. I assure the Deputy that the performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place. As part of this, and in line with the regulatory powers available to the NTA to measure performance, it reports on and seeks to maintain standards across the network.”
“That is something I will definitely ask the Minister to take back to the NTA. I want to reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and the public transport operators are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the network to best meet passenger demand.”
“As he said, the E2 was formerly known as the 46A. In relation to capacity on those routes, Dublin Bus has confirmed that its operation teams have identified capacity issues with the E1 service. I know the Deputy has been working closely with Dublin Bus and the NTA, which have helped to make sure those problems were addressed by providing additional morning and evening services. He spoke about how much of a pinch-point rush hour is. These additional services, which are now implemented, are there to tackle the morning and evening pinch-points on the E1. Dublin Bus has informed the Department that along with the NTA it is monitoring the E2 service, and the data available show that customer demand is currently being met. I know that does not tally with the experience shared by the Deputy today.”
“Funding has also been provided to extend free child fares on public service transport to include those aged five to eight years of age and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects, to which the Deputy referred, and Connecting Ireland. BusConnects, as Deputy Ward acknowledged, is a transformative project and investment in the bus system that is providing better bus services right across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State. It is managed by the NTA with the aim of improving the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high-frequency spines and new local orbital and radial routes. In terms of those high-frequency spines, Deputy Ward's constituency is a beneficiary of the E1 and E2 routes.”
“That said, I would like to reassure the Deputy that, as outlined in the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, the Government is strongly committed to enhancing transportation networks and infrastructure development. Public transport obviously plays a key role in delivery of that goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for public service obligation and TFI Local Link services. That was a 43% uplift, a really significant uplift and an increase from €658 million in 2025 to €940 million for next year. This package includes funding for the continuation of various fares initiatives such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025.”
“I thank Deputy Ward for raising this really important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien. From the outset, it would be remiss of me not to clarify that while the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The NTA, to which the Deputy referred, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It works with the public transport operators who deliver the service and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.”
“If the need is very big, as the Deputy has suggested, I am sure this will come out in the data. I assure the Deputy that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to them who require specialist support. It is important to remember that support comes in so many forms within our education system. The vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. Obviously, they get fantastic support from SNAs but it is also really important that we continue to grow the number of special school places and the number of special schools that exist. This is something the Government has done in the last year and is doing again this year. It is a huge part of our national development plan and infrastructure commitments going forward.”
“I agree with the Deputy. I do not think that an assessment of need should be a barrier to receive extra support. It is not in terms of preschool, or from an access and inclusion model perspective, or from an SNA perspective. I certainly want to get to a point where it is not a requirement for a special class or a special school either. That makes sense and I agree with the Deputy on that. This is something I will undertake. I am undertaking to work with the Minister for Education to get to that point. With regard to a special school in the Deputy's constituency, these decisions will be made based on the data available to the NCSE. They now have new data available as of 1 October. They will be using the time between now and the end of the year to ascertain where the need is greatest and make the decisions based purely on that.”
“I stress that the NCSE has committed that it will continue to support all children made known to them after that 1 October deadline.”
“It will allow schools to recruit staff and undertake the training needed so that children are fully supported in those placements. Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed the information they receive from the parents notify process, it will engage with schools across the country to open new special classes. The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary education. They advise that the majority of children and young people coming through the parents notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.”
“The earlier date in October coincides with when the schools begin enrolment processes and it affords parents the opportunity to enrol in existing classes. Many mainstream schools, particularly at post-primary level, start the admission process for the following year on 1 October. That is why the date was chosen. The NCSE is working now on sanctioning as many new special classes as possible for the 2026-27 academic year by 31 December. This will be four months earlier than last year and it will bring clarity and certainty for parents and schools as to where classes will be located. It will also afford greater lead-in times for schools that might require repurposing or major building works to get work started and completed.”
“Of course, it is not as if any parent missed this deadline; there was a delay in getting the information they needed to be able to provide that through the portal. The NCSE also undertook some work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the set of timelines and processes, a lot of which was outside of their control. As the Deputy will be aware, the earlier notification deadline was introduced this year to equip the NCSE at an earlier stage with local information on the numbers of students who would be leaving school, transitioning to post-primary specialist places, seeking specialist placements or entering education for the first time. This information is absolutely critical for forward planning and examining where provision needs to be best placed to meet demand.”
“The Deputy has outlined that in her own local area there is demand and there is no special school. This will be borne out in that plan because we are doing it to make sure that existing and future demand is catered for. In addition, special school capacity was also expanded across a number of special schools nationwide and 16 new special schools have been established in recent years. The NCSE will soon have a clear picture of local demand for special classes and special school places for the 2026-27 academic year after they review and assess all the information, which is then provided through the parents notify process that closed on 1 October, as the Deputy pointed out. This new timeline was publicised widely and was communicated to schools, special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies.”