Galway Bay fm newsroom - There are calls for the Government to publish guidelines on how and when special needs schools can reopen.
It's comes as the Education Minister announced last week that the July Education Programme is going ahead for 2020 but he has not yet specified how it will be operated.
The July Education Programme, otherwise known as July Provision, is a scheme which funds an extended school year for children with a severe or profound general learning disability or children with autism.
Where school-based provision is not feasible, home-based provision may be granted.
Galway West TD Noel Grealish is calling for July Provision guidelines to be published as soon as possible, with a commitment that it will be provided in a school-based setting.
Deputy Grealish argues that an in-school setting will offer a sense of routine and structure to children with severe intellectual disabilities.
He says special needs schools could return before regular schools because they operate in small numbers and because staff already practice infection control protocols.
