Under the resolution to which the Deputy refers, the members states agreed to intensify where necessary, their efforts to integrate or encourage integration of children with disabilities into mainstream schools in all appropriate cases.
The White Paper on Education Charting our Education Future sets out the Government's policy for the provision of suitable education services for pupils with disabilities. A fundamental objective of the commitments in the White Paper is to ensure to the maximum possible extent that all children with disabilities will have access to suitably resourced education services in their own area and within the ordinary school system.
I am satisfied that the measures outlined in the White Paper are entirely consistent with and supportive of the sentiments expressed in the resolution to which the Deputy refers.
The meeting of EU Education Ministers on 6 December, 1996 will be concerned with the concept of life-long learning. It will not deal in detail with specific aspects of mainstream educational provision. It would not therefore constitute an appropriate forum in which to seek a reaffirmation of the resolution in question.
