Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----but I enlighten the Minister of State that the number will now have to be spread more thinly, with 10% additional demand. As with the resource teacher issue, the starting point is admitting there is a cut. If the Minister of State speaks to the parents who were protesting outside the Dáil today, they will tell her that.

This morning a number of the organisations concerned had a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Quinn.

The disability groups comprised Inclusion Ireland, Special Needs Parents Association, Irish Autism Action, Irish Society for Autism, Dyspraxia Association of Ireland, Irish National Council for AD/HD Support Groups and the National Parents Council. They released a joint statement earlier which stated that the inevitable outcome of the approach of the Government will be that shared access to SNAs will be more prevalent, leading to a reduction in the quality of support for all children with identified needs. That is the view of the organisations that know the situation on the ground. Instead, the Minister has said that because she is holding back 80 spare SNA positions-----

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