Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations, which I found interesting. My interest in compiling a report on this partly arose because the question of special needs assistants, SNAs, arises at budget time and is then forgotten about. We need to have a discussion about the role of SNAs beyond budgetary corrections. I hope in a few years time we will not be speaking about budgetary corrections. The service has expanded a huge amount over a relatively short period of time. Every presentation suggested the role has changed and needs to be re-evaluated. A suggestion was made that roles should be differentiated or we should have a better definition of what the role is.

My interest in this was also partly inspired by a trip I took to the IMPACT special needs assistants' AGM, where I saw the effect working as a special needs assistant has on the individual. Special needs assistants sometimes experience a lack of respect from members of the teaching staff, principals and boards of management. They are sometimes asked to perform menial tasks which are completely outside what they envisaged the job to be. They want to be better trained, have job security and have a career in education. Many schools need special needs assistants very much but, given the fact that the role has expanded beyond what the NCSE envisaged, perhaps we need to re-evaluate the role in totality and see if we can recast it for another person working in education. If everybody in the committee came to this with a completely open mind about what a special needs assistant, an educational assistant or somebody working in the education system could be, perhaps it would be an exciting process of complete re-evaluation.

What we spend on special education has increased from €450 million in 2004 to €1.3 billion now. Increasing numbers of children present with special needs, which creates challenges in the system. This year we have seen an 11% increase. I am making a statement of intent rather than asking a question and I apologise for this. I am very much taken by the presentations. Everybody will accept that, like the Seanad, the role of the SNA does not necessarily need to stay in its current form and perhaps it should evolve.

Sometimes when one speaks about examining the role of SNAs, the people themselves wonder whether they will be undermined and whether it will be suggested that their role should be eliminated from the system. It is quite the contrary. We need to focus heavily on the lack of career structure and certainty the average SNA has in the system and the respect the system gives them, which comes from the Department and filters through boards of management and principals. There may be a question in what I have stated but I wanted to set out the stall as to where we are going with the report. Perhaps we can publish a draft report, after which people can come back to see the type of discussions we are having. We could really get something out of this process.