Ms Joan McCrohan:

We are all in agreement that we want to enhance services for children with additional needs. The needs are very varied and unique to every child. Job security for special needs assistants is crucial and there needs to be an end to casualisation, but I do not think that was addressed today. It is very worrying for special needs assistants. If there was a bit of security of tenure there would be a foundation on which we could build to provide professional development opportunities for SNAs. They are very well placed to provide holistic support. Ms Lynch and Mr. Moore are very knowledgeable of the situation. They both spoke very passionately.

Close to my heart is the issue of transitional care when coming from a care service or psychiatric service back into a school. If an SNA is involved, he or she can provide a link or training to cope with the challenging behaviour. When I started as an SNA 15 years ago, I worked with a child with cerebral palsy who needed walking aids. I went to Enable Ireland after school every evening with him and his mother and I learned the little physiotherapy bits that I could do and I supported that in school. There was a continuity of the service as he was not going to get physio every day. Opportunities are there if only there was a little bit of inclusiveness, and I think that is what is missing. The continuity of care for transition periods is hugely traumatic for a child to go from mainstream to special school or from primary to secondary school. If we were a little bit imaginative, children could have that one bit of continuity in a transition period and the SNA could carry that out even for a brief period, so that everything is not new.

The peer group support is very important. Fostering peer group acceptance is a huge part of the role for SNAs, but if an SNA thinks his or her hours are going to be cut or if he or she is now working only eight hours per week, which have to be spread right across the week, that imposes hardship on the individual. It is difficult to maintain a living wage on a whole-time post, not to mind when an SNA's hours are reduced to a portion of a job. I do not think that would work in any sector. If we are serious about providing an efficient and effective service, we must look at inclusivity and we must include SNAs in training. The SESS had a fantastic budget last year for training teachers in special education. We were told by representatives of many of the education centres around the country that there were empty seats at every single training session. If a child with challenging behaviour presents in a school, the teacher will ask the SNA to withdraw the child so that she can continue with the teaching lesson. However, the SNA has not had any training whatsoever in how to manage the challenging behaviour. I was recently in a school in Waterford where a child with very significant needs and very challenging behaviour had access to support for the first time ever. The principal cannot allow that situation and must have an SNA with the child on a full-time basis because, through no fault of his own, he is a danger to himself and to the children around him. It is an awful pity that there is no inclusivity as a best practice across the board, because where it is in place it is very effective.