Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One thing which troubles me and which I did not get to mention during my contribution relates to second level, the social aspect of the SNA attached to a young adult, how that works out and the experiences of those involved. It is a concern for parents all the time when they put their 13 year old or 14 year old into secondary school and put an adult sitting alongside them as an SNA. It is a difficulty. Perhaps the Department, Ms Griffin, Ms Lynch or IMPACT have some views on the matter. It is an emerging challenge.

I thank Ms McCrohan for the clarification on 17 or 18 years of age. It started out in primary school. Secondary school is a latecomer to the party and we do not have much experience of it. I am interested in the experience of the stakeholders and their suggestions for dealing with it. How do they give assurances to parents on how it is being dealt with?

Someone mentioned preschool. I know it is isolated but in our area in west Cork, children with special learning needs attending preschool can get SNAs through the good offices of CoAction, the body tasked with the role there. I appreciate not too many areas in the country have that rolled out at this level. It is certainly in our area.

I thank Ms McCrohan, who has brought a good deal of passion and understanding. Clearly her experience as an SNA in the system has come to the fore. I share her understanding. In her day and in my day when I was practising in the classroom as a principal and a teacher, it was a given that the SNA attended the preparation of the individual education plans, no questions asked. In fact, the SNA was seen as one of the strongest contributors. Although he was not an educationalist, he was the link and he filled in. Ms Lynch put it well when she referred to that.

I referred to a parliamentary question I tabled to the Minister recently on an issue and I would appreciate if Mr. Mulkerrins would come back to me or the committee on the matter. Will the Department consider reissuing some sort of clarification? As I understand it there is an issue given that many SNAs do not attend the preparation of IEPs. I would be concerned if that were standard practice. I have reasonable grounds to suggest that is more widespread than we might have thought. Will the Department consider reissuing a directive or some clarification on the matter to schools? Will the Department confirm whether it believes this is appropriate and whether it is willing to do the same in due course? It need not be done today.