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

Even with that built-in additional demand based on experience we are still in a position where there is a 5.5% increase in the number of SNAs. There is some dynamic here and we are not being given a clear explanation as to what that is. I do not have a clear answer but I would have thought that it having been delivered and the money allocated for it, we would have a clear explanation as to what was at play. If there is a 5.5% increase in the number of SNAs, has there been a core related increase in the number of resource hours being allocated to schools during this period? If there is a dynamic leading to a 5.5% increase in SNAs why are we not given a similar request for a few hundred extra resource teachers? Certain things can be done in terms of projecting the number of SNAs who will be required. It is difficult to know for those who are starting school what their demand will be. However, there is a band within which the Minister can project that demand will be similar to the previous year plus a bit extra. For those who are moving from junior to high infants, if they had an SNA in junior infants there is every likelihood they will carry it on to senior infants, and likewise through all the classes. For those already in the school system, projecting the SNA demand for next year is a manageable job. That confines it to those who are entering the system for the first time. In that case, that goes nowhere near explaining a 5% increase. When there are 14 classes all together in the primary and secondary system, a 5% increase in SNAs cannot be identified as being simply down to those entering the school system for the first time.