Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will address the issue of SNA accreditation. Suffice to say, first of all, that SNAs are critical to children with additional needs. We know that and we have increased the number of SNAs by 81% since 2011. By the end of this year, we will have more than 19,000. A review of the SNA scheme was carried out by the National Council for Special Education in 2018. It said we really needed training for SNAs, so we set up a UCD course with places for 3,500 students and SNAs to pursue the course over a period of three years. There is a ten-month module and they cover a lot of different subjects. It is important to stress, though, that the calibre of an SNA is not directly affected by the qualifications he or she has. In fact, many of them are already highly qualified, as it turns out, but we are open to reviewing the matter. I know there is a claim lodged with the WRC. The Department is engaging with that and will probably do so further through the national pay agreement.