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

I thank the Senator. There are a number of different queries there.

On St. Colmcille National School, the Senator may be aware that I did meet with the school and with the principal outside Dáil Éireann. The school has four early intervention classes and they have made it clear privately and publicly that they want more SNAs. I met them on 16 February. They were also going to have a meeting with the National Council for Special Education this week, at my request. While the NCSE obviously has responsibility for allocations, not the Department, the council is aware of my interest in it and hopefully that meeting will be fruitful.

On Covid and the closure of special schools and special classes, the public health advice at the time, based on the numbers moving in the system, was to close the schools. There was priority reopening for special schools and special classes, which opened first in the summer of 2020. They reopened first again in February 2021. The Senator is right. It is something that I absolutely do not want to see happening again. Special schools and special classes, and children with special educational needs in mainstream, are an essential service.

I did all I could to keep special schools and classes open. I want to assure the committee of that. It was not to be, much to my regret although we did get them reopened first. I do not want that to happen again if, God forbid, there was another pandemic or for some other reason. That research will be critical in order to plan for that. Special education is still an essential service. We said that repeatedly. We need to make sure it can also stay open as an essential service next time. I take that point on board. It is something I am very aware of for the future.

SNAs have sought accreditation for some time. Their qualification does not detract from the calibre of SNAs. Many are more qualified than they need to be to become a SNA. There is a minimum qualification raised with the Workplace Relations Commission around this. The Department is open to reviewing the position. SNA accreditation will form part of the review of the outcomes of the training programme. It can also be looked at in the context of the SNA contract and the Building Momentum pay agreement.

Children with additional needs would not be able to function in any proper way without the help of their SNAs. They are critical for supporting these children who develop a special relationship with their SNAs. SNAs do an awful lot of work. Whether it is intimate care needs, yard work, homework, assistive technology or helping with breaks, they have many different roles. We take that very seriously and will look at it into the future.