Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Revised Criteria for Qualifications of Special Needs Assistants: Discussion

Photo of Aisling DolanAisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is fantastic. It is very good to hear. It is good to get a breakdown of the numbers. Ballinasloe has a number of primary schools with special classes. We also have one of the 120 special needs schools in the country. It deals with children with severe to profound special needs. It is crucial that we have these services. There are more than 11,000 SNAs in mainstream classes and more than 4,500 in special classes. This shows how crucial it is to have SNAs. As the Minister of State said, we have 19,000 SNAs who deal with almost 16,000 children. She has provided a breakdown of the service offered.

It is important we continue with the supports for our schools. I refer especially to encouraging our schools to take on special classes and to ensure they have the resources and capacity to be able to take children in. This has been a major issue. I thank the Minister of State for the work she is doing with schools in ensuring there is capacity for children with special needs.

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