Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)

I thank the witnesses for being here. There has been a huge amount of consternation in relation to the new guidelines for reviewing SNA allocations. Our guests have articulated the issues well in terms of the narrow timeline but I want to focus on the criteria. What I am hearing from SNAs is that it does not reflect the work they do in the real world. My experience as a constituency TD has been that more and more the NCSE is saying that children who are getting SNA supports in school should not really have it and that the resource needs to be redirected to children who have category three, or complex, care needs. I want to pick up on the last comment from Mr. Pike. He said that there is a growing realisation within the Department of the wider remit but for me, that is not reflected at all within the guidelines for SNA allocations. What sense is there that we are moving in a direction that might reflect what SNAs actually do in the real world?