Joe Conway (Independent)

I will preface these few remarks by stating that I was a primary school principal for 19 years. Subsequent to that, I worked at one of the colleges of education, which gave me almost daily access to primary schools around the country - all over the country, really. In view of that, I heard mention, shortly after I came in, of tasks designated to SNAs that were inappropriate and below their competency levels, such as car washing, fish tank cleaning and gardening. Subsequent to that, my colleague, Senator Curley, instanced that he would like some corroboration of that. From maintaining contact with principals and school staff in the interim since I left the classroom and the school, those sort of tasks being attributed and allocated to SNAs is not a scenario I recognise. I am very pleased that Mr. Pike assured us it is not anecdotal and that he will supply us, offline, with corroborated instances of such behaviour. It is not good enough to just throw it out at the committee and for it to go on the record of the Houses that such behaviour is countenanced in schools. I certainly look forward to the corroboration and the evidence, privately, in the fullness of time.