Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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That is a very pertinent point. Clearly, children with the greatest level of needs need to be looked after, and that is the role of the SNA. It is primarily at the discretion of the school management authority how it deploys the SNAs within the school, but it is vital they are used for that purpose and only that purpose. It can be difficult to be prescriptive as to exactly the role of an SNA is. There is a primary role around, for example, feeding and primary care issues like that, and then there are more secondary roles around classwork, tidying desks and that sort of thing, but it is important they are treated with they respect they deserve and that the teachers treat them in that manner. They are recruited specifically to assist schools in providing the necessary non-teaching services to pupils with special educational needs. The SNA contract does set out the duties but, as I said, there can be flexibility around that. The most important thing is that the children's additional needs receive the support from the SNA and the SNA is not used for any purpose other than that.