Ms Martina Mannion:

I appreciate that. I want to make clear that the general allocation we are talking about in terms of teachers and SNAs to special schools and special classes is what comes with the opening of the special class, so it is one teacher and two SNAs in a class of six children in either a special class or a special school. However, we absolutely understand there will be children within those cohorts who will need individual SNAs to support them through their education. The National Council for Special Education will work with schools to ensure that where the needs of those children merit an individual SNA - I did not get the opportunity to say this to Deputy Verona Murphy before she left - the system has not changed in terms of individual children no longer needing an SNA or no longer being able to access an individual SNA, if that is what they require. If the level of care need is such that an individual SNA is required for an individual child, the NCSE has the scope to provide that in those circumstances to those children.