Mr. Gary Honer:

I thank the Senator for her questions and for reading over the submission as well. First, the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome. The earlier that the intervention is made and the younger the child is, the better the outcome will be.

I am here to represent my members who are special needs assistants, SNAs. Training needs to be provided for SNAs as well as for our teaching colleagues. It should be provided for all colleagues in the school setting. As I said in my presentation, this is not a criticism of Mental Health Ireland, but it is just a fact. If one goes on to Mental Health Ireland’s website to access the MindOut programme, there is a tab for teachers and a tab for youth workers, but there is no tab for SNAs. SNAs should be able to avail of the training if they want it. If they are armed with that skill set, they will be better equipped to deal with students in their times of crisis. I would agree with the Senator completely in terms of training. That needs to be provided to all colleagues in schools - not just teachers, but SNAs as well.