Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Does it mean that they do not consider that additional SNAs should be allocated where they are required? I appreciate that schools would like more teachers, more SNAs and more funding. However, resources must be targeted at those children who need them. Resources left in areas within the school system that are not in accordance with relevant criteria mean that these resources are not available for other deserving areas.

I wish to be clear on some key issues. The SNA scheme has been a major factor in both ensuring the successful integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream education and providing support to pupils enrolled in special schools and special classes. The SNA scheme will continue to be supported. The terms and criteria for the SNA scheme have not changed. Schools that have enrolled children who qualify for support from a special needs assistant will continue to be allocated SNA support. During the period of the current review, the NCSE has allocated over 1,300 new SNA posts to schools. This is happening at present. The NCSE has been processing applications from schools for SNA support all year, and this will continue. There is no question of posts being removed from schools where they meet the scheme's criteria.

In the course of recent discussions there have been suggestions that my Department had given a target to the NCSE for reducing the number of SNAs. That is absolutely not true and there is no foundation to such a claim. The NCSE has merely applied the criteria that have always existed. This could have resulted in additional posts, as it did in many schools. In other schools there was a reduction either on the basis that the children had left or their care needs had diminished.

As the Deputies are aware, the purpose of an SNA is to support the care needs of children with disabilities, not to create dependency. Therefore, a child with a disability in junior infants at age four or five can be different from one in fourth or fifth class, aged ten or 11, and very different from an 18 year old leaving school. I fully recognise that some children with disabilities will always need support in school. However, many children with disabilities develop independent living skills as they grow and mature. Does the Opposition believe that no children with special educational needs are capable of developing independence?

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