Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I wish the Minister for Education and Science all the best in her new role and I thank Deputy Hayes for bringing this motion before the House. I know Deputy Hayes from my time on the Joint Committee on Education and Science. He is genuinely committed to education matters. The education of children with special needs has been and remains a priority for the Government. The Government has put major resources into schools to enable them to meet the needs of these children. This amounts to €1 billion alone this year. In the past ten years we have witnessed major changes. The SNA scheme has been a key factor in ensuring the successful integration of children with special needs into mainstream education and providing support to the pupils enrolled in special schools and special classes. I am delighted to hear the Minister say that children with special educational needs who require support will continue to have it. It is extremely important we afford those children the opportunity to be the best they can possibly be.

All sides of the House have spoken about the review. The findings of the review are counter to the common public perception that the SNA scheme has been changed or altered in some way. It reiterates that the criteria for the allocation of SNAs remains the same. The Department of Education and Science is committed to the SNA scheme in its present form and the review was simply an exercise to ensure the resources available under the scheme are allocated to the schools that require such assistance in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

There are more than 10,000 SNAs in our school, carrying out very valuable work dedicated to helping children achieve their potential. The scheme costs in the region of €300 million annually. Such a review process is imperative in the present climate of constrained resources. In every scheme it is important to have a review, to examine how services are delivered and how money is spent in order to see if we can do things in a better way. As well as SNAs, we have more than 8,600 resource and learning support teachers. More than 20,000 adults are in schools with the sole role of providing support to children with special educational needs.

In my former occupation as a teacher, I witnessed at first hand the benefits the SNAs, resource teachers and learning support teachers brought to schoolchildren they assisted. The SNA scheme has ensured the successful integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream education, thereby promoting inclusivity. Is that not what we all want for all our children? I have witnessed pupils who required support and assistance throughout their school life but also those who needed support for a time. This may have been a short or medium period or longer. They grew and matured into independent learners. It is extremely important that the reduction in support as the child matures is done in a managed way so as not to disadvantage the learner. Taking support and security away from a child completely is not the way to do this. It does not benefit the child.

Having referred to the SNA posts and their withdrawal in mid-year, it is important to say that not all SNA posts are allocated at the beginning of the school year. New children may arrive at school with special educational needs or some children may have updated professional reports. It is important to have a continuation of a flexible approach to allow children have support when needed and allow the posts to serve the interests of children. Withdrawing them in the middle of the school year does not serve the children well.

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