Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

The Deputy is well aware that a DEIS school, in contrast to a regular primary or post-primary school, receives additional resources for the very reasons outlined, namely, the socio-economic background of the pupils, the lack of resources among parents that could otherwise be made available through a PTA in a middle-class or non-DEIS school.

The difference between what the Deputy proposes and what is available is that the SNAs are tailored to the needs of individual students, irrespective of whether they are in a DEIS school or not. It is the individual need of the student, for whatever reason and as assessed by the SENO and as signed off for by the NCSE, that makes for an assessment of that individual student as requiring an SNA. I understand the sentiment expressed by Deputy Crowe, but what he is effectively saying is that where there are existing SNAs in DEIS schools, they should be kept there, even if the individual with the specific need that brought them there may have moved on to post-primary school. We have capped the number of SNAs at 10,575. We are looking at how that will play out and the points made by the Deputy will be taken into consideration.

See this speech in context