Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I do worry that Deputy Finian McGrath doth protest too much. May I continue uninterrupted? The cap versus cut is a phrase that needs to be addressed. I speak with a degree of authority on this issue because I speak primarily as a parent of children, which is my primary focus, but also as a former school principal who would have a reasonable knowledge of the working of this system. It is not a cut to the number of SNAs but a cap on the number of SNAs. We are not dealing with infinite resources at any level or in any area and I wholeheartedly support the effort for better deployment of the resources available to the education sector, limited though they may be. I think this particular step is putting a sharp focus on how we deploy those resources across the system to ensure those most in need get the resources they need, a point with which everybody in this Chamber can agree. Any step we take to work towards that must be welcomed, irrespective of our political or populist background or any other background we may choose to come from.

Another issue that has come into sharp focus in this debate is the role of the SNA. This role has been misunderstood and misappropriated for many years since its introduction. In fairness to Deputy Micheál Martin, the Leader of the Opposition, when he Minister for Education and Science he brought this whole area kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I commend him on that without a shadow of a doubt. We welcome any development that will help students to get a better education during the education process. The role of the SNA has not been understood and the care element has not been appropriated properly. I always make the point to parents and have done so, as a parent and as a principal, that less is often more. Just because resources are available does not mean one avails of them. Taking children in and out of classes, which is separate to the SNA issue, I accept is not always for the best. I think a Government that is spending 15% of its entire education budget on special educational needs must look very carefully at how that money is allocated and how it could be better used.

It is important to hear the truth. An additional 475 posts are to be reallocated in September under an appeals process when local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, will visit schools under the guidance of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, which I argue is better prepared and equipped to decide where the resources should be going when they are allocated to the schools.

In regard to the €350 million allocated for SNAs, I question how much of this budget is being spent in a way that achieves best value for money. There are many competing demands on the services available to vulnerable children. For example, they may need speech and language therapists. We must grasp the nettle and be more mature about things.

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