Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

We have addressed the issue of special needs assistants on previous occasions. I approach it today from the angle of a special needs school. Following the "Prime Time" programme on this issue, more people have contacted public representatives. The Minister has said his Department believes the school in question has sufficient special needs assistants in its system. That, in itself, is creating a problem. Parents say they are being told there are sufficient SNAs within the school structure. They and I understood that the matter was under review.

An SNA is assigned to an individual child and my question refers to three specific children. When the school originally applied for SNAs for them, it was told the support would not be made available. One of the children has CINCA syndrome and Down's syndrome. He also has cardiac defects that require further surgery, pulmonary hypertension and chronic lung disease. He uses a hearing aid and a wheelchair, wears nappies and cannot walk or talk. For some reason, he has been assessed as not needing a special needs assistant. The other two children also have difficulties and the parents believe the system has failed them.

I ask this question because we have failed these children in the past. I recognise the Minister's difficulty with regard to the provision of SNAs, but problems continue to arise. Does the system need to be changed? Perhaps I will have a better understanding when I have more experience on the select committee dealing with education issues and see the broader educational needs. However, the parents and I do not understand why this problem cannot be solved. Is the system archaic, or does it not lend itself to being understood? More and more families are contacting me and other public representatives. We need to make the system simpler. It does not seem to be responding to the needs of the child, and that is where I am coming from in this question. It is one school, but it could be any school.

See this speech in context