Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue for debate. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, knows that the role of special needs assistants, SNAs, has evolved over the years. They play an extremely important part in the daily lives of children with special educational needs. The circular issued by the Department in April is trying to discourage this and ignore the day-to-day reality of how schools operate. It emphasises that a child with special educational needs is not automatically entitled to an SNA and that the scheme is aimed at children with “significant additional care needs”. The circular states that it should not be assumed that children who have special educational needs or a disability require the support of an SNA, and that, while professional reports provide an integral part of determining the extent of supports required for special needs pupils, health staff within the HSE have been instructed not to recommend references or the quantity of educational resources in their reports. The overall responsibility for the support and progress for pupils with behaviour-related care needs now lies with the classroom teacher. In addition, post-primary pupils will only be allocated SNA support in the case of chronic and serious need.

A Wexford mother, Jane Johnstone, who has two children with autism in Scoil Mhuire in Wexford and who is a long-time campaigner for the rights of those with disabilities, told me that the circular will have negative implications for children with special needs and the general population of children within our educational system. The SNA supports children with special needs to develop independent living skills, allowing them to grow to become as independent as their disability allows and provide access to our mainstream communities by supporting them to become the best they can be. Every child has the right to grow to his or her potential. It is unthinkable that Government policy would hinder rather than support progress in order to redress an ongoing economic crisis in which our children played no part.

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