Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after “educational policy development”:"— set out how the recommendations of the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme, recently published by the National Council for Special Education, are to be implemented."

I welcome the Rural Independent Group's motion, which I support in its entirety. For the information of Members, the amendment simply asks the Minister to set out the steps he intends to take to implement what the NCSE has recommended regarding special needs assistants. I will share time with several colleagues.

The Minister looked back over the period of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government with rose-tinted glasses. He maintained there were no cutbacks to SNAs during that Government. He has clearly forgotten the major protests against cuts to SNAs and resource teaching hours in 2013 and the fact that, as early as September 2011, my party leader raised this issue on Leaders' Questions. The record of the Fianna Fáil Party and my leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, on SNAs is second to none. If it were not for Deputy Micheál Martin, we would not have the system of SNAs that we have in place now. Deputy Martin introduced the automatic entitlement to special support under the Education Act 1998. The number of SNAs increased under that policy.

Why do we have SNAs and what is the reason for the increase in their number? It is to ensure that all children can have access to their local school and an education. In many cases, they can only access that right to an education through the support and assistance of SNAs.

I thank the Rural Independent Group for introducing the motion, which Fianna Fáil is delighted to support. It provides a timely opportunity to discuss this issue. At some point the Minister will need to flesh out in more detail what he proposes to do about SNAs on foot of the review. Like the Minister, I attended the Fórsa trade union conference where I was delighted to meet SNAs, as we all do on a regular basis as part of our roles as Members of Dáil Eireann. Clearly there are major issues, specifically labour issues and issues of respect. The word that hit me most as I left the conference was "respect". Many special needs assistants feel they are not respected, sometimes by other staff in schools but also by the Government's policy of applying unequal pay scales for younger SNAs. The general feeling at the conference was one of a lack of respect.

The report of the National Council for Special Education is a very good document. We do not agree with everything in the report, some of which needs to be further examined. However, one of the points that comes through is that SNAs are not always doing the job the State employs them to do, that is, helping and supporting children with special needs. The NCSE report gives a number of examples of other roles that SNAs are carrying out, including teaching, which they are not qualified to do. In some cases, this reflects the lack of teachers. SNAs also tend to be the people who do the odd jobs around the school or the jobs that others do not want to do. That has to stop. SNAs need to be able to do the job we expect of them and which they view as their role, namely, the role set out in the Education Act 1998 enacted by this House. SNAs want to be trained to the highest possible standards for that role, a point which is mentioned in the motion. That is something that we support and aspire to, and to which the NCSE also aspires.

The Minister says he needs time to consider the NCSE's report and to try to implement it. However, he has been a little slow off the mark, because some aspects of the report are deemed urgent by the NCSE. One of these concerns complex medical needs. The report states that the NCSE wrote to the Minister in early 2017 to highlight a major crisis regarding complex medical needs and noting that nursing support should be provided to schools, SNAs and teachers to address those needs. The report is quite stark on this point, stating that if something is not done, there will be a crisis in schools. This issue needs to be addressed urgently. The report notes that the Minister responded by establishing a working group, but here we are, about a year and a half after the NCSE warned of a crisis in schools if nursing support was not provided, and the Minister has still not made an announcement on the provision of nursing support in schools. This is a key urgent recommendation of the NCSE review. I pay tribute to the National Council for Special Education. I would like the Minister to set out exactly when he expects this nursing support, which is deemed so urgent, to be provided. If a medical emergency occurs, and emergencies could well be taking place under the radar in schools, there is no doubt that the absence of nursing support in schools as a result of the failure of the Minister to make a decision on this matter could lead to him and his Department being found liable. They have certainly been warned by official advisers that such support is urgently needed. I urge the Minister to take a proactive approach and give schools and SNAs the support they need to deal with complex medical needs. SNAs are not qualified to administer medications or apply dressings that may have be necessary for certain students and they need support.

We support the motion. We support SNAs who do a wonderful job and we need to ensure they can continue to do so. They must be kept in post, given permanent jobs and careers and trained properly to do their jobs. Fundamentally, as the comprehensive review states, we need to ensure that the right of children to access education in their local school is fulfilled. Primary education is a constitutional right, and the SNAs are very much part of the fulfilment and execution of that constitutional right.

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