Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is very timely that we are having this debate. I commend the motion and I commend the amendment tabled by my colleague. At a meeting of the education and skills committee this evening, we dealt with the area of special education for approximately three hours. It was a very interesting and informative debate, particularly with regard to coming here afterwards. The reason the committee had the debate was that we decided to have a specific meeting on the topic to ensure all children would and should be given equal opportunities to be educated in the environment that suits them best, preferably in their own community, helping them to reach their personal potential and to thrive. The role of the SNA is exceptionally important in this.

As do many of us, I deal on a day-to-day basis with parents, teachers and schools who have been dealing with a complete lack of clarity about the number of special needs assistants the schools will have. This has added to a lot of chaos in the years up to now. I accept the situation will improve, and this is very important. Last summer there were significant delays which led to significant disruption for teachers, parents and schools and deep uncertainty for the special needs assistants themselves. It is wrong they have employment uncertainty. It is wrong they do not have access to training. In very many situations, as we have seen in some of the surveys carried out by the NCSE, the special needs assistants have added in a huge way to the positive experience of children with special needs.

Last month, the Government announced a pilot project with 150 schools and preschools taking part. I welcome this. It will be in CHO7, which includes my constituency. I certainly would welcome more detail on this.

Going back to the 18-month comprehensive review by the NCSE, there is no doubt there are many students who would not be able to attend school without continuing SNA support. To get better outcomes for the children, we need to respect the role the SNAs play and we need to ensure they have certainty of tenure, that the school and the board of management have certainty about that tenure, and that everybody can work in collaboration to ensure the most positive learning environment possible for a child with special needs.

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