David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the contributions of Members to the important debate we are having this evening. The SNA scheme is one of the main components of the overall support structure for children with special educational needs which is provided by the Department of Education and Skills. In 2011 the Department spent some €1.247 billion on special educational needs. This year the Department will spend some €1.78 billion on special education needs. By any measure, this is a very substantial investment and constitutes an increase of some 42%, much of which was provided during the worst economic crisis to affect our country. This investment has enabled the growing participation of children with special educational needs in our schools and will ensure that their participation and progression within the education system continues to be fully supported.

Each year more and more children have availed of the support of SNAs. This year more than 34,600 children will be supported by SNAs. That is the positive. Many children are supported to remain longer in schools than they might have in the past without this support. However, it is important that we test and review our systems to ensure that they remain the most effective and relevant form of support. For this reason the Minister, Deputy Bruton, has strongly welcomed the recently completed comprehensive review conducted by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. I ask colleagues to read it and read it again. It is a very good document and a really comprehensive review. In undertaking the review, the NCSE consulted widely with education partners and stakeholders, including SNAs and their representatives and parents and students. The recommendations of the report have taken account of inputs from all of these stakeholders, including SNAs and their representatives.

The review highlighted the important role SNAs play in assisting students with additional care needs to attend school and acknowledged that the scheme is greatly valued by parents, students and schools. Recommendations for a new front-loaded model of allocation and the development of structured professional development for SNAs are very positive outcomes and their implementation would ensure this very valuable support is targeted to deliver the right supports at the right time to students with additional care needs.

The SNA scheme will provide for the allocation of some 15,000 SNAs across some 3,500 schools this year. SNAs are employed by boards of management and are subject to the normal employment terms and conditions for such positions. Duties are determined by the boards of management and these are guided by Department circular 30/2014, which lists the primary and secondary functions to be undertaken by SNAs in schools. The Department is confident that the supplementary panel arrangements which are in place are sufficiently responsive to the needs of SNAs. As stated previously, the panel arrangements have been demonstrated to work effectively for SNAs and schools, and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, is committed to the continued effective operation of the scheme in consultation with education partners, as provided for in national agreements.

Procedures are in place involving schools, school management bodies, the Department of Education and Skills and staff interests to deal with SNA grievances and issues at school and national levels, and the Department will continue to engage with staff interests and school management on SNA matters. Due to the annual increase in SNA available positions and the guidance and supplementary panel arrangements already agreed and in place, the position for SNAs has markedly improved in terms of job security and stability of employment. With the implementation of the recommendations in the comprehensive review of the SNA scheme, that will improve even further. There will be more certainty when that happens.

I look forward to the Government considering proposals for the implementation of the recommendations of the NCSE review to ensure that the delivery of supports to children with special educational needs is both better and more equitable for future years, and to ensure we provide for the best outcomes possible for students with special educational needs.

Additional training and up-skilling of SNAs is included in the recommendations. We welcome the motion. This is an important debate. It is important that we keep this to the fore. Thirty-four thousand six hundred and fifty students are receiving support at present. This represents a huge increase. Colleagues are correct, however, that we need to keep reviewing. We need to keep improving and doing better. That is what the Minister and Department want to do and are doing with the support of colleagues in the House. I thank my colleagues for the debate.

See this speech in context