Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le gach Teachta. I thank the Minister, Minister of State and all the contributors for supporting the motion and for their genuine, heartfelt support for SNAs, who do a tremendous, caring, dedicated, valuable job. As said earlier, they see it as a career or vocation. The majority I come across in Tipperary, from Carrick on Suir up to Moneygall and across from Araglin to Ballingarry, work diligently day in, day out. It is more than work; it is a vocation. They look after a very special cohort of children, who are vulnerable and who have very sensitive needs.

It is a pity it had to end up in an argument because we are all passionate about this. I will not even refer to what was said in tweets and other media. Let the people decide that this is something we must reflect on with a view to offering support and better working conditions. The conditions of service need to be improved greatly. Special employment conditions need to be considered. What is occurring is totally unfair. We were debating the employment legislation earlier and seeking conditions and rights but the cohort I am referring to, who are doing such vital, valuable, dedicated work, have no real secure tenure of employment.

I recognise what the Minister said and the effort he and the Minister of State are making. Tosach maith, leath na hoibre. I acknowledge that. We are not being negative. We want to be as positive as we can this evening. I welcome the report to which both Ministers referred, the NESC report. It is very timely. SNAs have been with us for a while. They were seriously affected by the downturn in the economy and the FEMPI cuts, which people seem to want to forget about. Many Deputies on my right reminded us that Deputy Micheál Martin played a role in this. Of course, he has. We all do. We want to make the conditions better and look after those affected, especially the daoine óga and those with special needs.

There was a wonderful testimony from Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. He said dyslexia, dyspraxia and many such conditions were not even heard of 20 years ago. They were certainly unheard of when we were in school. My late brother was a paediatrician of some renown. He did a lot of work in this area. When he used words associated with the area, I did not know what he meant. It is a bad day on which one does not learn something. We have come a long way but we have a long way to go.

The Minister referred to the fact that more children are presenting. They are. There is an earlier diagnosis, which is vital for the children. It is very important to their future. We must try to keep pace in meeting the needs because there are people presenting with conditions that did not present before.

I listened carefully to Deputy Harty. The SNAs are at the front line of the service when parents present with a child who, for whatever reason, is just not able to engage practically and reasonably with their siblings and friends. The parents are worried and really upset. The parents used always be waiting until July. Deputy Barry referred to the overwhelming vote by the SNAs. There were put to the pin of their collar. They had to make their stand. I hope that, as a result of the vote and threat of industrial action, the Minister will take action. He was able to find the funding. Thankfully, we are now in a better situation financially but, as I said, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. It is the very start for those concerned. It is their early years education.

I could not say enough about the SNAs who operate in the schools with which I am familiar. I have served on boards of management of national schools and secondary schools and I served on a naíonra. I served at all levels except third level. I am in the fourth level at the moment, learning something every day, I hope. Often we might need special assistance from the Ceann Comhairle or Leas-Cheann Comhairle to keep us on track and sometimes to protect us.

I listened very carefully to what the Minister said this evening. I am not sure it will prove to be of comfort to the parents in schools who are sick and tired of hearing how committed the Department is to SNAs because, nevertheless, it allows dysfunction to continue year after year. I know the Department has a job to do but it needs to empathise and walk in the shoes of the parents with the children concerned. It needs to walk in the shoes of the SNAs. I met SNAs in St. Mary's CBS in Irishtown this year. It has two special units. There were champions there in Mr. Ryan, a former principal, and the others who set them up. They make an effort. A whole-school team makes an effort and the SNAs are a vital cog in the wheel. They do tremendous work and they are dedicated and compassionate. They are attached to the children when they are in the school. They wait, ready, willing and able, for the new cohort each year.

The role of SNAs is very clearly laid out in the Department's circular of 2014. It confirms that SNAs are those providing schools with additional support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs, as everybody referred to tonight. That phrase "additional and significant care needs" really goes to the heart of why this motion and issue are so important.

I thank my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group and our staff and everybody else who assisted us.

We know from the NCSE that more than 34,600 students are currently being supported and that SNAs are deeply valued. We want that to continue. The Minister mentioned the comprehensive review of the special needs assistant scheme carried out by the NCSE. That review found a broader range of support options is required to address students' additional care and support needs in schools. The Minister was talking glowingly about the report but we cannot be selective; we must dig deep into the whole comprehensive report.

The National Council for Special Education considers that the broader range of support options required to address students' additional care needs includes timely access to support from personnel with relevant qualifications and a wide set of skill sets. An example of this was provided and I want to repeat it to highlight why changes are important. A student may require support because of severe sensory processing difficulties associated with an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, diagnosis. In such cases, his or her school may require support from a behaviour practitioner to assist in addressing the behaviour difficulties that arise from the sensory processing difficulties. The school may also require advice from an occupational therapist to explore environmental adaptations which could assist in reducing the level of sensory difficulty the student experiences in the first place. These interventions will help the student build coping skills, not just manage the symptoms. It is vital to intervene as early as possible. The example makes it clear what is at stake.

The NCSE, as part of its review, also recommended that, in line with international best practice, students' additional care needs are identified and met through a continuum of support frameworks which includes whole-school, targeted-school and intensive-school support within an inclusive school context. That is really what parents want for their children. That is what SNAs want to deliver day in, day out, every week. It must be a wrap-around service which supports all the needs of the children, delivered by hard-working and committed SNAs with permanent job security. It is not a big ask. It is a vocation for the SNAs and they want to help. They have upskilled themselves but they need more retraining to deal with the different complexities which are thrown up with new diagnoses regularly. They need the best possible support.

Above all, they need respect from their employer, the Department, which works through the boards of management. Membership of a board of management is an arduous task. Boards of management have to deal with employment legislation, health and safety regulations agus gach rud eile. The Minister must support the boards of management, the parents' councils, the teaching staff, as well as the ancillary school staff down to the caretakers. SNAs need certainty. They do not need to be told in May, June or July that they will have a contract in September. An SNA losing his or her position can be an emotional wrench. While they lack job security, they have passion, dedication, enthusiasm and a vocational spirit as educators to those young children with special needs. They impart those skill sets to the parents. Parents are happy to leave their children in school, knowing they will be cared for and properly looked after.

I salute the SNAs up and down the country. The Government must put its money where its mouth is and implement - fully, not selectively - the recommendations of the report.

See this speech in context