Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Like the two previous speakers, I am somewhat disappointed with the Minister of State's reply. SNAs are professionals and they want to do their job as well as possible. They are willing to undertake this training to improve their abilities. Without SNAs, many students would be excluded from education. Their work is imperative to ensure inclusion. I ask the Minister of State to go back and revisit this matter. There must be an incentive for SNAs to improve the work they do through this training programme. Members of other professional bodies would not be asked to do work for which they do not receive some sort of accreditation and which could be reflected in their employment conditions and pay.

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