Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter today, which is relevant at the moment, particularly for my own Ministry for special education.

The role of the SNA is critical. The Deputy has very eloquently set out the non-exhaustive list of duties they undertake daily. In my visits to different schools throughout the country, I have met many SNAs. I have spoken to them first-hand about the work they do. I know from the families I meet daily - the Deputy also made this point - that the majority of children with additional needs would not be able to exist in a school environment to any proper capacity without an SNA there to support them. The SNAs facilitate the support of children with additional needs and they minimise disruption in the class for a child and his or her peers in regard to reaching. They also help to increase the independent living and life skills we want all children with additional needs to endeavour to attain.

The Deputy will be aware that €2.2 billion, which is almost 25% of the entire education budget, is dedicated to special education. In 2011, we had approximately 10,575 SNAs. We now have 19,169 SNAs, which is an 81% increase. There has been a considerable amount of investment made to ensure we have sufficient SNAs for our children with additional needs. The Deputy correctly pointed out it is not just about having SNAs in place. It is also about their qualifications and, in particular, their training. When I took up my role as the first Minister of State with responsibility for special education, I looked at the review carried out by the National Council for Special Education in 2018. It was very strong on the need for training. It was on that basis we set up the very first training course for SNAs which, as mentioned by the Deputy, is in UCD. The course has been completely oversubscribed. It is gratisin the sense there is no cost to the SNA to do the training. It is very valuable for them. There are very good modules within that course.

If we are going to be looking at accreditation, we need to look first at the outcomes of that course and to identify what worked and what did not. We also need to speak to the SNAs. I note the contents of the survey mentioned by the Deputy. It is useful for us to be aware of that. On the qualification, as correctly pointed out by the Deputy, it is FETAC level 3 on the national framework of qualifications or a minimum of three Ds in the junior certificate. It is important to stress the existing qualification has not taken away from the calibre of SNA we have now. A number of them will have an additional qualifications on top of what is required of them. The SNA deployment is carried out by the schools. There is no longer a requirement for a diagnosis, especially in a mainstream class, to avail of the skills of an SNA. That was a very important step, particularly when we are talking about children in mainstream classes. The SNA is, perhaps, even more critical in a special class or special school.

See this speech in context