Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

Will the Leader bring the Taoiseach's attention to the results of the seminar on the abolition of the Seanad to which Senator Mary White referred earlier? The clincher argument at this seminar was that abolishing the Seanad would lead to a democratic deficit with the checks and balances necessary to a functioning democracy diluted. I have no interest in spending the next five years here arguing whether the Seanad should be abolished. Having an effective and efficient Seanad with the participation of all Members is the best way for those who believe reform of the Seanad is the answer.

The great democratic deficit in this country is that we are beholden to the kindness of strangers and that we have lost our economic sovereignty. We are a vassal state. The great task for all of us is to restore our economic independence.

What the Minister has done with special needs assistants, SNAs, is not highly significant. Last Thursday, the Seanad debated the provision of language support teachers. When I suggested that 1,400 language support teachers was too many, a Member on the other side laughed at me. I recall in 2007 when the then Minister appointed 200 more language support teachers, some schools went from having two to six support teachers with no proper evaluation of children's need for language support until 2008. It was like putting the cart before the horse.

Over 10,000 SNAs are assigned to schools, not individual pupils. The system, however, needs to be regulated more with an emphasis on value for money. From my teaching experience, I remember a special education needs organiser, SENO, informing me that a child coming from another school did not require a special needs assistant as he only had behavioural problems. While I argued he did, the SENO won in the end and the child did not receive a SNA. The boy now is much better off and his independence has increased while his behavioural problems have reduced. It is not always a clear cut case of just providing a SNA. Their roles also need to be defined.