Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I second the motion. I reiterate that we are not supporting the Government counter-motion, if that needs to be emphasised. I commend my colleague, Senator Ó Ríordáin, on moving this motion on behalf of Labour Senators. It arises from his own long experience as a teacher and principal and seeing first-hand the important role of SNAs. From my own experience as a parent of a primary school child, I know the invaluable contribution made by SNAs to supporting the work of schools. In many classrooms across the country, as the Minister is aware, SNAs increasingly form a vital part of the school and educational infrastructure. I thank Senator Ó Ríordáin for facilitating a briefing earlier today with IMPACT representing SNAs and I welcome our colleagues from IMPACT and those representing SNAs who are in the Public Gallery for this debate. We are disappointed that the Government has tabled a counter-motion. We believe that the wording of our own motion is sensible, reasonable and reflects the real concerns and views of SNAs.

I reiterate what we heard from Kevin Callinan and others at the IMPACT briefing earlier. As Senator Ó Ríordáin has said, this motion and the principles behind it are not about money or the pay of SNAs. They are about respect for SNAs and the treatment, conditions and employment rights of SNAs, particularly their desire and absolute entitlement to be treated with respect in the workplace, which the wording of our motion reflects.In particular, our motion seeks to emphasise the major problems that delayed publication of special needs assistants, SNAs, allocations causes to individual SNAs and schools, which must plan for the years ahead. In particular, this year the IMPACT ballot spoken of by Senator Ó Ríordáin was prompted by the delayed publication of SNA allocations to July, just two months before the new term for the 2017 and 2018 school year started. This caused enormous uncertainty for thousands of SNAs around the country who simply did not know until the last minute whether they had a job to return to in September. Not only is this disrespectful to SNAs but it is disrespectful to the schools, parents and, most important, the children whose education depends on the SNA allocation.

I will briefly address some of the broader points our motion also reflects, particularly the importance of SNAs in ensuring our children achieve full potential in schools. Many of us were very disturbed by comments made around the budget this year, with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, quoted being critical of the rise in the numbers of SNAs. He said he was alarmed by rapidly escalating costs while referring to the fact there are more SNAs than gardaí. This language was heavily criticised by Ms Lorraine Dempsey of the Special Needs Parents Association, who said she was concerned about the dangerous use of language. One can consider some of the commentary of the time. An editorial in The Irish Times pointed out that there has been an incidence of SNA allocations increasing but this is due to rising child populations, medical advances, better diagnoses and better recognition of the rights of children to be schooled in a mainstream educational setting. After years of playing catch-up, we are finally making progress in meeting the needs of some of our most vulnerable children. The incidence of special needs diagnoses is increasing and so are the numbers of children who previously would not have been in mainstream schools. For example, there are 700 more children with special needs entering third level now versus two years ago, up 31%. We are seeing dramatically improved outcomes for children and young adults as a result of SNA allocations. Children are being enabled for the first time in our education system to meet their full potential.

Senator Ó Ríordáin also spoke of recent announcements by the Minister last week that we very much welcome. That happened after we submitted the text of the motion, if I am correct. We very much welcome the Minister's announcement, as reported on 6 December, that a total of 130 additional special needs assistants would be made available for allocation to schools between January and June 2018 and that schools would be informed of their allocation for the 2018-2019 school year much earlier, possibly May rather than late summer. The announcement was welcomed by the Special Needs Parents Association and we also welcome it, as will the SNAs and IMPACT. It is still not good enough that we have waited until what seems the last minute before we debate this motion for the announcement to be made. In 2016, the Oireachtas education committee, as Senator Ó Ríordáin noted, specifically recommended that allocations be made earlier, ideally in March or April of the year preceding the year in which they are to be allocated.

We are disappointed with the amendment. We recognise the advances and increases, as well as the fact there will be more than 14,000 special needs assistants in place as a result of the recent announcement. We very much recognise and welcome the great increase in support that it represents for children with special needs in our educational system. However, not enough has yet been done to recognise the employment rights of SNAs, improve their working conditions and ensure they are treated in the workplace with the respect to which they are really entitled, given the vital contribution they make to our education system.

I hope the Minister will listen to what we are putting forward and I know other Labour Party colleagues will also speak on this. We are appealing to colleagues across the House to support our motion and reject the amendment on the basis that we must ensure SNAs are treated with respect in the workplace.