Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We support the call for the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to come into the House to have a debate about where we are on ending direct provision. Too often I come into this House and speak about the people we are leaving behind. On 28 February we are leaving behind our most vulnerable people. We are leaving behind people in our society with long-term health issues and who will now be living in fear, without the protection of mask wearing. It is something we need to look at. We are forgetting about people who have COPD. I have COPD and I am anxious about people sitting beside me not wearing a mask. I was on the bus yesterday coming from Donegal and I put my bags beside me because I was not comfortable. There are many people in the world, especially in Ireland, who are not comfortable, including wheelchair users, people who have cystic fibrosis or other major underlying health issues already. Unfortunately, this Government has failed to listen to those people and to our elderly people. It is extremely sad.

Last week I met with people from the Respect for SNAs campaign. The scheme for qualification has not been changed since 1979. That was more than 43 years ago and we have not looked at changing the scheme. The Department wants to look at the contracts of SNAs before it looks at the qualifications of SNAs. I am a qualified SNA and I have a FETAC level 5 qualification. We might say it is only an SNA. That is a load of crap. I am sorry, a Chathaoirligh, but an SNA is more than just an SNA. We go into classrooms and we are caregivers and educators. That needs to be respected and recognised and, most important, it needs to be valued. If we are all serious about giving every child equality of opportunity to be successful within our education system, we need to be serious in supporting that success by supporting our SNAs.

The review group is looking at having an expert group to look at the qualifications of an SNA. I support the setting up of that group as soon as possible.