Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to return to an important issue I raised with the Leader two weeks ago, that is, the reduction in the allocation of SNAs for some schools following the recent announcement. Setting aside the totally unacceptable way in which some SNAs found out on a website at 4.20 p.m. in the afternoon that they no longer had a job, the issue now is the unrealistic demands facing the schools that lost SNAs, which are seeking the reallocation of those positions through the exceptional review process.

Under that process, undertaken by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, schools have been sent the details of the lengthy replies that are required of them. On top of all the administrative work required under a normal process, the NCSE is now looking for specific, up-to-date psychological reports outlining schools' specific needs for an SNA. My colleague, Senator Clonan, touched on this issue. We are all aware that schools are being told the NCSE will not engage with them unless these new reports are in place. We all know such reports cannot be assessed in the short term. Indeed, like me and the speaker before me, I am sure all colleagues in the House are dealing with large numbers of parents who are waiting months and years for such assessments for their children. For many of the schools that have contacted me, meeting the requirements is an unrealistic demand in the timeframe involved.

The replies we have received from the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, outline the process and method of appeal but do not acknowledge the timeframe involved in gathering the information for those appeals. We need to allow schools to put forward their best case, based on the information they have on the children involved, without having to go through an assessment that takes so much time. Fórsa has outlined in recent publications that more than 30 SNAs have been lost as a result of the special class reductions. Those SNAs were assisting the most vulnerable students in our education system and I am sure that vulnerability remains. Those children need the expert assistance of SNAs. Without their support and the great work carried out by them, the most vulnerable pupils in our mainstream education system simply will not be able to function on a day-to-day basis.

As I said on the previous occasion we discussed this issue, we need a review of the way allocations are completed and how they are communicated. At least 30 SNA school positions have been lost as part of the review that took place. There are many very upset staff in school communities as we head into the summer. Schools must now try to develop a school plan in time for September as well as preparing for exceptional reviews. Many parents are only now learning that the schools involved will have to adjust their plans for September and are realising the upsetting consequences that will have for their loved ones.

The Leader committed on the previous occasion to raising the way the loss of the SNAs was communicated with those involved. I ask the Deputy Leader to raise the demands being placed on schools via the exceptional review process with the Minister of State and to ask for a different way of conducting the reviews and a change in the timeframes involved.