Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and they really need to be given a decent wage for the important work they do. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, visited Tipperary last week and she came to a number of schools. She visited two schools in particular, the fantastic special educational schools that we have in Cashel, namely, Scoil Chormaic and Scoil Aonghusa. She met the two principals, Lorraine Lowry and Siobhan Keyes Ryan, and we saw the phenomenal work that all of teachers and the SNAs do.

As a Government, we really need to recognise that SNAs who work in special educational schools need extra recognition because of the difficult challenges they face, for obvious reasons. The work they do gives such relief to parents during the time their kids spend in those schools.On the greater conversation regarding special needs assistants, SNAs, we all give them platitudes for the service that they provide but they need to be given a salary and decent recognition for the work they do. Simple issues include flat-rate expenses. Flat-rate expenses are given over a four-year term where one can claim money back. They are given to almost every profession in the country, except SNAs. Teachers can claim back €500 over a four-year period because they are teachers but SNAs cannot. It was introduced before SNAs ever existed. Such measures need to be changed to recognise the work that they do.