Deputies from around the House have been speaking about the importance of what SNAs provide in education settings for our most vulnerable students. As Deputy Connolly noted, it is very regrettable that we have ended up in this situation, where there is such anger and hurt. As a TD representing the people of Cork East who is conscious of the very good work SNAs do in our schools, I saw at first hand in my time in secondary and primary school SNAs being rolled out. I was born in 1997 so I got to see this. They make an enormous impact. A Minister of State is present in the Chamber and I know he is fully aware of how important the work SNAs do in a school is. I appreciate the chance to engage and speak with the Minister of State over the past couple of days about the concerns my constituents have. We heard the news, late in the day, that €19 million in funding has been made available. The communication errors that occurred and the stress this has caused for SNAs, school communities and those directly impacted, who are, of course, the children and their families, are unfortunate. We need to improve how we do these announcements and how these initiatives are taken. We also need to improve decision-making when it comes to who actually takes the decisions. Are Ministers informed by departmental officials and the relevant State agency in respect of what is actually happening in their Departments? This has to be put to bed once and for all. It is happening not alone in the Minister of State's Department but in many others. It is causing huge hurt and political problems for the Government.

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