I listened to the Minister's comments yesterday. I cannot express how angry and frustrated SNAs, principals, teachers, parents and SENOs are. What the Government, including the Taoiseach, is trying to do is gaslight schools, parents and SNAs. The Government's policy is to blame everyone else. The buck stops here. I was in the Chamber two weeks ago when this matter was highlighted for the Taoiseach and the Minister. They doubled down at that point. Now, they are saying "We did not know the cuts were going to be this bad or that the review were going to be so severe." They did know, however, because we raised the matter. I raised it with the Minister two weeks ago. The Minister and the Taoiseach stated that they cannot understand the NCSE's approach. The NCSE is implementing Government policy. The Minister and the Taoiseach are quick to blame the NCSE for implementing the policy, but the Government wrote that policy. I have correspondence from the Minister which states that the Department does not believe in giving SNA support to children in fifth and sixth class because they might be refused it in secondary school. I have that in writing from the Minister. The Minister and Taoiseach stated that this is not their policy and that they did not what was happening. The best one was the reference to bad communication. What a load of bluff. The Government is punishing vulnerable children on the off-chance that they may not have supports when they get into secondary school. In the context of the cuts relating to SNAs, the Government is failing parents, schools, SNAs and, most importantly, children. It is making the job of SENOs impossible. A teacher's job is to lead a classroom and to ensure that the curriculum is taught. The job of the SNA is to ensure that children can follow. It is a simple system but it works, because SNAs are there to support the children who need it. A child in fourth class spoke to me about his full-time SNA. There are five children in the class who have been diagnosed with autism and ADHD. The child in question said that his classroom was crazy when the SNA was out for one day. The students learnt nothing that day. The teacher could not bring them out on a movement break, spend time with them or teach properly. That was one day without an SNA. I know the cuts have been postponed and are being reviewed. They should be abolished. It is more SNAs that we need. Children need to be supported and this Government needs to be honest with people.

Sentiment score: -0.04