Whatever a Government may say and whatever it may have done in the past few days to try to stem the tide of parental fury on this issue, there is no disputing the key point put forward in this motion, namely, that this fiasco has inflicted profound distress and anxiety on vulnerable children through a rigid, clinical and deeply flawed interpretation of care needs criteria. We all welcomed the announcement that there will be no reduction in the number of SNAs for the next school year, and of course we welcome the additional €19 million in funding. However, as has already been noted, this does not address the fundamental issue around access criteria, nor does it make clear where the €19 million will come from - perhaps the school building budget or this summer work scheme; who knows. We need clarity on that. It certainly cannot come from either of those pots. Indeed, when it comes to children's needs in this State, it seems there is a perpetual state of crisis. We need only mention the blight of child homelessness, the children's disability network teams in Offaly and elsewhere which are grossly understaffed, the CAMHS scandal of overmedicated children, and the school meals programme that is handing out poor quality and mislabelled food. This SNA fiasco is just the latest in a long line of issues where the State is actively failing our children. Trust has been shattered on this issue and it will take more than a severe U-turn, one that could have given Government Ministers whiplash, to repair that trust. As a former principal and teacher, I see how invaluable the work our SNAs do is. It helps children with special needs to achieve their potential and it supports them. We must ensure SNAs are listened to, respected and given certainty and clarity. Those are the basics.

Sentiment score: 0.04