I am a bit astounded by the Minister's response. I do not think it sets the tone. She is really doing herself a disservice. She is doing the Government a disservice. Most of all, she is doing all those people in the Gallery a complete and utter disservice. She has attacked the vulnerable. Why is it that the vulnerable get attacked time and again? These people have fought, rallied, protested, camped out and demanded that each child who needs an SNA is provided with an SNA. She has come in, in her wisdom - I say that lightly - and put a pen through all of that. The Minister said there have been misunderstandings and mistruths. That is pretty strong stuff coming from her when she got it wrong. She has severely attacked SNAs, parents, pupils and principals and families across this country. She caused an awful lot of embarrassment to herself. She has made a U-turn but is not calling it that. I think she needs to own it. It goes down much better and she will get over it a lot quicker because these guys are going to let her slide off with the nonsense she has just said, and neither will we. Again, it is the most vulnerable. I keep saying that. The most vulnerable in our society are always the first to be targeted and this is what is happening. I do not oppose the re-evaluation of SNA allocations across schools. It is vital to ensure schools are properly resourced and children receive every support in order to get a full education. From speaking with staff of schools in the Dublin South Central constituency, St. James's Primary School in Basin Lane and Canal Way Educate Together also in Basin Lane, they all agree. However, parents and SNAs in my district believe that her advised toolkit criteria is unfair. Many children who previously qualified for SNAs, such as those needing emotional regulation and managing sensory overload, no longer qualify. How wrong and tone-deaf can the Minister be? She should own her own misguided, misleading statements and actions and please do it now.

Sentiment score: -0.10