If Deputy Tóibín does not arrive, Deputy Flynn will probably take his time. What has happened over the past few weeks with regard to special needs assistants has been nothing short of disgraceful. Families, schools and SNAs were thrown into turmoil because the National Council for Special Education sent out letters telling up to 200 schools that they would lose SNA support next year. In some cases, schools were staring down the loss of half of their entire SNA team, a blow no community could possibly absorb. It was not common sense from the Government that stopped these cuts. It was the people - the parents, SNAs, teachers and communities who stood up. Tens of thousands of people signed petitions and protests were being organised up and down the country. The pressure became too big, and only then did the Government finally blink and pull the handbrake. Now we are told that no school will lose an SNA in September and that an additional €19 million in funding will be provided to protect those posts. That is welcome but, if we are honest, this is an embarrassing, last-minute U-turn that should never have been needed in the first place. One of the many emails I received from parents stated: Dear Michael, I'm contacting you in relation to the national issue of reduced SNAs in our primary school. To say this is an issue of the utmost importance would be a grossly misrepresenting statement. As a parent of a child who for the last two years has been availing of the SNA service within our school - a local primary school - I find the prospect of reducing the very necessary numbers of assistants in future disgraceful. My son who's now aged six has been within the catchment of the special needs programme since he began primary school and has flourished with the help of an already under pressure service. Over the last two years, we have seen our son grow up in a system where he now looks forward to attending school in the morning as he is being equipped with the necessary skills to interact with students, teachers and parents alike. This has been a godsend for both my wife and I. To see my son benefit from the little extra attention that is most certainly needed on a daily basis has been eye-opening as to the benefits of the service. The benefits of this are making and retaining friends, coping under pressure, with social interactions, emotional support and regulation, academic performance and general mental health and well-being. These are but a few of the benefits that we as parents see on the most superficial level and are not yet aware of the long-term benefits that this will most certainly have on our son but are confident that the benefits will be massive. I'm asking you to help get the government to reassess and reconsider the proposed actions for the benefit of Ireland's future generations. This is a generation that the Minister cannot and must not let fall between the cracks of society. SNAs do not constitute another luxury. They are essential. They are the difference between a child getting through the school day with dignity and support or being left behind. Anyone who works with SNAs, especially in rural Ireland, knows the enormous weight they carry. This should never have been treated as a line item that one can cut on a spreadsheet, yet that is exactly what happened. We are told the measure has been paused but a pause is not a fix, as has been pointed out. The entire framework behind SNA allocation is out of date and unworkable and is leaving families in constant fear that their support will be taken away year after year. The Government should not congratulate itself on reversing a mistake it should never have made. It should fix the system, scrap the broken allocation model and give schools and families the certainty they deserve, not reviews, pauses or panicked letters landing on principals' desks. I was speaking to a teacher over the weekend who has two SNAs in her classroom. She told me that there is no way she could teach her other students and help the two children in her classroom that needed help. Deputy Boyd Barrett said the Government should trust schools and teachers. That is where the breakdown is happening here. I was on a board of management for long enough, so I know how difficult it is to run a school. The Government does not trust these people and this was built on the back of untrustworthy carry-on.

Sentiment score: 0.09