Will every child get a place in a special class?

I spoke on this last night here in the Dáil and again today with the Taoiseach. This has been an absolutely catastrophic number of weeks for so many people for whom this matter has caused so much stress. I said last night that, as a Parliament, we have to take account of the fact that so many children, particularly those with additional needs, along with parents, SNAs and school communities, were deeply affected. We cannot just turn around on a whim all of a sudden and stop talking about this, because for two weeks…

Hear, hear.

Oh no, we have not done that.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing the motion forward. I welcome the fact there will be statements on this in the Dáil tomorrow. I welcome any parents, SNAs or students who are in the Gallery. The Minister and Minister of State will appreciate this has been a significantly difficult two weeks for SNAs, school communities, parents and children with additional needs. I have met and spoken with a number of school principals, SNAs and parents in particular across the country over the past two weeks as a result of the fact …

On behalf of my colleague, Deputy Robert O'Donoghue, I welcome the Tidy Towns group from Rush. Over the last number of days, there has been an absolute outcry of support for special needs assistants, SNAs, school communities, children with special educational needs and SNA provision for the coming academic year. This outcry and this stress have been caused by the Government and policy decisions that the Government has made. These actions and communications have been cruel; there is no other word for it. Is it any w…

With all due respect, while I agree with the stuff the Tánaiste has said, he has not answered any of my questions. He raised the issue of care needs. Does he accept that the care needs system has become too rigid? I am putting on the record of the Dáil that those who are on the autism spectrum and those who have inclusion needs, social anxiety or academic needs, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or dyspraxia, do not fit into the criteria you need to meet to get the support of a SNA. They will not have that support. Tha…

This is the second time today that I have spoken about SNA reviews. I raised the matter earlier with the Tánaiste on Leaders' Questions. The Minister of State knows that this is the most pressing issue right now. It is going to affect so many students across the country. I have lost count of the number of schools that have contacted me. Later, I will be meeting online with parents, students, principals, SNAs and members of trade unions in relation to what this SNA cut involves and what the pause actually means. We …

I concur with all of my colleagues who have spoken. I presume the engagements involve the Minister of State, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for education. If there is somebody else involved, I would appreciate if we were informed of that. In that meeting tonight, can I inform parents, SNAs, teachers and students that for now, this pause will be lifted in the coming weeks? Can I also confirm that the schools that received sanction of new SNAs will get those SNAs?

We have heard a load of waffle from the Minister of State with responsibility for employment. It is the most anti-worker speech I have heard in this Chamber. He has given a speech, as Minister of State for employment, about the "right to request remote working" that is the biggest load of waffle he could ever say to any worker who believes that they should be given a right to remote working. It should not be lost on any of us that this Chamber is full of politicians who engage in a variety of flexible work practice…

Is that a commitment?

What does that mean?

Can I have statements in the Dáil with the Minister for Education and Youth to explain why she has now paused the SNA reviews, why her Department has caused such stress to SNAs, parents and students with additional needs and if these decisions will be reversed? How dare the Taoiseach come in here and say schools are used to appeals. It is shameful and it looks like now the NCSE is asking teachers to do the job of SNAs. The letters being received state the teachers have to "engage in training". It says the teachers …

Read the letter.

Read the letter.

A third party did.

I wish the Minister the best of luck and I look forward to many robust debates on educational matters. I am sure the Minister is in very good hands there with the experience of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. I just want to focus on the Government's decision-making processes for assistance in State examinations for children with specific learning difficulties. My question concerns the recent announcement of ten extra minutes for children with specific learning needs.

In the decision-making process this was a 5% to 7% extra time allocation. Dyslexia Ireland has highlighted that other jurisdictions normally offer much more with a minimum of 25% extra time for students with dyslexia in second level exams, using the United Kingdom as an example. In relation to the decision-making processes here the State Examinations Commission would have made this decision. Would the commission have brought it back to the Minister's Department to sign off on? Will the Minister clarify if psycholog…

I want to make it clear that my intention here is not to criticise progress. I welcome progress but the evidence has been collated by advocacy organisations, by the students themselves, by parents and by other NGO's in relation to what we can possibly do to alleviate the pressure faced by students with dyslexia, dyscalculia or other specific learning difficulties. I have a fundamental question and it has to be asked. How did we come to this decision? I do not understand it. When comparing it to the United Kingdom o…

At budget time, I welcomed the additional SNA posts. I was concerned as to whether these were new or existing roles but I did welcome them. All of us in this House have received numerous emails over the past day or so following SNA reviews and information that has filtered down to schools. I have been contacted by numerous teachers, principals, parents and SNAs, particularly from Bweeng National School. Many schools that have been notified that they will have their SNA resources reduced for the coming school year h…