Government accused of hypocrisy after SNA hours cut

Eoin English and Niall Murray

“We’re the second richest country in Europe. I just don’t understand how you can do something like that,” Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said.

“The trauma inflicted on children and families is of no consequence.

“The Government have just finished the Disability Bill. But the definitions are so narrow that it doesn’t include everyone.

“There are no rights, there is no framework on how it will be rolled out and I haven’t been able to get answers to questions on whether funding will be ring-fenced.

“All Minister Frank Fahey will say is ‘trust me’. This Disability Bill is of no benefit to Shane.”

Ms Lynch said she is aware of a number of other schools awaiting inspection and who are worried their SNA hours will also be cut.

She said she will raise the issue in the Dáil next week and use Shane Kelleher’s case as an example.

Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kelleher, the deputy Government chief whip, described the decision to cut Shane’s SNA hours as “very regrettable”.

“We must try and reverse the decision,” he said.

“We need to make an argument that stands up, put forward a coherent argument and highlight why a SNA is essential for Shane.” Mr Kelleher said Shane could struggle in mainstream education without his SNA.

“Anything we can do to progress the case will be done over the coming weeks,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Government has been accused, by Fine Gael, of causing chaos in primary schools because of the last-minute introduction of new special needs staffing arrangements for September.

The party’s education spokesperson Olwyn Enright also accused the department of giving principals little assistance to understand the regulations, which will mean more teachers than normal are being redeployed between schools this summer.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin announced the system just over three weeks ago, providing 660 extra resource teachers for children with learning disabilities.

But schools only had until the beginning of this week to respond with details.

A Department of Education spokesperson said the scheme is a major improvement on the previous system, which required a psychological assessment for every child before they were given resource teaching hours. Resource teachers will now be in place from the start of the school year, so any child who needs their assistance can get it straight away.