Review has cut 1,600 special needs posts

MORE than 1,600 special needs assistant (SNA) posts have been cut from pupils with disabilities in a review that is not yet complete, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan revealed last night.

But, she said, 920 of the posts were made redundant because the child the SNA had been assigned to was no longer attending the school.

The remaining 733 SNA jobs went where it was felt the pupils’ care needs had been reduced.

Parents and teachers have complained that the review by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has been applying criteria too strictly and taking no account of the educational needs of children.

Opposing a Dáil motion from Fine Gael which called for the review to be frozen, the new education minister said more than 1,300 new SNA posts have been sanctioned in the same period, reflecting the rising school population. She said the overall number of SNA posts is down 3.5% because the estimated 10,500 SNAs employed a year ago included many who had been kept in schools after the relevant pupil had left.

Of more than 3,800 of the country’s 4,000-plus schools already reviewed, 900 had no SNA while 1,500 have had no change in the level of SNA supports.

However, 832 schools have had their allocation reduced and 579 received an increase in SNA support.

Ms Coughlan rejected suggestions that the NCSE had made decisions to reduce or withdraw SNA provision for pupils based solely on observing the classroom.

She said special education needs organisers spoke with school staff and considered professional reports before reaching decisions.

“There is no question of posts being removed from schools where they meet the scheme’s criteria. There have been suggestions that my department had given a target to the NCSE for reducing the number of SNAs. There is absolutely no truth in such claims.

“The purpose of an SNA is to support the care needs of children with disabilities, not to create dependency.

“Where a child develops to such an extend that he or she no longer needs that support, that is something to be celebrated.”

Fine Gael education spokesperson, Brian Hayes, said demand for supports is rising rather than falling because of a growing school population. “At a time when we are recapitalising the banks, is it not morally indefensible that the current government stands over the abolition of SNAs to the most vulnerable children in Irish education?”

Mr Hayes told the Tánaiste to stop allowing an unelected body make the wrong decisions, and said the NCSE performance in a recent appearance before the Oireachtas education committee was pathetic as key questions went unanswered and highlighted that the review was hopelessly inconsistent from the start.

He said it was unfair that no appeals system was available to parents or schools in the early stages but the one now in place is not independent as it is carried out by a more senior NCSE official.

An Bord Snip last summer recommended a 20% cut in the number of SNAs from the level of around 10,500 at the time, to save €60 million a year.