Taoiseach pledges special needs support [IrishTimes]
- Published: 23 June 2011
ALL SCHOOLS requiring special needs assistant (SNA) support would receive it, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said. “The perception that there are serious cutbacks is simply not true.”
He said Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn had announced 90 per cent of the allocation of SNAs, which meant that he had held back 10 per cent, a total of 475 posts.
The Taoiseach said a report on value for money and effectiveness had highlighted a situation where in some cases children were allocated SNAs not because of their particular challenge or disability but for therapeutic or pedagogical reasons. “It became an understanding that schools could get SNAs for practically anything and that system could not continue.’’
He said the reduction in the overall number was less than 2 per cent to maintain the cap set for this year.
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