SNA U-Turn is deliberately misleading - Kelly

A government U-Turn brought about by the public's outraged reaction to the recent loss of services in special needs education is deliberately misleading according to one Wexford Councillor.  Sinn Féin Cllr Anthony Kelly said that while he welcomed the allocation of 500 new teaching posts to help cope with the record number of children needing support in the education system from September, it simply wasn't enough and would provide little comfort for schools like Scoil Mhuire in Wexford town who will now lose 2.5 SNAs.

Cllr Kelly said;

"Sinn Féin called on this government to reverse the stealth cuts to SNA hours.  While we welcome their decision to back down and allocate 500 new teaching posts to help deal with an influx of new children needing support into the education system this September, it is still not enough.  "

"Government spokespeople have made much of the fact that more than 42,500 students will need additional help from this September, a rise of over 4000.  22,000 pupils will also need support from special needs assistants.  The Ministers U-Turn does not provide for these children who will in a lot of cases lose access to SNA services as they stood this year." 

"Scoil Mhuire in Wexford town will once again be on the receiving end of these cuts.  They will lose 2.5 SNAs.  Clearly the Ministers U-Turn is worthless to the children and parents who rely so heavily on these valued services in Scoil Mhuire."

"What the Government  seem to forget is everyone knew record numbers of children needing extra assistance would be entering the system next year.  It should not have come as a surprise to our Department of Education and our government who seem to have been blissfully unaware of what was going on.  If they cannot manage this state efficiently, maybe it's time they moved out of the way and let other people try to represent the best interests of the Irish people."