Walsh criticises “senseless” SNA cuts

Labour councillor John Walsh has criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for the recent SNA scandal.

Last week, the government was forced into a U-turn to cut SNA allocations for Irish schools.

On Tuesday, the government announced that the plan would be halted, albeit for another 12 months (in a seeming attempt to let the current controversy die down).

Walsh said that schools in Dublin 15 need clarity following a “week of confusion.”

The Castleknock councillor said that local school communities have been “unable to plan for the upcoming academic year” as a result of the government’s plans.

Walsh said, “the past week has been one of incredible stress, seeing SNAs and families of children with additional needs plunged into chaos with reckless, senseless cuts to SNA roles nationwide.”

“Schools in Dublin 15 have been left wondering whether vital SNA supports will be removed or staff redeployed under revised criteria that were developed behind closed doors without meaningful engagement with anyone on the ground.””

Walsh, himself an educator, said that the planned SNA cuts were “ludicrous and unacceptable.”

“School communities need certainty for September now, not last-minute changes and unanswered questions about whether they will lose SNAs,” he said.

The Labour councillor said, “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael must now give a cast-iron guarantee that no school in Dublin 15 will lose SNA supports and that no SNA will be redeployed. Treating these essential supports as an open question is an awful way to treat the very people who make our schools work for children with additional needs.”

“We need to stand up, for our SNAs, our communities and children across this country. I am calling on people across Dublin 15 to protest outside Leinster House at 5pm on Wednesday 25th or take part in a local protest on the same day.”