State could breach law on special needs, says McGrath

INDEPENDENT TD Finian McGrath has warned the Government it could face legal charges for breaches of legislation about the provision of education for children with special needs.

The Dublin North Central TD also warned that the State could be in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which he said, stated that “every child has the right to equal opportunity through education”.

He was speaking in advance of a protest by about 700 people outside Leinster House yesterday demonstrating against cuts in the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) .

The demonstrators gathered before a Dáil vote last night, which the Government won by 103 votes to 47, on a motion by Independent TDs calling for a number of measures, including a reversal of the cuts. During the heated debate a woman was escorted from the public gallery after she threw a bottle of water at the glass screen.

In the Dáil Mr McGrath highlighted cases where children had been deprived of special needs assistants. He referred to a “very disadvantaged school on the north side of Dublin” where a principal was informed that the school’s class for children with mild learning disabilities “is to be suppressed”.

He also asked Taoiseach Enda Kenny what he had to say to the family of “a child with special needs who is being refused transport due to a technicality in the regulations while the bus passes her front door”. Mr Kenny reiterated that while a cap of 10,575 assistant posts was put in place in 2010 there were currently 10,800.

This means “there must be a reduction in the number of special needs assistants, although overall there will be more SNA staff than ever before”. The Taoiseach said he was unaware of the cases, and asked Mr McGrath to write to him, pointing out that the Minister for Education and Skills had “held back more than 400 positions” to deal with such situations.

Mr McGrath told him he had told the Minister about the cases “and I was not impressed with his response”. The Independent TD also said that as well as damaging the children the assistants would lose their jobs, go on the dole, qualify for other social welfare allowances and “that will cost the State more”.

He asked the Taoiseach if he wanted Ireland to be in breach of article 28.1 of the UN convention.

He also asked if the Government wanted to be in breach of the 2004 Education for People with Special Educational Needs Acts,which provides for assistance for “children with special needs to leave schools with the skills necessary to participate in society”.

He asked Mr Kenny if he wanted “to end up in the courts again, at a cost of €20 million in legal costs, like previous governments”, half of which would resolve the current issue of special needs assistants.

Stressing that they did not want to “go down the road of endless court cases”, Mr Kenny said “common sense must apply”. He reiterated “no school will be without contact with an SNA if it needs it, and no child will be left without contact with an SNA if he or she needs it”.