THE SECRETARY GENERAL for the Department of Education has said her department takes “collective responsibility for the failure of communications” in the special needs assistant (SNAs) controversy. 

Speaking before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Bernie McNally said “we absolutely apologise for the upset caused to parents”. 

For over a week, there has been outrage after an estimated 180 schools across the country were told earlier this month that their SNA allocations would be reduced in September.

Outrage prompted the government to roll back the plans, with Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton promising that no cuts would be made for the next school year.

Demonstrations were held yesterday outside Leinster House in Dublin and Naughton’s constituency office in Galway.

Questioned about who signed off on the move to reduce the number of SNAs in some schools and who authorised letters being sent out, McNally said “we all bear responsibility for this”.

However, she added that National Council for Special Education (NCSE) operates the resources around SNA allocation. 

While she was keen to point out that she was in no way blaming the agency, she acknowledged that it was the NCSE that issued the letters. 

‘Broadly aware’

When asked if the department and the minister were aware that the letters were being sent out to schools about the SNA allocation numbers, McNally said the  department and minister were “broadly aware”. 

She set out that the minister and the department are aware of the policy implentation by the NCSE, stating that it must ensure the resources are targeted at the children that most need them. 

Children move through the system, so the resources have to move with them, she said.

The secretary general added that the NCSE has authorisation under the policy it is operating under to “do exactly what it did”.

However, she said the communications was the issue, for which she apologised again. 

She added that the minister wouldn’t have directed the letters to be sent, stating that that would be a job for the NCSE. 

The secretary general said she wanted parents to understand that the number of SNAs in the system was not being reduced and that 1,717 extra SNAs would be working from this September. 

“I want to assure parents there are no cuts,” she said, 

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The committee also discussed the extra €19 million that the government pledged would be spent on SNAs this year.  

It was revealed by officials from the Department of Expenditure that this additional allocation is still being worked on with the Department of Education and that it is additional monies separate to its general budget. 

Officials could not tell the Oireachtas committee today where the government’s promised additional €19 million in funding will come from.

The issue has united the opposition parties, who met this morning to discuss initiatives it can take to ensure the role of SNAs is fully recognised and all children have the support they need and are entitled. 

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said the campaign will continue until real change is delivered for children, parents and SNAs.

It is understood that another meeting will be held in two days time to develop a plan to pressure the government to deal with the underlying issues.