Tags: Batt O'Keeffe, Cork, court, cuts, funding, Ireland, Kathleen Lynch, politics, special needs
Kathleen Lynch
THE decision to lay off more than a thousand special needs assistants could yet end up in the courts according to north side Labour Party TD Kathleen Lynch.
“Attempts to downplay the impact of sacking an estimated 1,200 Special Needs Assistants highlights the callous attitude of this government to some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.
“With the process of axing posts in schools already under way, parents are becoming increasingly concerned that children will be denied the education that they deserve.
“How can Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe claim that you can take over 1,000 SNAs out of the system without having any effect on students? What exactly does he think SNAs do? Pick up litter in the schoolyard?
“In the light of his insistence to sack these SNAs, Batt O’Keeffe should not be surprised if some of these parents seek to secure their children’s right through the courts. I would be agree with the INTO in this regard that the government should step back from the precipice.
“Each time this Fianna Fáil/ Green government rolls out its latest wave of cutbacks, they claim that they do so with a heavy heart, and that they have somehow managed to protect the vulnerable.
“The manner in which the Green Party has rolled over on this is absolutely shameful. The Party that got into bed with Fianna Fáil in 2007 and that tucked the sheets again in when they signed off on the Revised Programme for Government in October 2009, is either very naïve or very cynical.
“They boasted at the time that they had managed to secure the appointment of a few hundred additional teachers, but couldn’t tell us where the money was going to come from. It is now perfectly clear how those jobs are going to be funded, and that the sacking of the SNAs was agreed as a quid pro quo for the new teaching posts.
“The fact that hundreds of SNAs are being let go this week, is a clear indication as to where government priorities actually lie, and would suggest that when it comes to wielding the axe, education and services for children are seen as very easy targets,” said Deputy Lynch.
