A Co Monaghan mother has highlighted the urgent need to increase the number of SNA's in schools as opposed to decreasing it.
Olivia Larkin organised a protest in Monaghan Town yesterday evening to highlight the importance of SNA's to families and schools across the region.
The coalition did a U-turn last week on plans to cut SNA allocations across the country.
Olivia says yesterday's protest was well attended with a mixture of parents, teachers, SNA's and those who just wanted to stand in solidarity with campaigners and what they were trying to achieve.
Olivia says the protest was about raising awareness of what is happening within the education system and how it will have serious consequences for all children, especially those with special needs in primary and secondary schools going forward.
The local Aontú representative says last week's announcement caused a lot of stress and worry.
For the Government to then do a complete U-turn shows a complete lack of respect for SNA's and the children who rely so heavily on them, according to Mrs Larkin.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Olivia says it was a bad idea from start to finish and doesn't entice anyone to join the sector: "The Government needs to be increasing SNA's not decreasing them, anyone who is thinking about becoming an SNA if they see how SNA's are treated, job security is zero and how they could be basically told by the media that they might not have a job in six or twelve months. Why would anyone want to go into a career like that? This all shines a spotlight on Government and the disrespect it shows to SNA's along with parents and children with special needs."
