‘Special Needs Children must not pay for State's mistakes' - Halligan

There were harrowing scenes at the Tower Hotel on Monday night as countless parents expressed their desperation at the prospect of their children losing their special needs assistant.

Almost 250 parents and their children attended the protest meeting, organised by Independent Waterford TD Deputy John Halligan, opposing Government cuts to Special Needs education. Also present were a large group of teachers and special needs assistants from across the city and county, including guest speakers Maria Doyle, principal of Our Lady of Mercy Primary School and Maria Lindell of Waterford Area Partnership.

As parent and after parent took the microphone and described their deep concern and anguish about what the future will hold for their special needs child, Deputy Halligan called on the Government to cease their attack on the most vulnerable in society.

"Special needs educational provision is being slowly dismantled by our government", he continued.

"The capping of the number of SNAs under the conditions of the EU-IMF bailout means those children with a wide range of special needs will, at best, have to share the services of an SNA, where before they would have had exclusive access to an assistant. At worst, children may lose their SNA altogether.

"What the Government is essentially doing is making Special Needs children pay for the mistakes of bankers and speculators. These children can't speak for themselves. It is up to us to speak up and campaign for justice on this issue.

"All this - across hundreds of schools - for a saving of just €10m. And when all these misplaced Special Needs Assistants have no option but to sign on, the ‘savings' will be wiped out. But the loss will cause incalculable long-term damage to children's lives."