Fórsa has welcomed minister Josepha Madigan’s support for a review of minimum qualifications for special needs assistants (SNAs), and for accrediting the UCD national SNA training programme.

Ms Madigan, who is minister of state with responsibility for special education, this week told members of the Oireachtas education committee that she believed the minimum qualification should be reviewed before the end of 2022, and then changed.

The qualification was last reviewed 43 years ago.

She also told committee members that she supported accreditation of the UCD course. She said departmental officials were engaged in an intensive process with UCD to consider accreditation, and that she believed this process would be completed by the end of the year.

Fórsa’s head of education, Andy Pike said the minister’s commitments were a significant step towards achieving genuine respect for SNAs. “We now have to ensure that the Department of Education delivers on the policy commitments made to the joint education committee,” he said.

The union, which represents over 12,000 SNAs, told the Oireachtas joint committee on education that the minimum qualification of three junior certificate ‘D’ grade passes was outdated and failed to reflect the role and responsibilities of staff supporting children with special educational needs.

Linda O’Sullivan and Catriona Galster, SNAs who work with students in a primary school early intervention special class, said the official educational qualification for entry into the profession belies the complexity, skills and training needed.

“Jobs advertised on educationposts.ie or other jobs websites display the real entry requirements, with some seeking honours degrees to Level Eight on the national framework of qualifications. That’s a far cry from the official entry requirement of three junior certificate ‘D’ grade passes.

“The continued pretence that this is what it takes to be an SNA in 2022 is an insult to those performing this crucial role in classrooms across the country every day,” she said.

Noreen O’Mahoney, an SNA for 15 years who also chairs Fórsa’s Education Division, told the committee that SNAs do much more than care for the “wonderful children” they work with.

“SNAs all around the country are highly skilled professionals, but we need the Department of Education to recognise this and raise the entry qualifications,” she said.

Fórsa has also taken an ill view to some of the work SNAs have been asked to do. The committee heard of SNAs being asked to clean fish tanks, check toilet areas and maintain IT equipment. Fórsa will continue to work with its members in the coming weeks to ensure the valuable time of an SNA is spent supporting children.

Fórsa has also demanded accreditation for a new national SNA training programme, delivered by the UCD School of Education, which was established on foot of the NCSE review. The first cohort of 500 students completed the programme in February 2022.