Sinn Féin County Councillor Jack Murray has welcomed cross-party support for his motion which called on the government to restore the 200 Special Needs Assistants that were cut during the last budget.
Cllr Murray said that he hoped that this would put pressure on the government to restore the posts, which care for the most vulnerable in society, in the upcoming budget.
Speaking after the monthly council meeting in Lifford, Cllr Murray said: “It is often said that a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. With that being the case, the decision to remove 200 Special Needs Assistants was a great shame on Ireland.
“In the summer I travelled to Dublin, with members of i.C.A.R.E (Inishowen Children’s Autism Related Education) and join thousands of people who had gathered at Leinster House to protest in support of Special Needs Assistants.
“The mixture of anger and despair voiced by those protesting was overwhelming. Unfortunately the government ignored that protest and passed a bill that specifically targeted the most vulnerable people in our society – children with special needs.
“This decision has ramifications for all school children as it puts an added burden on teachers who are not qualified to care for those with special needs. As such, they do not have the time to care for all children in their class.
“As we near the budget for 2012, the government has the ideal opportunity to reverse this cruel decision and do the right thing.
“All councillors in Donegal, Fine Gael & Labour included, have called on them to do so. They now need to listen to this call.”
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