I am a qualified Special Needs Assistant (SNA), Teaching Assistant (TA) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teacher. I also have childcare, home tuition and babysitting experience.

Despite all of these relevant qualifications and experiences, overall I have been unable to get any in-school experience as an SNA or classroom here in Ireland.

One of the main reasons that I have struggled to get SNA work is due to Garda Vetting requirements. Of course I understand the need for people to undergo Garda Vetting, but when there is no central vetting database for SNA, it means that potential SNAs have to be vetted for every single school they’d like to work in, which seems like a very inefficient use of valuable time and resources, and results in SNAs missing out on work opportunities at short notice due to not having the necessary vetting.

Teachers have The Teaching Council which provides centralised vetting, so why can’t SNAs have something similar?

Even outside of the education sector, it would make sense to have a nationwide vetting service, so that people don’t have to repeatedly undergo Garda Vetting for similar services and facilities. The UK have a nationwide Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) which provides one stop background checks, so Ireland should introduce something similar.

Aside from it being logical to have centralised Garda Vetting, SNAs should also have a nationwide union / organisation, so that they can access more training and opportunities and so that they can gain more recognition. 

SNAs play such an important role in the lives of so many children, but yet there aren’t many rules and regulations in place to ensure that children get the most suitable SNA out there for them based on their needs. It seems unfair to both the children and staff that people who have completed relevant courses often struggle to get SNA jobs, especially when some people who work in these roles don’t have any relevant qualifications or experience.

Please sign and share this petition to make it easier for the most qualified and dedicated people to get the SNA jobs that they have worked hard for, and that they don’t have to repeatedly undergo Garda vetting in order to be able to work as an SNA in multiple settings!