Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
337. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide a detailed breakdown, by county and primary/post primary of the number of schools have signed up to the school-based summer programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41085/26]
View answer338. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide a detailed breakdown, by county of the number of families have registered for the home-based summer programme; if she can detail the supports that will be made available to those who missed the deadline or who cannot find teachers and SNAs to provide the programme, due to the new portal system and the late release of information; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41086/26]
View answer339. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth to detail the reasoning for the difference in pay for teachers and SNAs when providing the same work during home-based summer programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41087/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 337, 338 and 339 together.
Details of the 2026 Summer Programme were communicated by email to all schools on the 6th May 2026. All schools were given the opportunity to run a school-based programme for children with the most complex special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage.
Where a school does not intend to run a school-based programme or there is no place on the programme for an eligible child, schools were invited to make an application for the home-based programme.
In 2026, the application portals for both the school-based and the home-based programmes were open in parallel from the 6th May to the 15th May inclusive. On Thursday, 14th May, a reminder issued to all schools of the closing date for the receipt of applications. A significant number of applications from schools in relation to both the school-based and home-based programmes were received.
The Summer Programme is an educational programme for children with complex special educational needs which is run during the summer months. Similar to teachers, contracted SNAs are paid their personable rate of pay for each day that they participate on the School-based Summer Programme. Where a school-based programme is not being run or a place is unavailable, a Home-based Summer Programme is available for children with complex special education needs.
Under the home-based programme, grant funding is made available so that parents/legal guardians can determine the most appropriate provision required for their child during the summer months. The role of the teacher and SNA are distinct where a teacher is to provide tuition, and a SNA provides care support as appropriate. Teachers and SNAs are paid per hour for tuition/care support delivered in line with agreed terms and public service pay agreements.
Where a parent/guardian is looking to source a teacher SNA for the home-based programme, they can in the first instance contact their local school. In addition, the Teaching Council and Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) will promote the summer programme with this year’s graduate teachers, Professional Masters of Education (PME) students and undergraduate student teachers to increase the supply of available teachers.
To help parents source a teacher/SNA for the summer programme in their local area, the IPPN has created a Summer Programme Noticeboard for teachers and SNAs to advertise their availability for the programme. Parents can also post notices on the board to source suitable candidates. The Summer Programme Noticeboard is available on www.educationposts.ie.
Alternatively, parents may also wish to check with service providers and advocacy groups like AsIAm, Inclusion Ireland or Down Syndrome Ireland to see if they can support or advise or help make connections. Parents are required to carry out the required qualification, vetting and child protection procedures regardless of how they source a teacher/SNA.
Further information can be found on the Home-based Summer Programme webpage at www.gov.ie/summerprogramme.
With regards to a detailed breakdown of schools who have registered for the 2026 school-based summer programmes, these figures represent expressions of interest and do not necessarily indicate that schools will deliver a school-based programme in each case.
For the home-based summer programme, eligibility is determined by schools who register eligible children for participation in this programme. In some instances, it is possible that schools have registered children for the home-based programme even though they intend to provide a school-based programme to those same children. As each child may only participate in one programme, final participation numbers for both schools and children will not be known until the Summer Programme has concluded.
