Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
473. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special needs assistant reviews completed in County Louth for academic school years 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14090/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra476. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of schools in each county that have appealed their special needs assistant allocation in 2023-2024, 2024-2025, 2025-2026; the number of these appeals that were successful, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14093/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra582. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Education and Youth to outline the status of recently announced SNA reviews where schools have lost an SNA allocation, whether schools still need to lodge an SNA appeal if they do not wish to lose an SNA; the status of the 'pause' announced on 17 February; if will schools be directly informed regarding the status of the pause and how it impacts on the letter they received regarding the SNA allocation from September 2026, their need to appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15034/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 473, 476 and 582 together.
This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.
Special education funding will exceed €3 billion in 2026 – up 58% since 2020 and the highest amount ever provided.
The number of SNAs allocated to schools nationally has increased by 45% between the 2020/21 school year and the present. By the end of the 2026/27 school year there will be close to 25,000 SNAs in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools.
SNAs play a key role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs in schools to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.
It is important to note that there have been increases in SNAs in all counties and across all education settings since 2020, including mainstream, special classes and special schools.
I have listened carefully to all of the issues raised by parents and school communities.
It has now been agreed that there will be no reductions to special needs assistants for the next school year 2026/27.
All schools reviewed by the NCSE and allocated additional resources will receive them in the upcoming school year.
It was agreed that the SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce development plan and changes to a 2014 circular outlining the role of a SNA will be advanced before any further decisions are taken.
The priority will be to ensure that the child-centred approach to the provision of special education is retained and enhanced in these policy developments.
After these key documents are agreed and published, the NCSE can commence reviews of supports provided to schools for the 2027/28 academic year which will uphold the integrity of the process, which allocates supports based on the needs of children.
The department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.
