Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 24 September 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth

Recruitment and Retention of Special Needs Assistants: Discussion

2:00 am

Mr. Frank Hanlon:

I think I have ten seconds. First, on the overall allocation, we get an extra allocation. Through the Estimates process we look for additional SNAs every year. We got 1,600 this year and the NCSE will allocate every single one of those and the rest. There is a budgetary position, however. The NCSE is tasked with going out and reviewing individual schools and looking at the care need within those schools.

On the review window of six weeks, as we discussed earlier, the NCSE has clarified this with schools which may have been a bit concerned about it, that there will be opportunity after that six weeks. The point of that six-week window was to get it done earlier in the year to allow for the earlier release of the allocations, etc. There will be opportunities for schools if need arises.

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