Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. The 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. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants. The NCSE contacted all schools on 6 June to advise them of any changes to the SNA allocations for the coming school year, 2025-26.

In regard to Gurteen National School, I am pleased to confirm that the NCSE has advised me it has allocated one additional SNA to the school for the next school year, 2025-26. I am very much aware of the central role that SNAs play in the successful inclusion of students with additional needs and significant care needs in schools.

Looking back over the past 20 years at SNAs and the work they do, we should always compliment them because they really have made our education system more inclusive. They help to ensure that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential. The number of SNAs available for allocation has continued to increase annually, resulting in a significant increase in the number of SNA posts employed by schools. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest number ever allocated, which brings to over 23,000 the number of SNAs in our schools. The NCSE manages the allocation of SNAs to schools and it is the responsibility of the NCSE to ensure that these resources are allocated to the children with the greatest level of need.

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