Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Taoiseach for taking this question. In the last few days of the school year, Gareth Heagney, the principal of Sixmilebridge national school in County Clare sent a letter out to parents. The school has around 400 pupils, so is quite a large school, and for the last few years it has only had three SNAs even though the children in the school have needs that far exceed that allocation. Indeed, children who will enrol in junior infants in September will also have additional needs. The school applied for an exceptional review to the NCSE. It was going to have that review on 16 June but it was cancelled. It now faces the prospect of starting the new school year, going back on 28 August, without having additional SNAs. The school is quite worried about that. The Taoiseach is a big advocate for SNA support in schools and supporting all children equally in the school environment, but it is daunting for the school that it faces a new school year without an additional SNA allocation. I ask for the Taoiseach’s intervention on this matter.

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