Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies Butterly and O’Rourke for raising this important issue. I think all our offices have been flooded which tells its own story of the concerns and fear out there among SNAs, parents, schools and everyone involved. We need to defuse that but more importantly we need to give the information so that people are clear about what the guidelines will mean. I apologise on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, that he cannot be here this evening.

At the outset, it's important to say that the Government is fully committed to supporting children with additional needs to achieve their full potential and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The Department has been steadily building on the number of special needs assistants in our education system. I think we can all agree on that. This month sees over 23,000 SNAs allocated to schools. This is the highest number ever.

As all Members of the House know, these SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students and are committed to supporting and nurturing children with additional needs.

I assure them that the Department and the NCSE, through all policy and guidance, including resource allocations, take a child-centred focus to ensure that all children in our schools with additional care needs are provided with a supportive environment and the resources needed to help them develop and be prepared for life after school. Furthermore, and contrary to some commentary in recent days, I reassure the Deputies that the allocation of SNAs for special classes and mainstream schools has not changed. The NCSE guidelines that were issued relate solely to SNA reviews. There is no change to the allocation process for schools or special classes.

Schools can apply for a review where they require additional SNA support. We encourage schools to contact the NCSE in this regard. Schools can apply for a SNA review from 15 September to 24 October via the NCSE school portal. This is to support the earlier announcement of allocations for the 2026-27 school year to align with the release of the annual staffing schedule, which was requested by schools to allow them to plan better. It also supports our SNA workforce and the implementation of SNA redeployment schemes. It is crucial to state that where an emerging requirement for future SNA support arises after 24 October, a school can contact their NCSE special education needs organiser, SENO, as in previous years, to discuss the need for an SNA review. This has not changed. Where additional SNA resources are necessary to support the needs of students in a school, this will be provided as it has been in previous years.

The NCSE requirements for SNA reviews for 2025-26 are based on existing parameters and circulars relating to the role of the NCSE. The criteria for the determination of a school's allocation have not changed and are outlined in Circular 30/2014. Any school which has a special class or is opening a new special class will be allocated the base number of SNAs according to class category and this will not be reduced. The NCSE has confirmed it will be contacting school representative bodies and school leadership in the coming days with further clarification on all issues raised since publication.

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