Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising this important matter. I take his point. I was a backbencher too so I understand the frustration when you put in a Topical Issue and the relevant Minister or Minister of State is not present. I will relay that back to the Chief Whip.

The Government is very much committed to supporting children with additional needs to reach their full potential, and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.

On the ground, an important way to support children with additional needs in our schools is the provision of SNAs. They play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs in our schools. SNAs help to ensure that students can access an education and enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

As the Deputy is aware, the NCSE has full responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children with additional needs.

The number of SNAs available for allocation has continued to increase annually, resulting in a significant increase in the number of SNAs employed by schools. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest number ever allocated. This means that, by the end of the year, there will be over 23,000 SNAs working in our education system committed to supporting and nurturing children with additional needs. The NCSE manages the allocation of the 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. The NCSE advised each school in June of its allocation for the 2025-26 school year. Each year, schools are advised of their SNA supports, which indicates that the NCSE will undertake reviews to ensure that SNAs are allocated to the children with the greatest level of need. Such reviews can see an increased or reduced level of support or no change in allocation. This has always been part of the work of the NCSE and is necessary to ensure that resources are allocated in line with the level of need.

The NCSE has advised that Scoil Mochua applied for an SNA allocation review during the last school year. A review of the care needs was completed and the school was advised that there was no change to its current allocation. The school has reapplied to the NCSE for an SNA allocation review and this is progressing. The Minister cannot prejudge the outcome of this review. The NCSE has confirmed to the Department of Education and Youth that it will advise the school of the outcome of the review as a priority. Where additional SNA resources are necessary to support the needs of students in the school, they will be provided, as has been done in previous years.

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