Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I wish to discuss the NCSE’s new guideline review. In the last three days, my office has been inundated with emails and the telephone lines have been choked by calls from concerned parents, principals and SNAs. The guidelines have actually sowed confusion among the school community and among parents. As a parent myself, I consider it a huge privilege to be able to give my son the best education and to meet his needs how and where possible so when I get concerns from other parents, SNAs, teachers and principals on the education they will be able to give their children and pupils and their concerns about meeting the needs of the pupils and their sons and daughters, I am sure the Minister of State will agree, it is a huge concern to us all. I accept that very often, circulars and guidelines can be misread, misconstrued or interpreted in one way or another. I am here asking for clarity about these guidelines. The query, first and foremost, we have received is whether this will result in job insecurity for SNAs. Will the care for those daughters and sons who are currently receiving it be diminished in any sense? Is there a risk that their child in the school setting will no longer receive care? There are indications in people’s interpretation of these guidelines that the criteria will be stricter and it will be harder to access an SNA. That is hugely concerning for any parent. I would welcome any clarity on the issue.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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There are widespread concerns in relation to this new set of guidelines for the review of SNA allocations, specifically, the narrowed criteria and rigid timelines. The application window now for school-led reviews is limited for a six-week period from 15 September to 24 October and excludes mid-year needs, and there is the issue of unification and redeployment risks. SNA allocations are now unified across mainstream and special classes. This removes the protection autism class resources had while setting up internal conflict and resentment of autism classes within mainstream schools. The level of need in autism classes is often higher and if mainstream SNAs are withdrawn to meet those needs, many children will be left less supported which could breed tension within classes. The narrow definitions of complex needs and level-3 care needs is a very important issue that needs to be resolved. These definitions exclude many children who require support. The dismissal of behavioural care needs is completely at odds with the realities staff face every day. By omitting SNA support for behavioural needs, schools will be forced to push families towards seeking a diagnosis for children in order to access help. This will unnecessarily label children and add to already severe backlogs in diagnostic systems.

On barriers to proper implementation, schools must evidence implementation of the new NCSE Relate programme within the six-week review window. As of now, there has been little training or preparation in relation to the Relate programme. There is a real fear that this new set of guidelines is about one thing and one thing only: it is about restricting access to SNAs. There is a fear that SNA support will be reduced rather than increased in schools.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I hope it reassures principals, teachers, SNAs and, in particular, parents, because this has been an issue, as the Minister of State said, which has worried hundreds if not thousands of people across the country. I am particularly thankful that the NCSE will be contacting schools in the coming days to clarify the position because, while I appreciate the reply, I am not sure how many people are tuned into Oireachtas TV. Despite our best efforts to reply to everybody, literally hearing it from the horse's mouth would have more value than anything else.

While I am still on my feet, I would like to advocate for early intervention. The earlier we can get care and assistance to our children the less need they will have for it later. We really have to focus on a model of early intervention. If we do not, the expense and need will continue to grow. I ask that the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, take this on board, particularly in the context of the upcoming budget.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I have the guidelines in my hand. They need to be withdrawn, because what the Minister of State has said and what we heard at the committee yesterday from the Department are directly contradicted by what is in the guidelines. The guidelines give rise to real concern because they state:

NCSE reviews are conducted on a whole school needs-based analysis, To be clear, this can include mainstream and special class allocations. As a result, a review of the SNA allocation of a special class in isolation is no longer operational. This means all SNA reviews will review the total SNA allocation to a school on a whole school basis.

That circular needs to be withdrawn. There is nothing there in black and white which indicates that there can be a midyear review. How did the Department end up issuing this circular? It needs to be withdrawn. I welcome the fact that clarification has been provided and that schools will be contacted. In my firm opinion, however, the circular needs to be withdrawn. Not only that, there is continuing reference to the 2014 criteria. Those criteria are completely out of touch with reality; hey need to be reviewed and updated. There is a commitment to do this, but it needs to happen before there is any reissuance of guidelines.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputies Butterly and O'Rourke again. No more than them, I have had many meetings with principals. Prior to the guidelines being printed over the summer or the beginning of the school year, the allocation of SNAs was a source of concern and upheaval for schools. Principals were ringing around trying to make sure they had everybody in place. I take on board what Deputies O'Rourke and Butterly said and I will relay their suggestions to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee. I was not privy to the committee meeting yesterday, which they referenced, but I will relay their concerns.

I thank the Deputies for raising the issue and for giving me the opportunity to discuss it. As they know, the NCSE has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on education provision for children with special needs. Clarity is very important. I hope our school principals, leaders and, most importantly, parents will, through the SENOs on the ground, be given clarity on this and will not have this concern in the new academic year.

As I mentioned earlier, there has been increased investment in the provision of SNAs throughout the country in recent years. The numbers have doubled in the past ten years. I do not see this in any way being depleted; I see it as increasing. Far be it from me to say, because I will not be at Cabinet during the budget discussions, but I think we all agree it will have to be increased. It increased by 43% in the past five years alone. Any school that may have a concern should contact the SENO to discuss the matter. The NCSE is available to schools to support them with the deployment of the SNA resource allocation to support their pupils with their care needs. The Department of Education consults all stakeholders, including parents' groups, advocacy groups, schools and representative bodies on any new policy changes relating to special education.

I could continue reading the script, but I want to say in earnest that I appreciate this has been a difficult and challenging time. The communication has upset parents and got them very worried. All of our inboxes are full. The Deputies have articulated their concerns very well. I will relay them to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan. I hope we can bring clarity and peace of mind to the parents affected.