Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this matter despite the relevant Minister or Minister of State not being here. I ask that anything we discuss be relayed to the Minister and the NCSE. This is incredibly important to all concerned, to the school community, staff, parents and most of all to the children who will not be able to avail of SNA support because a review has indicated that they were not successful. I will run through some of the timeline and give context and emphasise some of the frustrations on everyone's behalf in relation to the process. This is a thriving school in a rural area in Meath. It was unsuccessful in an initial SNA exceptional review, which took place in February 2025. The school considered an appeal and subsequently decided to apply for a focused review as it was aware, as we would have been ourselves, of significant needs in the incoming junior infants class in September 2025. Parents and staff identified this additional need.

They were told in May that the NCSE was no longer accepting applications for reviews as guidance was changing and that is the piece we all would have been aware of. In August they were told they could reapply for an interim review for the incoming students who were not considered in the review back in February. The deadline for that application was 31 August and the school put in a very comprehensive application. Despite the guidelines stating that it would hear back within two weeks - this was at the end of August - it still had no word as recently as a couple of days ago.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, a constituency colleague of mine, visited this school on 10 October. The school staff pursued it. I also pursued it and I am sure other elected representatives from across the political spectrum pursued it on behalf of the school. Just yesterday or the day before, two months on from the initial application, it received the letter from the NCSE saying that the review was unsuccessful. This was a devastating and demoralising.

As I said, I met staff and parents and many parents have contacted me in relation to this. Under any measure, this school is going above and beyond. It is doing everything it can to provide an inclusive education for children. Staff are stretching themselves at every measure and they have been hit with this. It is devastating for the whole school community, for the principal and for the special education co-ordinator. It factors in additional SNA support and it looks at the potential and the opportunity to work with that and then it is given this news. To add insult to injury, after waiting more than two months, the school is given three days to appeal. That is simply not good enough. There needs to be greater connection and greater understanding in relation to this.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this Topical Issue in the Chamber. Like the Deputy, I share the same ambition on the delivery of inclusive education in our communities and I commend him on raising this important matter. 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 the education provision for children with special educational needs.

Special needs assistants, SNAs, play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs in schools by helping to ensure that these students can access an education that enables them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential. By the end of this year, there will be over 23,000 SNAs working in our education system, committed to supporting and nurturing children with special educational 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 2026 provides for a further 1,717 SNA posts, which will bring the total number of SNAs to close to 25,000 by the end of 2026.

The NCSE manages the allocation of the SNAs to schools and it is its responsibility to ensure these resources are allocated to children with the greatest level of need. The NCSE advised each school in June of its allocation for the 2025-2026 school year. Each year, schools are advised of their SNA supports, which indicates the NCSE will undertake reviews to ensure SNAs are allocated to the children with the greatest level of need. Such reviews can see an increase or reduction in the level of support or no change in allocation. This has always been part of the work of the NCSE and is necessary in order to ensure resources are allocated in line with the level of need.

I can confirm to the Deputy that in relation to the school referred to by him, Scoil Cholmcille, Skryne, the NCSE has advised that it has been communicating with the school on the deployment of its SNA allocation within the school. The school has also requested the NCSE adviser support in the area of behaviour, on the recommendation of the NCSE’s special educational needs organiser, SENO. The NCSE has confirmed this support was provided to the school in October. The NCSE has further advised that the school submitted a further request for an SNA review in recent days and this will be progressed by the NCSE.

The Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system of the highest quality, where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I hope we can take this as a point for raising this case and for follow-through. I know there is a plan to submit for a focused review. The timeline is very short in relation to that. I hope when it goes in that it will be considered favourably. Regarding the interim review, which I mentioned earlier, it is deeply concerning. As I said, this school made a really comprehensive submission in relation to it and only received a written response a couple of days ago. Nobody called out to the school. There was no visit - not to a classroom, to a child or to a staff member. That is totally unacceptable.

As a constituency TD and as my party's education and youth spokesperson, I say there is widespread frustration about how the NCSE and the SENOs go about their business in conducting these assessments and communicating with schools and about the level of responsiveness. I raised this before when we talked about the EPSEN Act review and this is another case in point.

I know many of the people involved and can say with hand on heart they are dedicated professionals and want to provide the best for these kids. That is what we all want for the children in our education system but people have their hands tied behind their back because of this bureaucracy. I acknowledge there are increasing numbers of SNAs, but there are nowhere the number we need. There is a challenge in that but in this case it is inexcusable that additional resources have not been made available. I ask that whatever additional review goes in be considered favourably.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank Deputy O'Rourke for giving me an opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for education and her Department. I appreciate the frustration the Deputy has expressed about the alignment of the NCSE, the SENO and the school. It should not have to be the case that the Deputy has to come in here and express his dissatisfaction with the fact the school has been put in this position. It is incumbent on us all to ensure the system becomes more streamlined, more agile and more responsive. It should be the case that the NCSE, which is in the position of advising and co-ordinating the education provision for children with special educational needs, and any school can discuss these matters in an orderly fashion. I will take the matters the Deputy has raised and relay them to the Minister. As the Deputy mentioned, the school has requested an SNA review in recent days. That is very welcome. I hope that is responded to and advanced as quickly as possible. In any case, it is very important at this time of year that schools are supported and SNA resources are allocated in a timely manner to support students who require care. I again thank the Deputy for bringing this matter to the Chamber.