Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Tully for very clearly and eloquently outlining the challenges that this school is having in terms of the lack of provision of SNAs and the challenge this is creating from the point of view of staff and SNAs not being able to cater for children who have additional needs. I have no doubt about what she is saying and the challenges those involved face. It is important to say that there is no discrimination on the basis of the fact that this is a Church of Ireland school. There are some incredible schools out there of all different denominations and none, which provide children with an incredible education. They should have access to the same services, which I know they do.

I will outline the national context before I come back to the issue with this particular school. The Senator will be aware that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs. 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 to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

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 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 SNAs to schools. It is the responsibility of the NCSE to ensure that these resources are allocated to students with the greatest level of need. The NCSE’s reviews can see an increased or reduced level of support or no change in allocation. This has always been part of its work and is necessary to ensure that resources are allocated in line with the level of need.

The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, visited Cavan No. 1 National School earlier this year, as the Senator knows, and met with staff. This issue was raised at that point. The NCSE has advised that the school has submitted an appeal of the SNA review outcome, which is currently being processed. The Minister cannot pre-empt or get involved in the outcome of the review, so he cannot comment further on the process. The NCSE will advise the school of the outcome when the appeal is completed. While the school awaits the outcome of the appeal, the NCSE's local special educational needs organiser, SENO, is available to discuss the current deployment of SNA supports and to offer advice as to how to use these supports to the best advantage of the students. The NCSE in-school support service is also available to schools to offer further guidance and support.

Regarding the sanctioning of special education classes, the NCSE is currently collating the information received via the parent notify portal. Parents were asked to notify the NCSE by 1 October if seeking a special educational placement in the 2026-27 school year. Once this data and information has been verified, the NCSE will be in a position to engage with schools and match which schools are best placed to open new classes to meet known demand in local areas. The NCSE is working towards sanctioning the majority of new special classes for the 2026-27 school year by 31 December 2025.

I accept that much of the reply relates to the national context, which, I suppose, is helpful in understanding the challenges that exist. In relation to Cavan No. 1 National School specifically, there is an appeal ongoing that precludes the Minister from commenting. That said, I totally understand the challenges that the Senator outlined very well. We have seen it in many other schools, including in my constituency, where there is a challenge in terms of maybe toileting needs and so on and where the onus is put on the teacher to provide support and also teach and manage the classroom. I understand the challenges. Let us await the outcome of the appeal and then we will look at how to proceed.