Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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This matter relates to Cavan No. 1 National School on Farnham Street in Cavan. The school has an enrolment of 106 pupils - the number is increasing - and its ethos is Church of Ireland. It is an excellent school that has a very caring attitude. The school is in crisis, however, because a number of students who require special needs assistants, SNAs, do not have them. Two students have just joined junior infants. One has been diagnosed as autistic and is non-verbal. The other has quite complex needs and is awaiting an assessment by the children's disability network team. Neither has access to an SNA. As a result, the principal and the English as an additional language, EAL, teacher are providing the assistance required at the moment.

The principal is in the classroom with one of the students until 11 a.m. That student then goes home and the EAL teacher comes into the classroom to stay with the other student who only arrives at that time. What we have are two members of staff who do not have the ability to perform their own duties because they are in a classroom for a number of hours each day providing assistance to students who require it. This also means that the two students are not being given the benefit of a full day in school at any time. Parents are questioning why this is the situation.

There is another pupil in second class who is autistic and who has no SNA access. There is also a student in third class who is a wheelchair user, and there are times when she will need two SNAs in respect of toileting or other care needs. There are two SNAs employed in the school, but all of these students are in different classes. As a result, the SNAs are not able to provide support to them. They are under pressure to do as much as they can.

The school applied for additional SNA provision since September but this was refused. It was more or less told to make better use of its SNAs. That is just not possible at the moment. The school is concerned that if its appeal is turned down, it would have no option but to tell the students in junior infants that they cannot be accommodated. The school has already had to let one student who has siblings in the school go. That student travels 30 km to another school to get an appropriate education. The school would love to have that student back and the parents want the student back in the school. As a result, everyone involved wants a special class in the school, hopefully from September. The school has been inquiring about the latter for the past six months.

The urgent need in this case relates to additional SNA support in the school in order that the principal and the EAL teacher can perform the duties they are assigned to and that all of the students can be in attendance for the full day each day. Hopefully, the school will get a special class in September in order that it would be in a position to accommodate all of its students who are autistic in the same classroom and provide them with an appropriate education.

Cavan No. 1 National School is one of four schools in Cavan town. It is the only school that does not have DEIS status. It is also the only school that does not have a special class. It has heard about other schools being contacted about the establishment of special classes. Some of those schools are not willing to do this, but the school in question is willing to do it. It feels it is being penalised because of its Church of Ireland ethos. I am sure that is not the case, but I would like that clarified. It is also because the school is small. Some parents choose to send their child to a smaller school because it is more intimate, they know the staff better and the students, especially those who are autistic, are not overwhelmed by a large number of other students. It would be an awful pity if this school has to turn away students who want to attend because it is not being given the necessary supports.

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

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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I am aware the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited the school about six months ago. There is a specific issue now regarding the SNAs. The allocation has been appealed. Hopefully, the result of that appeal will go the way of the school. There is also the issue of the additional classroom. It makes sense in one way to prioritise larger schools because they will probably have a larger proportion of students with additional needs, but we should not forget about the smaller schools that parents have their children attend. It is important that children can attend their local school and have access to appropriate support there. It is also important that they can attend the schools their siblings are attending.

That is the case with this issue. Many of the families whose children attend the school live in the Cavan town area. They walk to school. Some of them do not have transport to go to different schools if the supports are not offered in this school. I am hoping that the NCSE and the Minister can put the supports that are required in place as a matter of urgency, but also put a plan in place for an additional special class next September.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator hit the nail on the head with her closing comments. When the NCSE is looking at these situations and at allocations, it cannot just be a case of using a black-and-white formula. Individual circumstances have to be taken into account. As the Senator stated, things such as whether a sibling is attending the school or whether there are no other schools in the area that suit the needs of the student involved have to be taken into account. I completely appreciate that. As I said, the Minister unfortunately cannot comment prior to the outcome of the appeal. I am more free in terms of the comments I can make. In that context, let us await the outcome of the appeal. I am sure all of the points the Senator made were made in the appeal. Of course, the NCSE has to take all of that into account. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, has already visited the school and has clearly taken an interest in it. He will be free to comment on the matter when the appeal is decided upon.