Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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207. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures she is taking to ensure the full complement of special needs assistant posts are filled in September 2025 in order to adequately staff the 400 promised new special classes and 300 special school places; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16934/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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This 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 coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs.

We have been steadily building on the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) in our education system. At the end of the 2024 school year there was over 22,000 SNAs in schools. Budget 2025 provides for an additional 1,600 SNA posts nationwide. This is the highest ever annual increase.

The NCSE continue to prioritise the full allocation of the additional SNAs to schools, including to support up to 400 new special classes and 300 new special school places for this September to ensure that those children with the highest level of need get the highest level of support.

SNAs are allocated to schools as a school-based resource. Principals/board of managements deploy SNAs within schools to meet the care support requirements of the children enrolled whom SNA support has been allocated. This provides schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.

If a school feels like it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students an application can be submitted to the NCSE requesting a review of its allocation. Detailed information on the NCSE's SNA review process is published on the NCSE's website: www.ncse.ie/sna-review-mainstream. Each case is individually assessed and is based on the student profile of each school.

Some review requests can be concluded as an office-based exercise, whilst others require a school to be visited in order to observe the current deployment of SNA support in the school setting.

The timeframe for concluding a review can vary depending on the school context or the nature of the information provided.

Following the outcome of the review, the NCSE can make a local special educational needs officer (SENO) available to the school to discuss their current deployment of SNA supports in the school and to put these supports to the best advantage of the students. NCSE in-school support is also available to schools to offer further guidance and support.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.