Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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807. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to increase resources for SNA provision at both primary and secondary school level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45313/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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In 2025 over €2.9 billion will be spent supporting children with special educational needs. This figure builds on previous years and represents over a quarter of the education budget. It has provided for, amongst other things, 400 new special classes and 300 new special school places. It has also increased our special educational posts by 768 special education teacher and 1,600 special needs assistant (SNA) posts nationwide. This is more than double the number of SNAs that were in our schools 10 years ago.

As a result by the end of this year there will be close to 21,000 special educational teachers and over 23,000 SNAs in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. This will mean we will have over 44,000 teachers and SNAs working in our education system committed to supporting and nurturing children with special educational needs, enabling them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has provided each school with their SNA allocation for the 2025/26 school year. It has also published a list of these allocations on their website (). It is open to schools to make an application to the NCSE requesting a review of its allocation if it feels like it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students. Detailed information on the NCSE's SNA review process is also published on the NCSE's website ().

It is important to me that we continue to meet the care needs of students within our education system and as you know the Programme for Government commits to the recruitment of additional SNAs to provide greater support to students and schools. We will continue to engage through the estimates process to ensure that we can build on our SNA numbers to continue to meet the care needs of all students in our schools that require such support.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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808. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 243 of 26 June 2025, if she will intervene regarding the refusal of an appeal for increased SNA allocation for a school (details supplied); given the sense of need pleaded by the school to ensure adequate provision of education to their pupils. [45314/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I have forwarded this issue to them for their attention and direct reply.

Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at .