Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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303. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason an SNA resource for a school (details supplied) previously deemed necessary was subsequently deemed unnecessary following an SNA review, and the resource has been removed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49995/25]

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. Deputies are welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line at oireachtasqueries@ncse.ie.

By the end of this year there will be close to 21,000 special educational teachers and over 23,000 special needs assistants (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.

SNAs play a central role in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs in schools. They help ensure that these students can access an education to enable them to achieve their best outcomes and reach their full potential.

SNA posts 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.

The NCSE has, as done in previous years, reviewed all school allocations for the 2025/26 school year and allocated or reallocated SNA posts to schools based on the care needs of the students enrolled. The NCSE confirm that other than four schools that closed recently no school has received a reduction of SNA posts this year.

While the NCSE has identified approximately 70 posts in schools where the care needs have reduced, these posts will not be removed from a school’s overall allocation until the end of the 2025/26 academic year.

This will allow for the SNA/s involved to continue to support the school community for an additional year at which point the recently announced SNA re-deployment scheme will become fully operational and available to the affected SNAs.

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 www.ncse.ie/sna-review-mainstream. Each case is individually assessed and is based on the student profile of each school.

Following the outcome of the review, the NCSE can make a local special educational needs organiser (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.