A controversial review of special needs assistant (SNA) allocations is being paused after criticism from teachers, parents and unions.
The U-turn came after the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) contacted almost 200 schools indicating their allocations were being reduced.
Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton had indicated that the reviews would continue but said on Tuesday that she would pause the process having listened to issues raised by parents and school communities.
The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday night was dominated by the issue, with several party members angry at the way decisions on SNA reductions were communicated to schools.
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A total of 584 reviews have been carried out, with two-thirds of schools set to retain or grow their SNA allocation for 2026. However, 194 schools would see their allocation cut.
“I want to reiterate that there are no cuts to SNA numbers. I want to ensure that SNAs are with the children who most need their care,” Naughton said in a statement.
The issue had caused a significant political blowback for the Coalition.
“No further letters on SNA review outcomes will issue until these engagements have concluded in the coming weeks,” the minister said.
The Department of Education had said the number of SNAs allocated to a school can change for a variety of reasons, including fluctuating student numbers, changes in individual care needs or students moving from primary to post-primary school.
Even after the pause, there were calls for clarity over what would happen in cases where a school had already been told of a cut in its supply. Government backbencher Cormac Devlin was among those seeking answers.
“Those schools that had drastic changes proposed, they need to have clarity on when they’re going to get the new revised figures for their allocation and that needs to happen ASAP,” the Fianna Fáil TD for Dún Laoghaire said. “We need to get clarity on this from the minister herself.”
In the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said “no SNA is being removed from any school during this school year”. But he said “it’s not plausible that there wouldn’t be reviews” in the context of allocating resources to the areas most in need.
Martin said he first introduced the post of SNA, under reforms more than 20 years ago, and there were now close to 25,000 working in schools. He said the numbers had grown by 45 per cent in the last five years alone.
Fórsa, which represents more than 18,000 staff in schools and early education, welcomed the Government’s pause.
Andy Pike, Fórsa’s head of education, said: “This pause gives us an important opportunity to discuss a better way of planning and managing SNA allocations for the future. It is a significant step forward in recognising that the work of SNAs goes far beyond what is reflected in the current, outdated SNA circulars.”
Naughton told RTÉ News she encouraged any school that felt its allocation was being unfairly reduced to use internal appeals processes run by the NCSE. She said SNAs were not going to be losing their jobs and a redeployment scheme would be available from September this year.
She indicated at the time that a rethink was not being considered, urging schools to use the appeals mechanism.
She said some €3 billion has been provided in 2026 for special education, while the number of SNAs has increased by 45 per cent since 2020. She said an additional 1,700 SNAs will support our children this year compared with during 2025.
“SNAs play a critical role in our schools – I know how much they mean to school communities, parents and the children they support,” Naughton said.
In the Dáil, Martin accused Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of saying that “every SNA stays in situ forever irrespective of the need” and said that did not make sense either.
McDonald said he could “rattle off big numbers, but that’s no comfort to a parent who has seen their child progress and thrive with the support of an SNA that has seen them go from dreading school to loving school” and parents were “now wracked with worry because their child will lose that support come September”.
The Taoiseach’s response was “no help, no comfort, no solution, just appeal – a reply as cold as the cuts themselves”, she said.
