Special Educational Needs Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-11 ============================================================ Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West Yes. They are very welcome to Leinster House. I thank Senator Fiona O'Loughlin for her engagement on the Patrician Catholic Secondary School in Newbridge, County Kildare. I also thank the Senator for the amount of work she does and has done on education. She used to chair the Oireachtas committee on education and had a huge input into it. Indeed, on many committees I have chaired, she has a huge input into special education. That was important. To speak to the issue of SNAs specifically, we have almost 25,000 SNAs within the education system at the moment. That number has grown hugely over the last number of years. That is to try to meet the demand within the school communities. Investment in SNAs and special education more widely is obviously a huge priority for me in the role that I hold - not just now, but right throughout. The SNAs do amazing work. They are a great addition to the school community and they also bring an expertise that is second to none. We have had a review right across the system. It is the first time we have had a review in terms of SNAs in some time. We also have the redeployment scheme, which is coming in on the same basis as it has for teachers. For one reason or another, the care needs in a school may have changed, so they will be moved from one school to another. There is a redeployment scheme starting on 1 September this year. This is something that, this time last year when I took over the role, I worked on to try to get it in place. It is important that we respect the SNAs and the work they do. That is an integral part of it. We must also make sure they have pathways into the future. The Senator raised the issue of this school. I do not want to get into the specifics of the school today because that is ultimately a role for the National Council for Special Education. We in the Department have given that role to the NCSE. I work very closely with it. We have weekly meetings, updating me on the challenges within this area. However, I take the points the Senator has made about the school. She mentioned at the outset of her contribution that the student population had gone from 820 to 930. That is a huge increase. A school that is heading for somewhere in the region of 1,000 pupils is an important educational structure, and it is important that we understand it and support it. The point is that we have many SNAs in the system and we have to make sure that they are where the greatest need is. We have to look at that. This review is ongoing. Of course, there is an appeal process in place. I stress that the school authorities should put in that appeal and put the strongest possible case forward. I do not need to tell the school authorities that because that is what they are extremely good at, but it is important that they articulate the challenges they have, the care needs within the school and, of course, the growth in population because all of that is information that will be looked at in an appeal. The appeal process is open. Right across the system, we have some schools that are losing SNAs and some that are gaining SNAs. I encourage everybody to put in an appeal and I assure the House that they will be dealt with fairly. I encourage this school to put the best case forward in the appeal. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-11/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:37+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-11