Special Educational Needs
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-12
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The 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 NCSE has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision and care support for children and young people with special educational needs in our schools, including the allocation of SNA support to schools.
Reflecting the central role that SNAs play in the successful inclusion of students with additional and significant care needs in schools, the Department of Education and Youth has been steadily building the level of SNA support in our education system. The number of SNAs allocated to schools nationally has increased by 45% since the 2020-21 school year. By the end of the 2026-27 school year, there will be close to 25,000 SNAs in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. They play a key role in supporting children and young people with care needs as part of a whole-school approach, which also includes almost 22,000 special education teachers across the country.
There are many reasons that the level of need for SNA support in schools may fluctuate, including falling enrolments, reduced or increased care needs and changing demographics as children move from primary to post-primary schools. The NCSE reviews of SNA allocation in schools across the country involve a very detailed examination of the care needs in all settings within the continuum of provision in a school in order to ensure that SNAs are allocated to schools to support students who have the greatest level of significant care needs.
A school that is not satisfied with the outcome of its SNA review may avail of the NCSE’s internal appeal mechanism, and full details are available on the NCSE website. In addition, the NCSE remains available to schools to provide advice on the deployment of their SNA allocation. The NCSE allocation and review processes are essential to ensure SNA support is provided where it is most needed.
The Department of Education and Youth is mindful of the impact of a reduction in allocation on SNAs personally. This is among the reasons the Department is working with the NCSE to develop an SNA redeployment scheme. This important policy initiative, which is in the final stages of development, will ensure that, as far as possible, competent, knowledgeable and experienced SNAs are retained in our schools.
The SNA redeployment scheme is being implemented for the 2025-26 school year, providing an opportunity for the redeployment of SNAs as the need arises for the start of the 2026-27 school year. It is important to note that SNAs in surplus posts identified through the NCSE’s SNA review process will remain in the relevant school for the rest of the 2025-26 academic year. Assuming no change to SNA allocations in the meantime, eligible SNAs in standard posts, both full-time and part-time, who opt for redeployment, may be redeployed to a new post in September 2026.
The Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality, where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:37+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-12