An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

We are obviously talking about the next school year. As I said earlier in respect of Our Lady of Good Counsel, no school should lose close to six SNAs in one fell swoop or one decision. I have communicated that to the NCSE. I said it to both Ministers as well when we discussed this. Everyone acknowledges that it is too severe an impact. It is probably because there have not been regular reviews of allocations and such reviews are needed. We need to be very clear on the role of the SNA. Maybe it is not as broadly based it is now developing in some cases. There is specific training for SNAs and specific functions as per the circular in respect of supporting children with additional needs. Going from nine to 3.83 SNAs is a huge drop in a relatively small school. It has appealed. I understand that the NCSE will look at all of these cases again and will assess the appeal.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17