Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Ivana Bacik (LAB), Dublin Bay South

Of course reviews have to be carried out but it is about how a review is carried out and how it impacts on individual schools. It is no comfort to the principals who have received letters telling them about a cut, and it is a cut effectively, in their individual schools. It is no comfort to them to hear the Taoiseach speak about the macro and about the overarching numbers. What we have not seen with the way in which the review was carried out is any appreciation of the destabilising effect the removal of SNAs from mainstream classes has on those classes and those school communities. What we do not have after yesterday's announcement is any clarity on what this means in practice. What does it mean for the redeployment of SNAs? What does it mean for schools that got letters saying they were going to get an increase in SNA allocations? We need clarity. That is what we are looking for.
Of course reviews have to be carried out but they must be done in a respectful manner and in a phased, incremental manner, so that principals do not get a shock letter saying they are going to have a halving of their SNA allocation next year without any prior warning.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18