Special Needs Assistants: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Galway West

There are also the obvious and best outcome cases where children, with the assistance of their special education teachers and SNAs, gain independence and no longer require the same level of support. These outcomes are what our system is designed to achieve.
I reject the assertion that the NCSE operates, as one Member of this House has claimed, as an "unaccountable gatekeeper". Once a SENO has finished a school review, a national panel within the NCSE reviews this decision to ensure consistency and that care needs are being captured. If a school is not satisfied with the review, it can appeal it. This appeal is adjudicated by NCSE staff who were not involved in the original review. If a school is still not satisfied, it can request a further appeal from an independent panel, members of which are drawn from education stakeholder groups.
As I said earlier, the Government has agreed that three key documents are to be published in the near future which will provide additional clarity to the system. The first is the SNA redeployment scheme, long called for by SNAs and trade unions. This will provide a method by which SNAs can be redeployed around the school system to ensure we have the right resources in the right place. This scheme is near finalisation and was developed following significant stakeholder engagement to ensure it works for SNAs and schools.
The second document is the SNA workforce development plan, developed following extensive discussion and engagement with SNAs and trade unions. Development of the plan involved 55 meetings of five working groups, each of which included two SNAs, one of whom was a trade union member. There were also bilaterals with trade unions and meetings with a dedicated SNA workforce development group.
Finally, a 2014 circular outlining the role of the SNA will be advanced and completed.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24