Special Needs Assistants: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Malcolm Noonan (GP), Agricultural Panel

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Rinne an Rialtas dearmad mór le ceist na SNAs. Tá sé tar éis cur isteach ar thuismitheoirí, múinteoirí agus na SNAs féin. To say that the Government handled the SNA review badly could possibly be the understatement of the year. With access to advisers and civil servants, it is hard to comprehend that this matter was allowed to rumble on to the point of protests all around the country and significant upset among teaching staff, SNAs, principals and parents. I accept the statement made by the Minister earlier.
While I welcome the statement and the review, I will highlight one of the many examples where anomalies exist and where policies sometimes do not meet the needs of children, families and schools. I say this, recognising the significant increase in the number of SNA posts funded by the Government and that which preceded it in recent years. Stoneyford National School is a lovely rural school nestled in the heart of the countryside in County Kilkenny. Its principal, Kieran Byrne, and staff teach around 140 pupils. Mr. Byrne did something really important for children with additional needs in the school by establishing an ASD unit, which has six pupils and is full, and a class for those with moderate learning disabilities. One of the main purposes of the moderate general learning disability, MGLD, class is integration into the mainstream but because of inadequate SNA resources with 0.5 SNAs given at the start and a requirement for all additional SNAs to be applied for, integration is not possible and the children are missing out. As per Government guidelines and legislation, the school requested an urgent review to increase SNA resources. It spent one month documenting this and could not apply until November. It waited a further two months until February for a reply from the NCSE only to be told that because of new Government legislation, the 0.5 SNA allocation was to be taken from the mainstream, leaving those children with no support, and moved to the moderate class, which left both the mainstream and the MGLD class under-resourced. The school now has to enter into an appeal process to try to get this overturned in line with the Government's U-turn on policy.
As far as I am aware, Stoneyford National School is one of about 30 schools that have set up MGLD units. It is innovative and ensures that mainstreaming can happen in a seamless way. In order to respond to the needs of the school, the board of management agreed to fund a part-time SNA to ensure that the school is resourced. This is still not enough, however. The Government's review has taken two months. One of the parents at the school spoke to the Minister of State last December because her daughter has Down's syndrome and is in the moderate needs learning class. All this is taking something precious away from the school, the parents and, especially, the children, which is time.
In primary education, every day is precious, even more precious for a child with additional needs. It is now March, the school year will finish in a few weeks and we are still further from a resolution, a decision and an outcome. I commend Kieran, his teaching staff and the board of management of Stoneyford National School on showing such innovation to support their pupils and parents. It should be rewarded by the State, not penalised. Will the Minister of State commit to looking at the case of this school which has gone above and beyond to ensure full integration and inclusion in the school community? Surely this is what we all want to achieve: a society where there is no us and them and where it is just us, all of us le chéile.
Unfortunately, I cannot stay for the Minister of State's response because I am needed at the committee on the Traveller community. However, I hope he can respond to this specifically. I really would appreciate it as it is hugely important for the school community.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04