‘I’ve listened’: Education Minister confirms no SNA reductions from September

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

There will be no cuts to special needs assistants (SNAs) across schools in Ireland for the coming academic year, Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton said.

The Department of Education had last week paused a review of SNA allocations and redeployment after a public backlash and outcry from opposition TDs, teachers, parents and trade unions.

It came after the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) told several schools they could lose part of their SNA allocation.

It's really important that we are listening to parents, to SNAS, to schools who had huge concerns in relation to the cliff edge approach here

Naughton had initially defended the proposal, arguing that there would be an increase of 1,700 SNAs from September, and that two thirds of 580 schools that had been reviewed would see their allocation of SNAs stay the same or increase.

On Tuesday, Naughton said that at a meeting on Monday night, the Government agreed not to reduce the number of SNAs at any schools from September.

She said she had “listened” and understood the concern caused by the “cliff edge” approach.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that while reviews had been regular since the SNA system was introduced in the 1990s, they had not taken place since the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “You can’t impose, in my view, substantial reductions in any one given year, notwithstanding that the majority were one or two, but in some cases you have schools losing up to four SNAs, and that’s a big hit to a school.”

An additional €19 million was allocated to fund the decision.

“Last night, we agreed at Government that schools who had an NCSE review were due to get an increase in their allocations for SNAs that will proceed this coming school year, and those schools that were in line to reduce resources, that would not happen,” Naughton said.

We need to bring everyone with us and I want to get it right

She said a redeployment scheme and a workforce development plan for SNAs would both be published, as well as the revised circular.

Naughton said once those documents are published, the NCSE would start reviewing schools again for the 27/28 school year.

She said: “It’s really important that we are listening to parents, to SNAS, to schools who had huge concerns in relation to the cliff-edge approach here.

“And I want to provide that reassurance to schools, to let them know I’m listening and responding, to make sure that we get the supports for children who need it and students who need it.”

Naughton added: “I’m not happy with the sequencing of events here, where the redeployment scheme was not published, it was advanced, it was near finalisation, but it needed to be explained to SNAs, because this is actually positive for them.

“I’ve listened, and that’s why it is important to put a hold on this process, to listen to the concerns.

“We need to bring everyone with us and I want to get it right.

“There’s no point in Government proceeding with something where our schools and our teachers and parents in particular are worried about the process and worried whether their children are going to have the supports they need, and that’s why it’s really important that we respond here, and we get the sequencing right and the communications right.”

The Forsa trade union’s head of education policy, Andy Pike, welcomed the allocation of the additional €19 million for special needs assistants (SNAs) to ensure there are no cuts to existing service provision in schools, but said that a controversial review of SNAs, which was paused by the government last week, “should never have happened.”

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Pike said there was a need to know why the National Council for Special Education “did what they did.”

Any change in the criteria which determines the need for SNAs in schools needed to be negotiated and agreed, he said.

"Did the government want to encourage children who require SNAs to continue in mainstream education or to go to specialised education?"

The €19 million allocated would cover 200 t0 300 SNA posts, he added.

There was no issue with recruiting new SNAs; the posts can be filled through the normal recruitment process.

Pike said the government U-turn was “a sticking plaster” for the next 12 months, "while the government gets its act together.”

Pike said that such reviews needed to be done in a manner that ensured the process was fair. SNAs had no confidence in the Council for Special Education, and it appeared that the government did not have confidence in the Council either.

Additional reporting: Vivienne Clarke