Michael Moynihan
Cork North-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I cannot emphasise enough the respect that the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and I have for special needs assistants and the contribution they make to education. In March, we met the SNAs to have further engagement and consultation with them and to understand their roles.”
“We are very conscious of the issue. A huge number of groups that I have met over the past while, particularly on the dyslexia side, have all been discussing assistive technologies. That is also the case for children who are non-communicative and non-verbal. Assistive technologies are extremely important for them.”
“By way of background, 85% of the applications processed for assistive technology between January and June have been approved. We are always conscious of those who fall outside the scheme.”
“The approximate cost to the State per mainstream pupil is currently €1,400 annually, while the cost to the family is €100 per pupil. The total cost of the school transport system in 2025 was €537 million, equating to almost €3 million being spent on the provision of school transport per day.”
“I thank the Deputy. We are looking at ways to ensure that if there is a ticket issued, it will be used. Anecdotally, the Deputy and other colleagues tell us about school routes the length and breadth of the country that have spare capacity but, when we look at the system, all of the tickets on that particular school route are occupied and…”
“Under the current scheme, schools receive funding towards computers and specialised equipment required for educational purposes. To qualify, a student must have a diagnosis of a physical or commutative disability and a professional assessment confirming the equipment is essential to access the curriculum.”
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“The Senator has raised it a number of times in the House and with me as well. I am acutely aware this would open possibilities for us. I hope we will have a decision sooner rather than later because it is important that we bring clarity in this regard. The challenges we have are the previous reports, but we have a cross-departmental look at it. I will endeavour to report back to the Senator when a decision is made.”
“There are a number of issues we are considering as well. The issue is in cases where someone driving a school bus is 69 years of age but turns 70 during the school year. We must look carefully as to whether it is possible to extend those drivers until they are in their 70th year or turn 71. For those individuals who are driving from September to June but turn 70 in October or February, for example, we must look at the possibility of extending that in the first instance. A lot of work has been carried out with regard to the smaller vehicles. It is safe to say that I meet the school transport people on a weekly basis to ensure we are up to speed on where the issues are in relation to school transport. We will be opening the portal shortly again for the September 2026 school year. This is always an issue.”
“While we see the issue with the over-70s and the transport issue we are facing, I assure the Senator that the Department of education and I, together with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann, are working very much together to try to find a solution to this. It is with the board of Bus Éireann and there is ongoing engagement with it. It is a fundamental decision Bus Éireann has to take. The points are always well made about how changing the rules would allow us to have a greater cohort of people able to drive school buses. The points the Senator made about how these people have retired from their main jobs are extremely valuable. I have reflected on all that very carefully and it is important that we bring clarity to this as soon as possible for smaller vehicles that are providing services to the school transport system.”
“It has long been discussed and the Senator has raised it quite a number of times in this House. On my appointment to the Department last year, it was an issue we wanted to get clarity on. Our issue was the August 2024 report that was there. We set up a departmental task force with the Departments of education and Transport, Bus Éireann and Education and Training Boards Ireland. The aim of the task force is to work together to identify the factors. The school transport scheme is a huge operation on behalf of the State every year, and the Senator will know from his county that we have serious challenges getting drivers and buses for particular routes.”
“Both I and the Department of education have continued to engage with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann on this matter. The Road Safety Authority, under the remit of the Department of Transport, committed to reviewing the upper age limit of drivers as it relates to larger vehicles and school buses. This review has been completed. To fully consider all vehicles, Bus Éireann has secured its own independent analysis of the issue in the context of small public service vehicles contracted to deliver school transport services under the school transport scheme. As it is a Bus Éireann policy in the first instance, this analysis is being considered by Bus Éireann, and I and the Department of education await the decision. I fully understand the points the Senator has made about the over-70s.”
“I thank Senator Gallagher for raising the issue. I will go through a few brief points first. The school transport scheme is a hugely significant operation run by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services. The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate services as part of the school transport scheme, provided they hold the licence and satisfy the annual medical examination until they retire at 70 years of age. A commitment was given under the new programme for Government to "Carry out an independent assessment on the feasibility of removing the exclusion of drivers aged over 70 from the School Transport Scheme".”
“I am desperately serious about trying to do the right thing here and what I will do is undertake to liaise with the Deputies and the school community. I am glad to see they had the bit of investment but we have to continue that investment in the overall sense. To get an understanding of this particular issue, I will engage with the Deputies and we will take it from there.”
“Am I clear in saying that they are looking for a particular type of support within the school? When special schools are looked at, the ratio of staff to pupils is quite high because of the complex needs within the schools. The Deputies will know from working in their communities that some of the special schools are providing very high-end medical care as well within the school communities. It is not fair to say that there are ratios of 2:1. That can vary depending on the needs of the child. What I will undertake is that I will meet with the Deputies. We could liaise with the principal and the school authorities as well during the meeting to get a sense of it. There is not much point in my standing up here, but we are committed to this and very serious about it.”
“In the few minutes available to me, I will say that I will meet with the Deputies and further engage with the principal as well because we did engage. I will go through that. The worrying thing is that because there is one student or students within it - we will just say "students" - there is a medical need that is developing within the school and that has become more profound or needy. Is one of the issues that this was not taken into account? I will go back in relation to it. I know that all the forms, including consent forms, are hard won in special schools because of the complexity of what has to be put on them. Parents have a lot of other challenges in regard to having children with profound needs and trying to meet those. That is something I will certainly look at.”
“I might take it that, when the letter was issued on 11 February, the principal returned documentation by email to the NCSE at that point and then the subsequent letter was withdrawn 40 minutes later. The Deputies might confirm that for me and, if it is possible at a convenient time for all four of them, we could meet, try to thrash it out and try to come, first of all, to an understanding of what the issues are. I have no difficulty because I believe a part of my job that is very fundamental is that I should be out looking at what is happening in special schools, and I do not have any difficulty in visiting that school either. I have engaged with the principal previously but maybe if the Deputies expand on that point in the short few minutes they have, I will try to respond to it. Then we could have a further meeting to expand on that.”
“If it is possible, and when it is convenient to all four Deputies, I might convene a meeting with them. I would ask them to bring as much information as possible on the matter. I can give the stock answer the Deputies have received there but that is not sufficient in terms of what they are looking for. As I understand it, the Deputies' concern is about additional SNA support but also a particular SNA or one who may have qualifications. They are non-medical but they would have qualifications. I want to be very clear. We understand what the challenges and the issues are. In the Deputies' closing contributions, they might dig a small bit deeper until they get to the exact medical needs that were presented but were not taken into account.”
“I have visited many special schools and I know the enormity of the work they do there and the huge complex care and medical needs of children across the system. The work that is being done there is second to none in regard to the school leadership, teachers and SNAs. A lot of the SNAs, as Deputy Ahern pointed out, are doing enormous work in regard to it. While the SNA review has been paused, we need to get under the bonnet in regard to this issue. I need to get an understanding of it. I am really concerned that, when you have special schools and the complex needs that are being presented in special schools, the school the Deputies referred to and every other one are going way above and beyond the call of duty in regard to the administration of it.”
“I am always encouraged when we have cross-party Members bringing issues to the floor of the Dáil, and the sincerity of it. At the outset, I know of the school the Deputies are referring to, and I have engaged with the principal previously on some issues. Deputy Lahart brought this to my attention last week as well. I will talk through the issues. I have a script that will be handed out, and Members can take that as read. I want to talk through the issues. Deputy Lahart gave further information on an issue. Deputy Crowe mentioned 40 minutes between the taking and giving back of an SNA. I need further clarification from all of the Deputies on that. I want to understand this. We were in St. Michael’s House in Baldoyle this morning.”
“I can assure those in the Gallery, those who will be protesting tomorrow, those who have contacted us and the school communities that I have engaged with right through my political life, not just now, that we are going to work, day and night, to ensure this happens. As I said in some of the public comments I made during the week, there is no point in my coming out with something that is not going to work. We have to come out with something that everybody has confidence in. That means redeployment and the issue in regard to the circular. It also means that we have at the very core of our education system the child who needs it. I know the struggles that families have because, like all Deputies in the House, I engage continuously with families. We have to make it easier, and we have to take the fear and concern out of it.”
“We have at the heart of this what the SNAs are doing, but we also have at the heart of it the challenges that are faced by every single family with children with special educational needs. They have battles from day one in terms of assessments of need. The one thing that has arisen in the course of the debate, in public discourse and in commentary is that we have to make sure that our education system is built in such a way that the best possible outcome for the child is at its very core. Children who were not getting supports heretofore went on to have a very difficult adulthood, or went on to day care or other challenges. They need to get the right support within the educational system. We have seen many changes within the system in recent years, and we are going to continue that.”
“I have taken some of the comments that have been made over the last week or so on the chin as a public representative. However, from my engagement with the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, over the weeks and months since her appointment as Minister for education, I know that she is somebody we can work extremely well with. We understand the challenges facing families. To the SNAs, I would say that I have seen first-hand the massive work they are doing, the length and breadth of the country. We were in Limerick recently and I saw an SNA putting together a chair for a child. The chair had come in a box and the SNA was putting that chair together for the child. I understand the amount of work they do, the length and breadth of the country, in every single school. If anyone says we are disrespecting them, we are certainly not.”
“It is important that we acknowledge the work of the team from the very top and the way they have worked over the past number of years to see increased special classes, special schools and enrolment. Their dedication and commitment not just at the top but right through the system is something that we have to accept. We are going to continue to support children through the expanded summer programme, which has become a lifeline for families; a comprehensive review of the assistive technology to ensure we are using the best possible tools available; and the implementation plan for the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, ESPEN, Act, which has also taken place. I, like Deputies across the House, come to this debate at an extremely personal level.”
“We have seen an increase of 58% in five years. We have to acknowledge that. While we take all the criticism, please accept that we have, at the very core, the idea of special education and we know the importance of it. I want to talk about the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and I know many Deputies across the House work and engage with the NCSE and its teams individually on behalf of their constituents on an ongoing basis. I have always had huge respect for the work of the NCSE going back over many years. We have seen a significant increase in its staffing to meet the rising demands across our system. The review process is not a cold, administrative task; it is a robust, professional assessment.”
“I also assure the House that there has been no change in how the circular has been interpreted or implemented. However, we recognise the landscape of education has changed in a decade. That is why, as part of our first ever SNA workforce development plan, we are reviewing the circular in the context of the evolving role of the SNA. This has not been a top-down process; it has involved wide consultation and engagement. A working group comprising the stakeholders, including union representatives, SNAs and school management bodies, has met over 15 times over the past number of years to progress this work. They have examined every nuance of the role - how the SNA interacts with the wider school community team to the specific range of support required by the students. We have seen huge investment in special education.”
“It is vitally important to have a redeployment scheme in place. We must make sure that the redeployment scheme is out there within the shortest possible time. Much has been discussed in relation to the 2014 circular and there has been significant criticism of it this evening and across public discourse over the past while. While I hear those concerns, it is also vitally important to remember that this circular has been the foundation for the most massive growth of SNA support in the history of the State. Since its introduction in 2014, we have added 14,000 new SNAs to our schools, with a 45% increase since 2020 alone. This is a huge investment. We must be careful not to undermine the very framework that has allowed this support to scale so rapidly.”
“They are professionals who give their all to the children they support. They are invaluable. This is exactly why it is so important that we ensure we have the right support in the right place at the right time. I might come back to that point in a few moments. On the redeployment scheme, I think we all agree that the needs of the schools are never static. They evolve as students graduate or new children enrol and as the individual needs of students change over time. Much like the way we see teachers being redeployed due to a drop in numbers of enrolments, the need for schools can change to a degree that the level of SNA provision is reduced or indeed increased. This was an annual occurrence up to 2020. I understand wholeheartedly that this can be difficult news for a school and we must ensure schools do not face a cliff edge.”
“Furthermore, as I indicated last week, there will be no reductions in SNAs in September 2026 to 2027, and for any school that has been granted an increase, that will be honoured as well. To the SNAs, I say they are the heartbeat of our school communities. They provide essential care and support that allow students with additional educational needs to participate fully in the school life. Since my appointment 12 months ago, I have visited almost 120 schools across the country. In every classroom I entered, from Cavan to Cork, I saw first hand the transformative impact special needs assistants have. I have seen children who, without this dedicated support, simply would not be able to attend mainstream schools. I want to place on the record my immense respect for the SNA workforce.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for the opportunity to contribute to the debate this evening. Debates like these are essential to reflect on the deeply held priorities for our communities. I want to state absolutely clearly that this Government is fully committed to supporting children with additional needs. This commitment is not merely a matter of policy but a matter of principle and is reflected in the continuing record-breaking increase in the number of SNAs in our classrooms, an unprecedented investment we are delivering for special education. My senior Minister, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, is deeply committed to it and in her previous life as Chief Whip I know her commitment, on a personal level, to children with additional needs. I want to put that record on today.”
“There are a number of other issues I will get clarity on and I will ask the Department to respond directly to the Senator.”
“In this regard we believe that discussions on these matters can usefully be guided by the input of experts on human rights, law and migration policy who can contribute to ensuring the continued protection of human rights across Europe. We are ensuring the appropriate legal expertise is drawn upon as the discussions progress. We are also continuing to take all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of our international protection process is maintained at all times. As I explained earlier, we remain completely committed to maintaining and upholding the convention, including on the island of Ireland, where it is the cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement, and respecting the vital work of the court in its efforts to uphold fundamental rights and protection across Europe.”
“I can assure the Senator that the Good Friday Agreement was a very hard-fought and hard-won agreement across the island of Ireland almost 30 years ago. The Senator spoke about an assessment, and when it comes to any international agreement or anything that would undermine or challenge it, all of Government and the entire island is very mindful to ensure nothing undermines the Good Friday Agreement. The commitment from this Government and many previous Governments is that we will not undermine it. It is crucially important to maintain that. In regard to the substantive issue of the adoption of the political declaration addressing migration, we consider that there is a need for such discussion to take place at the Council of Europe. The view is widely shared by member states.”
“On foot of that informal conference of ministers of justice of the Council of Europe, the member states have agreed to work towards the adoption of a political declaration addressing contemporary migration challenges in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights, while ensuring full respect for the convention. This process is now being taken forward by the steering committee on human rights at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. We are following these developments extremely carefully. Ireland is actively engaged in discussions within the Council of Europe on the preparation of elements of this political declaration.”
“We remain committed to maintaining and upholding the convention, including on the island of Ireland where it is a cornerstone of the Good Friday Agreement, and respecting the vital work of the court in its efforts to uphold fundamental rights across Europe. Ireland's decision to align with this joint statement was taken after careful consideration. The Government believes that it is important to acknowledge that the member states of the Council of Europe, including Ireland, are interested in ensuring a fair and effective migration system, while fully respecting the integrity of the convention, including the universality of human rights.”
“As the Tánaiste said in Oxford in September of last year, “The ECHR’s guarantees cannot be negotiated away”. I can confirm that this unwavering determination to maintain the convention as a safeguard of the Good Friday Agreement was to the fore in the decision-making process around Ireland joining the December joint statement. In that regard, the joint statement notes the commitment of the signatories to international law and the European Convention of Human Rights as a cornerstone of this international order and reaffirms our commitment to the convention and our support for the work and independence of the European Court of Human Rights.”
“On the same day as the informal meeting of justice ministers, 27 member states, including Ireland, aligned with a joint statement that was delivered to the informal meeting of justice ministers. The joint statement reflects the concerns shared by many member states regarding the challenges arising in relation to migration and seeks to ensure that the convention is understood and applied in a way that protects fundamental rights, while at the same time recognising the contemporary challenges posed by the management of migration. The significance of the convention as a core safeguard of the Good Friday Agreement is well recognised by the Government and by the current British government. We are unwavering in our determination to maintain that support.”
“At the same time, as the Senator will be aware, there have been growing concerns among member states of the Council of Europe about ensuring a fair and effective migration system, while fully respecting the integrity of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the universality of human rights. Consequently, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe convened an informal conference of ministers of justice of the Council of Europe on 10 December to address these concerns. During this meeting, the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, reaffirmed Ireland’s support for the European Convention on Human Rights and for the European Court of Human Rights as vital components of the architecture of human rights protection and the rule of law right across Europe.”
“I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for foreign affairs and also justice as well. I take the point the Senator made at the outset. I will relay those points back through the system. I want to underline Ireland’s long-standing and continued support for the European Convention on Human Rights and the role of the European Court of Human Rights as essential elements of the architecture of the rule of law in Europe. As a founding member of the Council of Europe, Ireland fully supports the Council’s essential role in promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law across Europe. We continue to advocate for and fully respect the independence and integrity of the court.”
“The funding the Deputy has outlined has come up at a number of the meetings, as have privatisation and some of the organisations that are providing care and charging the State an arm and a leg for it. These things have come up because we need to get the best value for money. However, we also need a level of faith in the system and in the care that is being provided. We need families to have faith in that system as well. I will take up this issue. I will certainly engage with the Deputy on it because it is hugely important that we follow this up for the family the Deputy has mentioned, for the State and for other people who need the same level of care and who are experiencing similar engagements with private companies. I will certainly do that.”
“The case the Deputy has outlined is extremely disturbing. At the core is the care that is being provided and the concerns of the mother, who has a vocation, about the care she is getting. That is one side of it. The other side of it is the amount of money the State is spending and that figure of €74 versus €18.50. A lot of section 38 and section 39 organisations around the country have invested and provided care for people with disabilities for many years. They have provided massive value for money. Every cent they have is invested into either community facilities or the teams that work in them. People should not be financially benefiting from the care of very vulnerable people.”
“We have a shortage of respite and residential spaces across the country. We are spending a huge amount of money. Again this year, the amount of money being spent on the disability sector has gone up by a huge amount to try to make sure we are doing the right thing by people with disabilities. There is serious engagement at Government level on the matter. However, we also have to be mindful of the existing system we have built up. Is that right for families? We must stand back and ask what we can get for €1 million. The figure the Deputy mentioned is extraordinary. Deputy Lawlor has outlined that woman's serious concerns about the level or quality of care. I will personally take up the matter. I will engage with both the HSE and the Minister on the Deputy's behalf. I ask him to forward me the details privately.”
“Since my appointment to my current role, I have sat on the Cabinet subcommittee on disability and we have had many discussions on funding mechanisms, the challenges that are there and the amount of money we are paying to private agencies to provide public care. The real challenge is determining whether we are getting the care required. We can talk about value for money after that but the most important thing is the care that is required. I hear the Deputy's frustration in speaking about that mother, the hoist, the oxygen and the other challenges. He has described young adults who have a multiplicity of very complex needs. What that mother is doing is a vocation for her. I do not have the full details but I will certainly take the details from the Deputy if he will give me them.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. He has outlined a specific issue on the floor of the Dáil. I do not have the exact details of the case, but I will speak to it. If the Deputy could furnish the details afterwards, I will certainly do what I can to help. The woman the Deputy spoke about is doing extraordinary work. She has a 22-year-old, a 25-year-old and a 17-year-old. Looking at the sums the Deputy quoted, we seriously have to ask ourselves whether we are getting value for money. More importantly, are we getting the care for people that the State is paying for? That is the most important question here. In my time as Chair of the disability committee in the last Dáil, I met many families and saw the challenges they face on an ongoing basis.”
“I have seen it with families and individuals who come in to me, particularly families who have had difficulties already because one of the parents has died. The surviving partner may be rearing a family or looking after a loved one at their most vulnerable time. The Deputy mentioned illness benefit. Illness benefit is only paid for a short period. That may be something we can look at. I will certainly raise the issue with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and the Department to see if we can come up with any proposals.”
“The Deputy mentioned the carer's allowance. The half-rate carer's allowance was brought in. Former Deputy Joe Callanan from east Galway and I put a motion before the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party many years ago regarding the half-rate carer's allowance. We had been banging our heads off a stone wall for some time but Séamus Brennan, the then Minister, accepted our bona fides, particularly as regards cases where one person on a pension was caring for an adult son or daughter. Illness benefit is paid for a short period. If it was the case that PRSI could be paid and that could generate a payment, it could not be done for the long term but maybe it could be done for the short term. I will take the issue back. I understand it.”
“The PRSI contribution system should be able to cope with contributions from both partners. A number of senior Government spokespersons gave an undertaking to look at it. We need to be more proactive in relation to seeing if we can do something for families, even in the short term. I can think of half a dozen of cases where I assisted but was unable to progress the application. I will take the Deputy's concerns back. A commitment was given to look at this last autumn. I will ask that it be looked at again and I will relay the seriousness of the matter as well. The Social Insurance Fund is made up, the first instance, by PRSI contributions. We could make the argument that PRSI has been paid by the partner to generate the contributory widow's or widower's pension and PRSI has been paid by the surviving partner.”
“A partner may have passed away, the person is on the widow's or widower's pension and maybe raising a family on their own and working outside the home, and then illness strikes. When we look for help for them, we find we are unable to get anything for them. That is very challenging. A number of cases have been raised in the House, in particular, over the past 12 months. The Deputy raised one case very eloquently last October or November when a commitment was given to look into the matter to see what could be done. If we look at this in its totality, where a widow or widower is getting the pension because their partner has passed away, the pension is based on the PRSI the partner paid. The surviving partner has contributed their own PRSI and is looking for illness benefit at a particular time.”
“I thank the Deputy for the question and will speak a little on the information I received from the Department. In relation to widows, widowers and the surviving pension, we have done some work on expanding the scheme for civil partners or cohabiting partners over the past while as well. The challenge is when somebody is widowed, a man or woman, they work and then get ill themselves, going from two incomes to one. Ordinarily, if they got sick, they would be entitled to illness benefit, with the PRSI paid. This issue has come across most public representatives' desks. We meet families who are doing the right thing and making sure their contributions are up to date. Often, the families have been doubly hit.”
“It will take some time to make sure we have a robust system in place. This is a significant policy change. We have to make sure we get it right. I assure the House and all Members that we are working extremely carefully with the National Council for Special Education, us as elected members and Department officials. We have seen a number of attacks of various different types over the past couple of days. I assure the Deputies that when we have this done, we will have it right. We take everything seriously. We understand the special needs assistants, the children, the families and schools.”
“If the school demonstrates additional care is needed, we are about ensuring the SNAs are working towards that care that is needed. There was never any discussion that a school would lose its SNA immediately; it was always going to happen from 1 September, not now or at Easter or whatever. It was always within the school year 2026. That was very clear at all times. We are pausing it because there has been so much concern about the process. We have to be extremely confident in the process we put in place such that all school communities and education partners have confidence in it and that we can go forward with confidence in it. There was mention of the removal of diagnosis. We cannot remove that unless we have a robust process in place in which all education partners are confident. We are working on that currently.”
“The basis on which we are delivering special needs assistants is under the 2014 circular, which has allowed us to grow the SNA workforce by nearly 60%. It is a whole-of-government approach. It is a very serious issue for families and school communities. We are all engaged. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, and I have had multiple conversations and meetings over the past number of days and weeks, right over the weekend. We are engaging extremely carefully as to how we will proceed. We had a number of meetings this morning as well. The Deputy asked me to clarify a few points in relation to his meeting tonight. If a school has gone through an SNA assessment or gone through with the SENOs and it was clearly demonstrated that additional care was needed in that school, that has to be stood over.”
“Families and school principals have contacted me, and I have spoken to many of them in the past week in particular. I assure them that we will do the right thing by them and particularly by the children who need the support in schools.”
“We must ensure that the children with the greatest need and those who require the help have the SNAs. If they have the SNAs, it will allow them to flourish and grow within their school communities and to have better outcomes in life as well. Many people would not be able to attend school unless they had the SNAs. We need everybody on board. We need the Department, the school communities, parents, and unions on board and we need to have a system that everybody has faith in. One of the challenges that we are now tackling is the reviews. We should have been doing reviews every second year or every year so that schools would understand the role of the NCSE, there would be interaction with the school communities and families so that they would have better information. We have to make sure that we have confidence in what we are doing.”
“We want to communicate earlier, but we are pausing what was being done because we are looking at the totality of the issue of special education assistance. To speak to the Deputy's point, we do not want the schools to be in limbo. We want to make sure that they have certainty as soon as possible. We have had a number of intensive engagements over the past 24 to 48 hours in relation to this issue. We will continue to engage over the coming days. We will be bringing clarity as early as possible as to the steps forward. I take on board what the Deputies said. Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned Johnstown and the cliff edge of the five SNAs being taken out of it. We cannot have that. We have to have a continuous enrolment and we have to ensure that the value that we have in the SNAs is following the children.”
“I acknowledge the enormous work they do. We have increased the SNA population by 45%, to 25,000, in recent years. The SNA workforce is hugely valued. I am constantly asked this week, "What is the pause?". The pause means that we have stopped in relation to the decisions that were taken and communicated to schools last week. To be fair to everybody, we have stopped all of it. In May or June, information on the allocation of SNAs would normally go out to schools. We brought that back this year because I firmly believe that we need to have earlier communication. We brought back the notification for families with additional educational needs to October. I firmly believe that we need to bring communication back to earlier in the school cycle.”
“A script will be handed around, but I will deal with the issue without the script. I thank all Members for their engagement and the seriousness with which they are treating this issue. I take on board all of the matters that have been raised. I will talk about the policy first. Since the 2014 document, more than 12,000 extra SNAs have been recruited and are working in the system. We have expanded considerably. There is a view going around that we have gone back to the 2014 document and that this is where the cuts are coming from. However, the SNA workforce has expanded considerably over the period since 2014. I take the concerns of parents, schools and children on board. I understand full well the importance of SNAs. In every school community that I go into, I have said that we have built special education on the backs of SNAs.”