Louth TD says Govt need "get its act together" over SNA review

Sinn Féin TD for Louth Ruairí Ó Murchú has told the Dáil that the government 'needs to get its act together' amid an ongoing row about Special Needs Assistants (SNA's) allocations.

It comes as the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton announced there would be a "pause" in the review of SNA allocations, despite it being reported 200 schools had already been contacted by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to inform them SNA jobs would be cut.

The Sinn Féín TD called on the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton to confirm no school would lose SNA support, before describing it as a "flawed process". 

Deputy Ó Murchú said “Last week, people were particularly exasperated about the reality of cuts to special needs assistant, SNA, numbers."

“We all know the huge work that is done by SNAs. I know on a personal basis that my son Toirleach would not be able to operate if it was not for the SNAs he has had in both primary and secondary school."

"It is more than a pause we need; we need a rethink on the criteria. That should be a demand from everybody on this floor not only in opposition but even in government. While we welcome the pause, we need to see real movement," he said. 

A Sinn Féin motion on the issue is set to go before the Dáil later this week, which Deputy Ó Murchú said is a "chance to end this confusion and do the right thing". 

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Minister of State in the Department of Education Michael Moynihan said no school will lose SNA's "immediately". 

"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," he said. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.