Almost 200 schools to face SNA cuts in September, education minister confirms

Hildegarde Naughton faced calls to clarify planned reductions to mainstream posts, as previously reported.

Approximately 194 schools so far are facing proposed cuts to their allocations of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) for next September, with more on the way, the education minister has confirmed.

It comes as Hildegarde Naughton faced calls to clarify planned reductions to mainstream posts, as previously reported.

Letters were sent to a tranche of mainstream primary schools last week following reviews by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) advising them of the cuts.

On Monday, education minister Ms Naughton confirmed that approximately half of the NCSE reviews of next year’s SNA allocations have taken place so far.

The rest are expected to be completed by the end of March.

Approximately 1,000 reviews are being undertaken by the NCSE this school year, the Department of Education confirmed.

The details of a redeployment scheme for SNAs is currently being finalised, a spokeswoman confirmed.

However, trade union Fórsa said while this has been agreed in principle, a circular is not yet in place.

To date 584 reviews have been carried out by the NCSE, Ms. Naughton told RTÉ’s News at One.

Of these, roughly two thirds of schools will retain their current SNA posts for 2026 or gain more.

However, this leaves roughly 194 schools that have been advised of cuts to SNA posts so far.

She urged schools who are unhappy with the outcome of their reviews to engage with the NCSE’s appeals process.

Children with additional needs do move from primary to post-primary education, she said.

“Where they move, the resources need to move with them, and that’s why this redeployment scheme is so important.” “That will be coming into effect from September, where it is acknowledged where a care need is required for children that the support moves with them, from primary to secondary, to post-primary.” There will be 1,700 more SNAs this September than previous years, Ms Naughton said.

"This is the single largest increase in SNAs ever, and we'll have almost 25,000 special needs assistance in the system by September 2026."

'Huge concern' over cuts

“It’s very hard to get an estimate on how many posts are being cut but certainly we’re hearing a lot of concern from the sector, and a lot of anger as well,” said Fórsa head of education Andy Pike.

“Anecdotally, I’ve heard there were 240 letters [including 120 reductions] sent out last week, but I don't know how many more letters are going to go out this coming week.” 

Mr Pike described the proposed cuts as “one more example of a litany of broken promises for special education".

Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins said there is "huge concern" about the potential cuts.

“I’ve had so many phone calls and so many emails from people loosing SNAs from their school. It's in the double figures now, in my constituency and further afield.”

Labour education spokesman Eoghan Kenny said at the centre of every cut is a child. 

“That should always be the fundamental thought when making these decisions," he said.

He called for the minister to clarify the policy behind the decision.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on special education Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh said schools have told her that the proposed cuts are “not aligned with any meaningful change in pupils’ needs.”

• Jess Casey is Education Correspondent.