Ciara Reilly: Definition of need has changed to save money on SNAs

Pause to planned special needs assistant allocation review feels neither reassuring nor meaningful. We’ll be here again unless big changes happen, writes teacher Ciara Reilly

Class size and the shortage of adequate adult support will emerge as central themes at the upcoming National Convention on Education, writes Ciara Reilly. File Picture: Danny Lawson/PA

Yesterday, the minister for education, Hildegarde Naughton, announced that the Department of Education is to pause a planned review of special needs assistant (SNA) allocation.

The pause is being framed as responsiveness, listening, engagement, and evidence that the system works when people speak up. However, from where I am standing, this pause feels neither reassuring nor meaningful. It feels calculated. It feels familiar. It feels disingenuous.