The Government is now over a month behind in allocating special needs assistants, SNAs, to schools for the forthcoming school year. This comes hot on the heels of an overwhelming number of appeals by schools regarding their special needs allocation under the new resource model. These delays are causing serious distress in families and communities. Parents of children with special needs are this morning at their wits' end. They do not know whether their child will have access to an SNA in September or, if they do, how many hours of SNA support they will receive.

As we know, SNAs help children to feel safe and secure in meeting the challenges of school. They focus on the specific challenges of children with special needs and help them to cope with and overcome them. These children will struggle in mainstream school settings without the support of an SNA. The work of an SNA is very valuable. Knowing that they will have such support is a great source of confidence for children and parents during the back-to-school period. The delay has robbed children and their parents of that confidence. School has now finished for the summer so schools are not in a position to make plans or prepare children for potential changes in the new term. School principals are placed in the extremely difficult position of not being able to tell SNAs employed by their school whether they will have a job when the children come back in September.

I have been contacted by numerous SNAs expressing their fears for the future. One wrote to me and asked how what is happening could be fair on SNAs. She stated they deserve respect and to know where their future lies. She contends it is the same old story every year, involving uncertainty and unease. She stated she is a parent to two children and has a mortgage. She claims SNAs need answers and, more important, stability regarding their future. Does the Taoiseach believe it is acceptable to leave children, parents and SNAs in this position of uncertainty and fear?

Schools, parents and children are now in limbo over the lack of clarity as to the resources that will be available in September. This is not good enough. There really is no excuse. The kind of slapdash approach to the allocations contrasts sharply with how schools are treated if they miss deadlines for applications for resources. The Taoiseach and Minister for Education and Skills need to ensure this critical information on allocations is provided to schools as a matter of urgency. The Taoiseach also needs to review his procedures to ensure the information is provided every year in good time. What is the cause of the current delay? Will the Taoiseach now tell the children, parents and SNAs when the allocations are to be finally made?

We will all agree that the provision of SNAs for children with special educational needs is essential. We want all children to be able to avail themselves fully of the educational opportunities that are made available to them in our schools. The Government is absolutely committed to that. We have shown proof of that in recent years. There are now approximately 13,000 SNAs. There are more SNAs than gardaí, for example. In addition, almost 20% of the education budget is spent on special education. That is good evidence of the Government's commitment. It is putting manpower and money behind its commitment.

The Cabinet discussed this matter this morning and made two decisions. The first was to allocate an additional 975 SNAs for September. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, will be detailing that announcement in the next day or two. It is July so people will know well before September what allocation they are going to get. The first decision was to allocate an additional 975 SNAs. The second was that we would not decide in the same way again in that we are not going to have this process we have had for a number of years now, whereby decisions on the number of SNAs are made relatively late in the year and into the summer. The first decision was to have 975 additional SNAs allocated for the forthcoming school year. The second decision was that we would make this part of the normal Estimates process so we will know long in advance what the allocation for 2018 will be, exactly for the reason the Deputy outlined, namely, the fact that people should not have to wait until July to find out what is available in September.

The figures the Taoiseach sets out and the percentage of the education budget allocated for special education, resources and supports are testimony to the need within the education system. The evidence of the Government's commitment in this area is fairly scant and mixed given that, year on year, families and children are left in limbo, as I have outlined.

I am very pleased to hear there will be additional resources. I look forward to hearing the Minister setting out the details. This, however, does not answer the central question that is on the minds of SNAs and parents and causing distress to some children. For the next school year, commencing in September, when will people know whether they will have the support of an SNA? What will be the extent of that support? When will schools be in a position to say to SNAs they have a job?

I look forward to the Minister setting out the new procedure that the Taoiseach has referred to. God knows, it is convoluted. It is not helped and is in fact aggravated by the uncertainty in this sector. What caused the delay? Will SNAs and families hear this week or next week whether the SNAs will have a job? Can we have a date, please?

They will hear this week. As I said, there will be an additional 975 SNAs in place for September. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, will give the detail in a statement this week. Therefore, everyone will know this week where they stand for September. In future years, the decision will be made much earlier because it will be part of the normal Estimates process, which is in October. There will be plenty of notice for the first quarter of 2018.

The Deputy is absolutely correct that the need is great. The response, however, is also great. Let me give some examples of the kind of response the Government has put in place in recent years to assist children in education with special educational needs. The budget for special needs has increased by 32% since 2011. It is now €1.68 billion. The number of SNAs has increased by 23% since 2011, from just over 10,000 to 13,000. The number of special classes has increased by 120% since 2011. That is just to give a few examples of the very real response that the Government has put in place to the very real and enormous need that exists.