It is scandalous that there are children with special needs today whose parents do not know whether they will be able to start school in the new term because the necessary SNA support is not yet in place. To give one example, there is a rural school in County Monaghan which has one SNA and one pupil who depends full time on this support. Another pupil is due to start at the school next month, who will also need a full-time SNA. This is the position of the school, the position of the preschool which the child is attending at present and the position of every professional who has worked with the child. The NCSE and the Government have not yet sanctioned the extra SNA at the school. In fact, the advice being given to the school is that the SNA who is already there should be shared between the two students. All of the evidence suggests this would be an extremely dangerous situation. It would not be an exaggeration to state that such an approach would present a significant risk to both students. Will the Government engage urgently with the NCSE to ensure this issue and the hundreds of other cases like it are urgently resolved?

I thank Deputy Carthy and I appreciate and agree on how essential an SNA is to any individual with additional needs in the classroom. I am not sure whether the school Deputy Carthy has referenced has appealed the particular allocation this year to the NCSE.

Yes.

I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as I did with regard to Deputy Paul Murphy earlier, to respond on the specific case Deputy Carthy has referenced. Budget 2025 provided for 1,600 SNAs, the largest number ever allocated, which will bring to 23,000 the number of SNAs in our schools.

That is no comfort to this family.

I appreciate that. We are committed to continued investment in special education in terms of staffing and, in many instances, the need for new buildings for special classrooms. I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to respond to Deputy Carthy on the specific case.