I have been contacted by parents and SNAs in schools throughout Fingal East. They have real concerns about the recently published SNA review process of the 2025-2026 guidelines by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The guidelines could risk serious harm to children with special education needs and I share their concerns. Any effort to tighten timelines or restrict criteria has the potential to deny children access to the supports that they need to grow, develop and thrive. The proposal for unification and redeployment risks the protection autism classes resources have. It will also set it up for internal conflict between autism classes within the mainstream schools. Sinn Féin will continue to support the SNAs and the children they serve. I will continue to raise their concerns with the Minister and the NCSE. Will the Minister review or suspend the guidelines until there can be proper consultation with the schools, the SNAs, the parents and the unions?

I welcome an opportunity to provide clarity for people in this regard. Three things are happening at the moment. First, myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, have made very clear that we will change the timelines by which SNAs are allocated. It is not good enough that on the day before they start school, children do not know whether they have an SNA or not. We are making it very clear that timelines will align with teacher allocations. Schools will still have time at the beginning of the year to identify whether there is an additional need and to make that further appeal. However, at any time throughout the year, if a dynamic in a school changes and if a child comes to the school with an additional need, there will always be an opportunity for a school to make that appeal.

Second, we want to ensure a redeployment scheme is put in place. It has always been the case that SNAs are redeployed. If the need is not in a school for a particular SNA, they move to other schools. Unfortunately, at the moment they have to resign and are made unemployed. They then have to reapply to school. It is not efficient and it is not fair on SNAs. We are changing that to have a more efficient redeployment scheme.

I thank the Minister. She will have to write to the Deputy.

The third thing is around actual SNA allocation. No changes are being made to the criteria. The way in which they are applied now is the way in which they will be applied in the year ahead. I want to be really clear on that.