St. Francis' National School in Barnesmore, County Donegal, is currently facing a crisis due to a severe shortage of special needs assistant, SNA, support. Four children with additional needs started in the school in September but despite this, no additional SNAs have been allocated. The current allocation is inadequate and the children have complex needs. The situation has become very distressing for the families, teachers and SNAs, who are doing everything possible to provide care for the pupils and secure inclusion for all pupils. The strain is too much. The Taoiseach must do what he can to rectify this situation. Will he work with the Department to ensure that schools in Donegal that face shortages will be granted an increase in their SNA allocations?

There have been consistent increases in the number of SNAs in our schools on an ongoing basis. The largest increase in a long time is happening this year. About 860 additional special education teachers and 1,717 new SNAs will be recruited as a result of budget 2026. That will bring the total number of SNAs in the State to 24,900. Therefore, it should be within the capacity of the Department of education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to work with individual schools. I do not have the specifics on each school - there are over 3,000 primary schools, and I appreciate the Deputy raising the case of one in his own locality - but I will refer the matter to the NCSE. However, there is no shortage in the increased allocation. It is at a very high level now, with close to 25,000 special needs assistants in the county, so surely some should be facilitated.