The public outcry this week from parents, SNAs, principals and teachers has demonstrated the level of fear and distress created by the Taoiseach's Government with their crude approach to SNA allocations. We have all been reminded this week about the vital work that SNAs do in our schools. To the children who need them they are indispensable. One mother wrote to me yesterday and said, "My daughter feels safe with her SNA by her side. I honestly do not know where we would be without that help. No teacher, no matter how dedicated can meet every complex need alone." Another email, which the Taoiseach also received, asked him bluntly, "[H]ave you any idea what it is like to be a teacher or an SNA in a classroom in 2026? Along with sustained under funding of schools these people are bearing the brunt of the Irish Government's failures". She is right to say this because the Taoiseach's Government is failing school communities.

I have seen the NCSE letter that was sent to many school principals last week, abruptly informing them of the impact of the Government review. In one letter dated 10 February that I have seen the principal was told that "a surplus of three SNA posts has been identified in your school." Without any prior warning, this principal will find themselves with a near 50% reduction in SNA supports for this coming school year. Many more principals received similar letters. It is no wonder there was an outcry at what amounted to a cut in SNA allocations for so many schools.

Yesterday the Government sensibly paused its review in a last minute U-turn but a pause is not a plan. We need clarity on what happens next. As my colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny, said, any change in the allocation process must be phased in and new supports must be put in place before existing lifelines are taken away. Instead, it seems the Department of education's way is to strip supports before new ones exist while children are still waiting years for assessments.

Of course, SNAs have to be allocated correctly but many schools are struggling with large class sizes and limited resources to support children with complex needs. Every week I hear from principals who are fearful they cannot provide for those pupils needs. Every week I hear from teachers and SNAs - we all do - who are struggling to cope in the classroom. Every week we hear from exhausted parents desperately fighting for a school place or for supports for their child. Of course it is the children who bear the brunt waiting years for an assessment or diagnosis and years spent without appropriate supports.

The current practice of the Taoiseach's Government had allowed children who have not yet received a diagnosis to avail of the help of an SNA. That practice, as we know, was plugging the gap of the scandalous waiting lists for assessments of need, a list that the Government has failed to clear. Now a national increase in SNA numbers offers little reassurance if individual schools are losing posts and children are losing support. When you remove an SNA from a mainstream classroom a child suffers. It is as simple as that.

I have two questions for the Taoiseach. Will he clarify what yesterday's announcement of a pause actually means for schools? Will he apologise to schools, parents and school communities for the shock news of SNA cuts that so many schools received last week?

First of all, we need to have some degree of objective assessment of what actually has happened in terms of investment in education. Investment in education has increased dramatically over the past number of years - of that, there is no question. Just go through the number of extra teachers in our education system over the past number of years, which is quite significant. We have had a sustained reduction in pupil-teacher ratios over the past years. We have had record increases in capitation grants to schools, most recently in the last budget.

In terms of special needs assistants, in 2020 there were 16,000 SNAs in our schools; in 2021, it went to 18,000; in 2022, it went to 19,000; in 2023, it went to 21,000; in 2024, it was close to 22,000; in 2025, it is 23,000; and by September of the next school year, it will be 25,000. That is not cuts and that is not a reduction in expenditure in education. That is expansion and an increase. Could we at least agree that? The issue then becomes the deployment of those special needs assistants to the children most in need. That is an overall increase. By September of 2026, we will have had an increase of 8,775 special needs assistants in our schools. This is a 54% increase. By any yardstick, that is a fairly dramatic and substantial increase.

Of course parallel with that, needs have increased and challenges have increased in our schools. With regard to the deployment, there should be regular reviews to make sure we are targeting the children most in need and that the children most in need get the optimal services. The idea that there would be no reviews, and I am sure the Deputy is not suggesting there should never be a review-----

I never said that.

Yes, I was just making the point. I presumed the Deputy did not and that is what I was saying. If the Deputy accepts that there are reviews, then reviews can work both ways because of changing need. A lot of schools get increases when those reviews are done. I think the mistake made here is that there has not been a comprehensive review for quite a number of years. The NCSE endeavouring to correct that in one year is, in my view, not the correct approach. That is why it has been paused. We will ensure the Minister, Deputy Naughton, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the officials will engage with the NCSE. We will also engage with the schools. Many of those have already appealed, as they do, and we will try to resolve these issues with the schools on an ongoing basis.

With respect, the Taoiseach's response missed the point. We are not disagreeing on the big picture of funding. We are not disagreeing with the Taoiseach-----

You said we were cutting back.

Sorry, Taoiseach-----

Of course reviews have to be carried out but it is about how a review is carried out and how it impacts on individual schools. It is no comfort to the principals who have received letters telling them about a cut, and it is a cut effectively, in their individual schools. It is no comfort to them to hear the Taoiseach speak about the macro and about the overarching numbers. What we have not seen with the way in which the review was carried out is any appreciation of the destabilising effect the removal of SNAs from mainstream classes has on those classes and those school communities. What we do not have after yesterday's announcement is any clarity on what this means in practice. What does it mean for the redeployment of SNAs? What does it mean for schools that got letters saying they were going to get an increase in SNA allocations? We need clarity. That is what we are looking for.

Of course reviews have to be carried out but they must be done in a respectful manner and in a phased, incremental manner, so that principals do not get a shock letter saying they are going to have a halving of their SNA allocation next year without any prior warning.

Obviously, any school where a need has been identified for additional SNAs will get that additionality.

Is that a commitment?

Sorry, Deputy-----

In terms of the SNA-----

Is that a commitment?

Please-----

In terms of the SNA redeployment scheme, the Deputy must know that the Department has been working with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and education stakeholders, including Fórsa, to develop an SNA redeployment scheme to retain experienced SNAs in our schools. A circular on this new redeployment scheme is being finalised and will be issued in the coming weeks.

There are no cuts, obviously - no school is losing any SNA - this school year.

The Taoiseach speaks about "this school year" but I am asking about September.

I am glad, although I might have misinterpreted her, that the Deputy agrees with us on the macro picture. In other words, she agrees that there has been very significant expansion of SNAs.

Yes.

That is something that needed to be said on her side. I appreciate that she has acknowledged the expansion that has occurred.

It is the impact on-----

The Deputy can correspond further.

I fully accept that. We have paused it. I fully accept what has happened in that regard.

What does that mean?

The next-----

Thank you, Taoiseach.

There is a-----

I call Deputy Cairns.