783. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Education and Youth if there are any plans to address the pay and recognition of SNAs, particularly those working in DEIS schools where the level of need and complexity can be extremely high; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41812/26]

Special Needs Assistants are valued members of our school communities who carry out vital work in our schools, supporting students with diverse needs.

The Government is committed to the delivery of quality public services and continues to approach public service pay in a balanced way that is reasonable and fair to both public servants and to the taxpayer. This has been achieved through a series of national collective agreements, agreed between trade unions and the Government, applying across the public sector.

Under the Public Service Agreement 2024–2026 (PSA), which has been approved by Government and applies to all public servants, including SNAs, pay increases totalling 9.25% are provided for up to June 2026. These terms were collectively agreed with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. To date, SNAs have received pay increases amounting to 8.25%, with the remaining 1% scheduled for implementation on 1 June 2026. The current salary scale and structure applicable to Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) is set out in the Department of Education and Youth Circular 0006/2026.

This Agreement also contains a local bargaining provision under which employers and trade unions/associations may negotiate additional changes in rates of pay and/or conditions of employment. The PSA concludes on 30 June 2026.

As is standard practice, discussions with public service unions continue on all matters relating to pay agreements. Any review of terms and conditions including pay and pensions for SNAs will follow these established processes and be considered in detail by the Department of Education and Youth, the Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and the relevant trade unions.

As regards the DEIS programme, while the Department recognises that schools in the DEIS programme and DEIS Plus have a high level of need, these schools are provided with a range of additional resources to support children and young people to learn and achieve their potential. These resources align with and aid the work of the SNA in their role in DEIS schools and include a DEIS grant, the school meals programme, access to planning supports, additional NEPS and Inspectorate supports, and a range of professional development supports provided through Oide and in some cases access to HSCL and SCP supports.

The DEIS Plus scheme will provide enhanced, targeted supports to 121 schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. It strengthens leadership capacity, expands wellbeing and family engagement support, and deepens the focus on attendance, participation and progression.

A key feature of DEIS Plus is the new positive mental health and wellbeing initiative. Each school will be allocated a teacher to lead a whole school nurturing approach. The NEPS counselling in primary schools pilot will also be expanded to all primary schools in the scheme. Schools in the DEIS Plus scheme will benefit from a full HSCL post; increased leadership posts; enhanced guidance provision at post-primary, and, for the first time, guidance will be introduced into primary schools. Funding will also be available so that there can be Breakfast clubs in DEIS Plus. The scheme takes a whole-school, student-centred approach - recognising that when schools are well supported, they are better equipped to create positive learning environments.

As part of the overall DEIS Strategy to 2035, there is a move to a more dynamic resource allocation model, over the lifetime of the strategy. This will help ensure schools get the right supports at the right time to address educational disadvantage. It will bring greater flexibility to how resources are allocated and recognises that students in all schools, not only those in the DEIS programme, may need additional support.