There are moments in Irish politics when a government is confronted with the fact that one of its policies has sparked such a furious public backlash that nothing will suffice but immediate withdrawal. Such has been the case over the past week with the proposed review of the allocation of special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools across the country.
Within days of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) writing to almost 200 schools to inform them their SNA allocations would be reduced from September, the anger had spread to Government backbenchers. At a Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, TDs demanded an immediate halt to the process. That pause was duly confirmed by Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.
The episode will cause some – including some within the Government parties – to wonder how well attuned their Ministers are to potential political pitfalls. They may ask, with some justification, why schools were informed of proposed reductions before the review process was even complete. And they might also wonder why a communications and consultation strategy adequate to so sensitive an issue was not put in place from the outset.
Beyond the political embarrassment, larger issues are at play. There are now close to 25,000 SNAs in Irish schools, up from around 16,000 in 2020, an increase of more than 50 per cent in five years. They provide vital support in the classroom, without which many children would fall behind or might not be able to attend school at all. Meanwhile, the number of students assessed as requiring additional support is rising inexorably, driven by sharply increased diagnoses of autism, ADHD and dyspraxia. The Department of Education required a bailout of ¤567 million last year alone, with SNA staffing costs a significant contributory factor.
RM Block
Against this backdrop, it is entirely proper to review what resources are required and whether they are being deployed where they are most needed. But such a review was almost certain to prompt anxiety.
Yet it would be folly to draw the lesson that a rational assessment of resources and needs is not possible. The SNA system has grown to its current scale in a somewhat ad hoc fashion, and if demand continues to rise it must be managed in a more structured way. That will sometimes require unpopular decisions.
This week showed how swiftly the Irish political system can sometimes respond to public disquiet. That is no bad thing. What is less admirable is its capacity for inertia when faced with difficult choices. It will be regrettable if the long-term outcome of this controversy is another failure to tackle an issue that will only grow more acute with time.
