Sir, – The Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton’s decision around the reallocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNA) for 2026/27 may have somewhat calmed immediate tensions, but it does not solve the underlying problem.
Around 200 schools were due to lose SNA posts following the NCSE review process. Less reported were the schools that were due to gain support. Redistribution was always going to provoke backlash because our system makes it almost impossible to take resources from one school and give them to another without political pressure intervening, especially when these resources are scarce and do not cover the needs most schools encounter.
There is also confusion between what SNAs are formally allocated for and the wider educational and wellbeing roles they perform in practice. When definitions on paper diverge from lived classroom reality, trust erodes. A recent Government consultation with children confirms this.
If every attempt at redistribution collapses when it becomes unpopular, we have to ask whether the structure itself is flawed. Until that question is addressed, pauses and protests will continue to substitute for planning. – Yours, etc.
RM Block
SIMON LEWIS,
Crossneen,
Co Carlow.
