Hundreds of pupils and parents gathered at Johnstown Boys National School in south Dublin today, chanting "save our SNAs" to voice their concerns over cuts to SNA posts at the school from September.
The school has nearly 400 pupils, 55 of whom have additional care needs and who are currently supported by nine SNAs. But from September that allocation will be going down to just 3.8 SNAs.
Among those protesting at the loss of support was Paula Byrne. Her son Ciaran is a pupil at the school, he has a diagnosis of autism and ADHD and requires a lot of SNA support.
However, from September he will lose this support.
"For Ciaran at best he will probably make it into school for a couple of hours a day but at the worst he won't make it in at all.
"He really struggles just to get into school in the morning, to stay there for the day [so] it's vital that he has SNA support, he wouldn't manage without it," Ms Byrne said.
She is asking Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton to reconsider the changes as she said it will be devastating for her son to lose his support.
"Please, please do not take away SNA support, these kids need this support to stay in mainstream [schooling] where they deserve to have an education," added Ms Byrne.
Deirdre McCourt said her son Jack will also be impacted by the changes. She was also asking the minister to reconsider the changes.
"When we got all the supports from the school it was like a light switched on for him. But Jack's needs haven't changed but the supports are changing for him. My son still needs that support and where is he going to be in September," she asked.
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Michelle Cotterell, who is the principal of the school, said they were informed by email last week from the National Council for Special Education (NSCE) informing her that the number of SNAs at the school would reduce from nine to 3.8 in September.
She said the impact will be devastating for some children.
"Some children will not be able to access education, they will not be able to come to school ... ultimately it's the children that are going to lose out - our children, our future and the impact it's going to have on them socially, academically and emotionally."
Read more: Minister urged to give clarity over SNA cuts in schools
One of the SNAs from Johnstown Boys National School who will be redeployed is Bernie O'Dowd.
She has been working at the school for seven years and said they can see the difference in students everyday, especially in students like Ciaran and Jack.
"It's huge, it's absolutely huge, to see children like Ciaran and Jack walk in smiling coming into school."
And she said that 77 years of SNA experience will be going from the school when the five posts there are cut. She also said she has yet to hear from the Department or anyone else on where she will be redeployed.
The message being chanted by those outside the school this morning was to "save our SNAs" and reconsider the changes, especially for the children who are already supported.
In a statement, the Department of Education said that the NCSE is responsible for coordinating care support for children with special educational needs in schools, including the allocation of SNAs.
It said the numbers of SNAs a school has can change for different reasons, including changes to student numbers, changes in individual care needs or students moving from primary to post-primary school.
It said the NCSE carries out a review of the care needs profile for each school and allocates or reduces the allocation as appropriate, according to the provisions set out in the DEY Circular 30/2014, which sets out the role of the SNA.
New redeployment scheme from September, Minister says
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Ms Naughton said: "We will have a new redeployment scheme in place in September of this year. What we have been doing as a Government and certainly as Minister for Education, we want to continue to increase the number of SNAs.
"We will have 1,700 extra, more SNAs this September than previous years.
"This is the single largest increase in SNAs ever, and we'll have almost 25,000 special needs assistance in the system by September 2026."
The NCSE has carried out 584 reviews of schools across the country, Ms Naughton said.
She added that two-thirds of those schools are keeping the number of SNAs that they have or will be increasing their number of SNAs.
"Where the care needs of a child or children are changing or decreasing, those SNAs will be redeployed and there'll be a redeployment panel within a geographical area where they will go to the school where there is a need for a special needs assistance," she said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government is providing funding in 2026 for up to 25,000 SNAs so there is an allocation for an increase nationally.
He added that reviews happen from school to school and he will be speaking with Minister Naughton to have the situation reviewed and looked at.
Additional reporting: Joe Mag Raollaigh
