There will be no reductions of special needs assistants for the next school year, Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton and Minister of State for Special Education Michael Moynihan have confirmed.
An extra €19 million is to be provided to fund special needs assistants following a meeting of Government party leaders and several ministers last night.
A Department of Education spokesperson said the €19 million was additional funding being provided to the department, over and above its current budgetary allocation.
The announcement follows an outcry last week over plans to cut the number of SNAs in 194 schools following reviews of their allocations.
It comes ahead of protests planned for tomorrow that were due to take place in cities and towns throughout the country, including at Leinster House.
Parents, SNAs and other school staff were due to attend these demonstrations.
The planned cuts to SNA provision in the schools was also the subject of a Sinn Féin Dáil motion to be debated this evening.
In addition to no school losing an SNA, schools in line to get additional SNAs will receive them.
An agreement on the SNA redeployment scheme, the SNA workforce plan and changes to a 2014 circular outlining the role of a SNA will be advanced before any further Government decision is taken.
A spokesperson said the priority would be ensuring that the child-centred approach to the provision of special education would be retained and enhanced.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Youth Darren O'Rourke has said it is a reprieve for schools, families and SNAs, but warned that the fundamental issues at the heart of the policy remain unaddressed.
Speaking in advance of this evening's Dáil debate, Deputy O’Rourke said that while the reversal is necessary, it does not fix the broken system that put children with additional needs in jeopardy in the first place.
He said the Government's actions over the past fortnight had caused enormous upset and showed a total lack of respect for SNAs, schools, students and their families.
