Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 23 Feb 2026

Teachta, your plan to take away SNAs from vulnerable children was met with massive public anger and last night we held a public meeting against your proposed SNA cuts and more than a thousand people turned up. Parents, SNAs, teachers, all calling out Fianna Fall and Fine Gael for your cruel treatment of children and they are now determined to fight back against this tooth and nail. Last week, in the face of this anger, you announced that you called a pause to your plan to cut SNAs and then late last night you announced what amounts to an extension of that pause, acting only to buy yourself time and to alleviate pressure on government. Of course, there is relief amongst parents in schools that there will be no cuts this September. Relief that much needed additional funding will be provided. But Taoiseach, that is not the end of the story because parents see right through your government's ploy. They know that you have simply kicked the can down the road for another year. They know that your approach is a cynical bean counting exercise, that the needs of children don't even come into it. Absolutely shameful. And so parents in schools now demand fundamental change. Demand that you recognise, respect and value the full role of SNAs. By seeking to restrict the allocation of SNAs to a very narrow range of primary care needs, like toileting and medicine, you knowingly seek to limit access to SNAs. You knowingly seek to pull the rug from under children who desperately need support. So your government needs to accept that learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties are also primary care needs and this is the support that SNAs provide day in and day out. Taoiseach, despite your announcement last night, your threat to cut SNAs remains on the table. This is a tactical retreat and not a change of heart. The stories shared with us at last night's meeting were utterly heartbreaking. One mother, speaking through her tears, said, How dare the government even consider pulling SNA support from our children? Another said, I'd like the minister to come to my home, even for one day, to see what it's like when a child doesn't get the SNA support they need. The frustration, the helplessness, the anger. Parents, SNAs, teachers have all said that you have crossed a line here. They don't want an extended pause. They want these cuts taken off the table for now and for the future. They want to know that no child will lose the SNA that they depend on. And they want government to deliver a comprehensive response to the needs of their children. They want respect. The prayers and experiences of our children, The comments the Minister have only added to the anger of parents in SNAs. You hear ministers lining up to say that it was a communications problem, a sequencing problem, a cliff edge problem, incapable still of accepting that your plan was wrong, wrong to treat children this way. So today Tisha can you accept that a new departure is needed, not a temporary pause but a child centred approach built on respect, security for SNAs and an end to the constant stress and worry to be endured by parents. I have no one thing to say about it. I do not have any questions, but, to say to you, when you are a senior, if you are a student, you are a student, you are a student and a student, and you are a student and you are a student. You are a student. And you're a student. You are a student. And you are a student. And we're in the right direction and we're in the right direction. In a month or a month. And it's not that I'm talking about the rules, I'm talking about the rules, but the rules are not in the right direction. It's not that we're in the right direction. It's about the right direction of the rules. I just want to say at the outset, I understand where you're coming from, and you speak of cynicism, I think you personify cynicism, in terms of your approach to politics and to issues. You do not deal with them substantively or in any considered way. And the bottom line is this. Since 2020, if you just take special needs assistance alone, in 2020 there were 16,000 special needs assistance. Starting next September, there will be well over 25,000 special needs assistance. So it's gone from 16,000 to nearly 18,000 in 2021, 19,000 early in 2022, 20,000 in 2023, 22,000 in 2024, 23,000 in 2025, and over 25,000. That's not cutbacks. That's not pulling back. That's not taking children from, or the special needs assistance from vulnerable children. That's allocating more resources. And the same, by the way, across the board in terms of special education, the investment has been very significant over the last number of years. From a position where prior to 2020, very few special schools, none at all for the previous five or six, we've established 16 new special schools since 2020. 28% of the budget is now special ed, or sorry, special ed, and we've up to 30,000 now in special classes and special schools. So the investment is very, very considerable and will increase. And one of the reasons, if you look at the census, there has been a significant increase in the number of children and young people identifying with a disability in the last census, as opposed to the census prior to that. Very significant. And that is impacting on our schools, and is impacting on demand. And we are correct in my view, taking the view that we do need to finish off the work that's been done on the redeployment scheme, and a lot of work was done with all the partners and stakeholders in education. That will give safety and security of tenure to special needs assistance, as we have done for teachers many, many years ago. There was a redeployment scheme in place for teachers. In the teaching allocation, you know this, every September, depending on the numbers in a given school, teachers' numbers will either increase in that school or decrease in that school or stay the same. So if you have a reduced number of pupils on a given September, and you don't make a certain cut-off point in terms of pupil-teacher ratio, you lose that teacher. Or if you're above that and you're at the level, you gain teachers. The same applies in terms of special needs assistance, and has always applied, insofar as the needs of children in a given school have to be assessed, and should be assessed, by the way, on an annual basis, because things change. Need either increases or need can decrease. That's just logical and natural. I think what transpired here was there hadn't been a comprehensive view for quite a number of years, and the National Special Council embarked on one. And in our view, from a government perspective, we believe the building block should be in place for us, the redeployment scheme, the workforce planning, a new circular as well. And in addition to that, then, continued allocation of resources to a needs-based approach. So, Taoiseach, what you've given us is a demonstration of a complete unwillingness to accept realities on the ground. In fact, I would say that your response there was gaslighting parents and SNAs. Please. You need to know that those parents and children and young people who rely on their SNA to participate in school life, to participate in learning, to stay at school, to build confidence, esteem, to build relationships, who require behavioural regulation, need to have the security of the SNA. They can't live on a wing and a prayer from year to year, hoping against hope that the SNA isn't taken away. You attempted to remove SNAs from schools. That's what you attempted to do. Parents and SNAs have fought back, and they are telling you now very, very clearly, that there needs to be a new departure. That you need to accept in full the role of SNAs. You need to accept the reliance of children and young people to function and to operate within the system on those SNAs. And you need to announce now, not a pause or a review of a review, but a complete reversal of this disgraceful policy. Your time is up. First of all, look, you've just articulated an empty soundbite. A new departure. What do you mean by new departure? I'm none the wiser as to your new departure. Please, Deputy. There's nothing to it, what you're saying, please. This is an opportunity to have a go. Fair enough. That's what oppositions tend to do. But what we're saying, we're coming forward with the redeployment scheme, with a new circular, and I'm open for discussion on the role of an SNA. But the role of the SNA is primarily for the child, not the school. Let's have these discussions, which can't be forever debated in empty soundbites. The child comes first, I don't mind your woe, the child comes first all of the time. You're not in the Gatys School of Acting now. Deputy, please don't interrupt. The bottom line, it's a serious issue for children. And as far as I'm concerned, we must focus on allocation, on a child-based approach, needs-based approach. Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy Ivana Bat. Everyone on this side of the House is as familiar with the issues as you are. Deputy, you don't have a monopoly on it, and don't pretend to do it. Deputy, you don't have a monopoly on it, and don't pretend to do it.