I will focus on an issue I found in Roscommon and Galway. This time, it is not in relation to cuts per se, but a situation where schools do not have the correct or adequate number of SNAs in the first place. I will give one example. I provided a letter of support for a school that is appealing its SNA allocation. That school has two full-time SNAs and one part-time SNA. The two full-time SNAs are with two children who are a flight risk and have a number of primary care needs. Those children cannot be left unattended for the start of the school day, throughout and to the end of the school day. That is the two SNAs. The SNA who is part time is working with eight children, all with additional needs and a variety of needs. It is not possible for that SNA to do her job as a part-time SNA, yet that school has been told it has the required number of SNAs. The school looked for a review itself. It was half-terrified when it looked for it, but it was told it would hold what it has, which is what it is appealing now. We should not have a situation where a part-time SNA has to try to deal with the needs of eight children. It is not fair on the SNA and it is certainly not fair on the eight children. That is just one example of one school in my constituency. I know of other cases where children have to leave school early because the SNA finishes at a certain time and has to go home. In 2026, it is a shame to have any child in a classroom not receiving the support they deserve and are entitled to simply to get them through the school day. We have a serious issue here and we need to resolve it. We need to ensure that every child in every school has the SNA they need - nothing more and nothing less.

Sentiment score: 0.07