I thank Sinn Féin for the opportunity to contribute to the debate this evening. Debates like these are essential to reflect on the deeply held priorities for our communities. I want to state absolutely clearly that this Government is fully committed to supporting children with additional needs. This commitment is not merely a matter of policy but a matter of principle and is reflected in the continuing record-breaking increase in the number of SNAs in our classrooms, an unprecedented investment we are delivering for special education. My senior Minister, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, is deeply committed to it and in her previous life as Chief Whip I know her commitment, on a personal level, to children with additional needs. I want to put that record on today. Furthermore, as I indicated last week, there will be no reductions in SNAs in September 2026 to 2027, and for any school that has been granted an increase, that will be honoured as well. To the SNAs, I say they are the heartbeat of our school communities. They provide essential care and support that allow students with additional educational needs to participate fully in the school life. Since my appointment 12 months ago, I have visited almost 120 schools across the country. In every classroom I entered, from Cavan to Cork, I saw first hand the transformative impact special needs assistants have. I have seen children who, without this dedicated support, simply would not be able to attend mainstream schools. I want to place on the record my immense respect for the SNA workforce. They are professionals who give their all to the children they support. They are invaluable. This is exactly why it is so important that we ensure we have the right support in the right place at the right time. I might come back to that point in a few moments. On the redeployment scheme, I think we all agree that the needs of the schools are never static. They evolve as students graduate or new children enrol and as the individual needs of students change over time. Much like the way we see teachers being redeployed due to a drop in numbers of enrolments, the need for schools can change to a degree that the level of SNA provision is reduced or indeed increased. This was an annual occurrence up to 2020. I understand wholeheartedly that this can be difficult news for a school and we must ensure schools do not face a cliff edge. It is vitally important to have a redeployment scheme in place. We must make sure that the redeployment scheme is out there within the shortest possible time. Much has been discussed in relation to the 2014 circular and there has been significant criticism of it this evening and across public discourse over the past while. While I hear those concerns, it is also vitally important to remember that this circular has been the foundation for the most massive growth of SNA support in the history of the State. Since its introduction in 2014, we have added 14,000 new SNAs to our schools, with a 45% increase since 2020 alone. This is a huge investment. We must be careful not to undermine the very framework that has allowed this support to scale so rapidly. I also assure the House that there has been no change in how the circular has been interpreted or implemented. However, we recognise the landscape of education has changed in a decade. That is why, as part of our first ever SNA workforce development plan, we are reviewing the circular in the context of the evolving role of the SNA. This has not been a top-down process; it has involved wide consultation and engagement. A working group comprising the stakeholders, including union representatives, SNAs and school management bodies, has met over 15 times over the past number of years to progress this work. They have examined every nuance of the role - how the SNA interacts with the wider school community team to the specific range of support required by the students. We have seen huge investment in special education. We have seen an increase of 58% in five years. We have to acknowledge that. While we take all the criticism, please accept that we have, at the very core, the idea of special education and we know the importance of it. I want to talk about the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and I know many Deputies across the House work and engage with the NCSE and its teams individually on behalf of their constituents on an ongoing basis. I have always had huge respect for the work of the NCSE going back over many years. We have seen a significant increase in its staffing to meet the rising demands across our system. The review process is not a cold, administrative task; it is a robust, professional assessment. It is important that we acknowledge the work of the team from the very top and the way they have worked over the past number of years to see increased special classes, special schools and enrolment. Their dedication and commitment not just at the top but right through the system is something that we have to accept. We are going to continue to support children through the expanded summer programme, which has become a lifeline for families; a comprehensive review of the assistive technology to ensure we are using the best possible tools available; and the implementation plan for the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, ESPEN, Act, which has also taken place. I, like Deputies across the House, come to this debate at an extremely personal level. I have taken some of the comments that have been made over the last week or so on the chin as a public representative. However, from my engagement with the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, over the weeks and months since her appointment as Minister for education, I know that she is somebody we can work extremely well with. We understand the challenges facing families. To the SNAs, I would say that I have seen first-hand the massive work they are doing, the length and breadth of the country. We were in Limerick recently and I saw an SNA putting together a chair for a child. The chair had come in a box and the SNA was putting that chair together for the child. I understand the amount of work they do, the length and breadth of the country, in every single school. If anyone says we are disrespecting them, we are certainly not. We have at the heart of this what the SNAs are doing, but we also have at the heart of it the challenges that are faced by every single family with children with special educational needs. They have battles from day one in terms of assessments of need. The one thing that has arisen in the course of the debate, in public discourse and in commentary is that we have to make sure that our education system is built in such a way that the best possible outcome for the child is at its very core. Children who were not getting supports heretofore went on to have a very difficult adulthood, or went on to day care or other challenges. They need to get the right support within the educational system. We have seen many changes within the system in recent years, and we are going to continue that. I can assure those in the Gallery, those who will be protesting tomorrow, those who have contacted us and the school communities that I have engaged with right through my political life, not just now, that we are going to work, day and night, to ensure this happens. As I said in some of the public comments I made during the week, there is no point in my coming out with something that is not going to work. We have to come out with something that everybody has confidence in. That means redeployment and the issue in regard to the circular. It also means that we have at the very core of our education system the child who needs it. I know the struggles that families have because, like all Deputies in the House, I engage continuously with families. We have to make it easier, and we have to take the fear and concern out of it. I would ask everyone to work with us because we do not intend to let them down.

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