The Government's decision to pause and reverse its recent approach is, without question, a welcome reprieve, but let us be absolutely clear - that is all it is. It is a pause, an easing of pressure, not a solution. Behind the belated U-turn lies a deeper reality. The Government’s approach to special needs education remains fragile, stretched, unclear and ad hoc. In the middle of the system are the people who hold the system together - the SNAs, the teachers, the parents and the children, whose needs should be at the centre of every decision made. We recognise them. We recognise and acknowledge their determination, organisation and refusal to stay silent. The first I heard of this was two weeks ago, when the whole school community from Fossa National School contacted me. Since then, pupils and teachers from Asdee, Fossa, Glenflesk, Portmagee and even Glasheen in Cork have contacted me. It was their voices that stopped the changes, which were unfair, unworkable and unacceptable. Families, schools and pupils deserve certainty, stability, clarity and continuity of care, not another temporary fix. That means returning to the drawing board, reviewing the outdated frameworks, halting the redeployment policies that created chaos and fear, rather than support and structure, and engaging in consultation with the schools, which understand their students’ needs better than anyone. I spoke to the principal of a school who said that children who are leaving preschool with their AIM workers are then left to swim in the mainstream without an SNA. He described that system as the height of blackguarding. Another teacher told me that there needs to be a serious review. She said the upset caused by the communication, and particularly the response by the Taoiseach, was very traumatic for all. She spoke of hours of teaching time lost to form-filling and appeals from May to December, with the most vulnerable left without SETs while the forms are being completed. She also referred to the offhand and dismissive comment by the Taoiseach. We need inclusive educational diversity, which is listed as a core value, but the Government’s actions suggest otherwise.

Sentiment score: -0.03