Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I want to talk to the Taoiseach about this SNA fiasco. I will get straight to the point. This Government seems to think disability is almost exclusively physical. It is 2026 and that is akin to saying mental health is not a thing. I should not have to explain this but children being able to communicate, regulate and participate is just as important as their physical needs. My first question is this: does the Taoiseach recognise that? I think this is something he cares about so I will presume he does recognise it. Why does this policy on SNAs ignore that? Yesterday, thanks to public pressure from parents and school communities, the review of SNA allocations was paused. Where are we today? The schools that were told they are losing SNAs, like Belgooly National School in my constituency, have no idea if those cuts are still happening. Schools that were told they are being allocated additional SNAs do not know if these increases are going ahead. Children, SNAs, parents and principals are all in limbo. All they know is that there will now be a review into the original review. Nobody knows how long this second review will take or what the criteria for it will be. The criteria are key. An SNA's work is not an optional extra. They do extraordinary and essential work, helping children with their medical needs and helping them through anxiety and through painful transitions and tough and difficult moments. Without SNAs, children would be excluded. Even with an increase in the overall number of SNAs, the reality is that we need more. Instead of doing what needs to be done to achieve that, and instead of improving pay and conditions, professionalising their role and including more secondary care needs in their contracts, the Government has reduced this essential support to numbers on a spreadsheet. It has completely missed the point. When I spoke this morning to an SNA, Samantha O'Flanagan, she put it better than I could. She wants to know this: When a child won’t come up the stairs because of anxiety, when they run out of the classroom because they are dysregulated and overwhelmed, when they sit in a corridor crying because they are so emotionally distressed, what is the teacher meant to do?! What are the up to 27 other children meant to do? This is the reality in schools. Emotional regulation and sensory support is just as important as physical care needs. Children need to feel safe in school, to be regulated in order to learn, and SNAs are the ones who facilitate that. I will return to my original question: does the Taoiseach recognise that disability is not just physical? If so, why does the SNA policy ignore that? Will the Government scrap this policy and focus on what needs to be done?
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The Taoiseach said it is a "bit much" to ask that question and I have to say I agree with him. I do not think we should have to ask that question but the reality is that the policy - the implementation of this - does not represent his words here today at all. Over time and incrementally, it has happened that the allocation of SNAs is based almost exclusively on physical needs and not other needs. That is the reality. Speak to the SNAs, the teachers, the principals and the families. I did not want to have to ask the Taoiseach that question but I had to ask him because he needs to put his policy where his mouth is. He recognises that there is a problem with this policy because it has been paused. It would not be paused if he did not recognise that. The question that I am asking and, indeed, that Deputies have been asking him for the past 24 hours is this: what happens now? How long will this review take? Will the Taoiseach change the approach? Does he recognise that we need more SNAs? Will the focus be on that, rather than on looking at a spreadsheet and deciding who can be moved where? The Taoiseach knows how disruptive that is to a classroom. How long are children, families and schools going to be left in limbo?
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I said that.
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I am asking-----
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If you could answer the question, it would be helpful.
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