The decision by Minister for Education and Youth, Ms Hildegarde Naughton to pause the SNA allocation review is being presented as calm, careful engagement. In reality, it reads like an emergency brake pulled after the system lost public confidence. The Department today has now halted all review changes, including cases where schools had already been notified of reductions, and has halted further letters being distributed, until further talks conclude.
That climbdown matters because the damage was not theoretical. By mid-February, national reporting indicated a substantial number of schools had been advised of proposed reductions for September 2026, with reviews still ongoing across the system. In places like County Tipperary, where schools already balance long travel distances, limited specialist services and stretched staffing, even the suggestion of a cut can trigger immediate anxiety for families and staff, because replacing supports is rarely straightforward, and delays have real consequences.
The most serious criticism is not that reviews exist, but that the review appears to be anchored to a narrow definition of “primary care need”, while schools are trying to deliver genuine inclusion in busy, complex classrooms. This approach may suit an administrative model, but it struggles to reflect the daily reality of autism, anxiety, communication needs, sensory overload, behavioural regulation and safety supports that keep children present, learning and well in school.
Even where Government insists overall SNA numbers are rising nationally, parents do not experience “national totals”. They experience whether support exists in their child’s classroom, in their school, on their timetable, from next September. For principals, the immediate issue has been the uncertainty; letters arriving without clear explanations that schools and communities can trust, and an appeals-based system becoming the default route to preserve basic supports.
The result is a familiar pattern; schools forced into scramble mode, families left fearful, and SNAs living with insecurity, while Ministers attempt to restore confidence after the fact.
If Ireland can fund the world, it can fund inclusion here at home.
Government has pointed to significant overall spending on special education and additional SNA posts. But the public anger here is rooted in a simple perception; children with additional needs are being treated as a variable in a resourcing exercise, rather than as young citizens, whose right to education should be guaranteed in practice, not merely promised in policy statements.
This is where the old phrase about Ireland as the “land of saints and scholars” starts to ring hollow. A country that prides itself on education should not run a core disability support through a process that leaves parents hearing developments informally, or forces schools into repeated fights to keep what they already have.
Political contrast is unavoidable.
The State can move quickly and confidently when funding priorities relate to foreign policy, international commitments, or expanding the national footprint abroad.
In Budget 2026, the State found record allocations to project Ireland abroad; a record €840m in overseas development assistance and new funding for expanded diplomatic footprints, championed by Mr Simon Harris, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It also committed a record €1.49bn for defence, through the Department of Defence. Separate reporting has put Ireland’s support to Ukraine since 2022 at €467m, with further commitments announced in late 2025.
Those decisions may be defensible in their own right, but they sharpen the question parents keep asking; “Why does the system struggle so visibly when it comes to getting certainty right for children with special educational needs here at home?”
That question lands sharply at local level. In County Tipperary, as in many counties, schools are not arguing for luxury supports. They are arguing for stability, the ability to plan staffing, to avoid disruptions for vulnerable children to prevent September becoming a cliff-edge, where SNAs are central to keeping children safe, regulated and able to access learning, the idea of “review first, reform later” feels somewhat backwards.
The pause must not become a temporary quietening of the headlines, before the same review process returns with slightly amended language. If Government is serious about inclusion, it should redesign allocations around individual need, transparency, and proper multi-disciplinary supports and not around a narrow definition of care and an appeals mechanism that schools rely on to prevent harm.
If Ireland wants to be a land of scholars again, it needs to start by proving, in real staffing decisions, that children who need support will have it, without panic, without uncertainty, and without having to fight for it, every upcoming year.
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