There will be no reductions to special needs assistants for the next school year, the Government has said. Education minister Hildegarde Naughton and special education minister Michael Moynihan made the announcement in a statement on Monday evening. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) issued letters to several schools advising them that they could lose part of their SNA allocation. No reductions will come into effect in the 2026/27 school year. A Government statement said that "the priority will be ensuring that the child-centred approach to the provision of special education is retained and enhanced in these policy developments".

Source: Irish Examiner February 24, 2026 00:10 UTC