The Government turned what should have been a “positive story” about special needs assistant (SNA) allocations into a negative story about cuts to supports, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting heard. The Irish Examiner understands that the weekly meeting was “dominated” by discussions about SNA allocations several hours after education minister Hildegarde Naughton announced a pause in the review process. It is understood that there was anger over the fact that the SNA allocations “should have been a good news story”, highlighting that there would be 26,000 SNAs from September 2026. However, it is understood that several TDs told the meeting that no school should lose any SNA. “To that end, I am pausing the review of SNA allocations.

Source: Irish Examiner February 18, 2026 16:30 UTC