'We got this wrong,' Tanaiste says of SNA review as Taoiseach insists Cabinet never signed off on plans to slash numbers

"There's been a lot of hurt caused over the course of the last week, a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety. We got this wrong. The reality of the situation is when something goes wrong, you've got to put your hands up and you've got to fix it. What I heard from parents across the country, what I heard from SNAS and what I heard from teachers was that the sequencing here matters."

"The review was initiated way back, but what I would have thought ordinarily would happen is that a presentation would be made, initially to the ministers, and then to Government, to say 'look, we've concluded the review. Here's the impact, here's the potential implications'. That didn't happen on this occasion. So it is just false to say we signed off at the Cabinet. It didn't come before Cabinet in terms of the numbers."

"While there was a strong logic to review SNA allocations, the buck stops with us in how the review was handled. The sequencing and communication of such significant changes affecting schools, parents, and support staff proved critical to public acceptance and institutional trust."

The National Council for Special Education conducted a review of Special Needs Assistant allocations across approximately 580 schools, determining that one-third would experience SNA reductions starting in September. The announcement caused substantial concern among parents, teachers, and SNAs. Government officials acknowledged the review had merit but admitted poor handling of its communication and sequencing. The government paused the reallocation process for the upcoming school year. The Taoiseach clarified that Cabinet had not formally approved the review findings, stating proper procedure would have involved presenting potential impacts to ministers and government before implementation. Despite the mishandling, government leadership expressed continued confidence in the NCSE's ability to conduct such reviews appropriately.

Read at Irish Independent