The Taoiseach has announced that 975 extra special needs assistant will be allocated to schools from this September.
Leo Varadkar told the Dáil today that the decision had been finalised just this morning.
He said that 864 of these extra SNAs were allocated today, while the rest will be decided upon later in the year when parents have made up their minds about which school they’re sending their child to, according to RTÉ.
The Taoiseach was responding to a query from Sinn Féin’s Mary-Lou McDonald about delays in how SNAs are allocated.
She said out that the delays left parents at “wit’s end” and meant SNAs were unsure about whether they had a job to come back to in September, reports the Irish Times.
In response, the Taoiseach said that the government was very much committed to providing for special needs and said there were more SNAs in the state than teachers.
He also pointed out that 20 per cent of the education budget goes into special education.
