Mayo student who suffered brain injury given SNA for just one hour a day

A MAYO TD has claimed that a child who suffered a brain injury following a life-altering accident has been provided with a Special Needs Assistant in school for the equivalent of one hour per day. 

Sinn Féin TD, Rose Conway-Walsh made the claim while strongly criticising the reduction of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts under the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) review process, describing it as 'unjustifiable and unfathomable'.

The Erris-based TD said the 2025/2026 Guidelines for the Review of SNA Allocations must be scrapped immediately and any cuts where there has been no change in need must be reversed.

“These guidelines are clearly designed to narrow access to support and reduce allocations. At a time when demand for special education support is increasing, schools are being told to do more with less,” said Deputy Conway-Walsh. 

“The Government is saying one thing and doing another. The Minister announces increases in SNA posts at budget time, yet here we are four months later and schools are now being told they are losing vital support.”

Trade union Fórsa are among the groups who have raised concerns after dozens of mainstream schools were told last week of a reduction in their allocations of SNAs from next September.

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Deputy Conway-Walsh said that there is already a massive unmet need in schools and outlined how one Mayo school is struggling to get a SNA to cater for the needs of a student left partially paralysed following a brain injury. 

“Ask any school principal and they’ll tell you there is already a massive unmet need. Children who require SNA support are waiting or going without, and now they face reductions despite no change in their assessed care needs. That is simply unacceptable.

“Among the many schools who have contacted me in Mayo, one principal has been trying to facilitate the return to education for a child with a brain injury resulting from a life-altering accident.

“This child is a wheelchair user, paralysed on one side and the National Rehabilitation Hospital recommends they have a full-time SNA throughout the school day, yet just 0.25 of an SNA allocation has been offered – the equivalent of one hour per day.

“That is not reflective of the reality of this child’s needs, and it highlights the flawed and rigid approach being applied under this review.

“If SNAs are pulled back from supporting care and behavioural needs, that responsibility will fall on already overstretched teachers, with a knock-on effect on every child in the classroom. The Government cannot claim special education is a priority while quietly cutting supports on the ground.

“Children with additional needs in Mayo and across the State deserve better. These NCSE cuts to SNA posts must be scrapped immediately,” she said.