Press Release February 24.2026

Educator and by-election candidate says EPSEN report recommendations must be enacted to aid students

GALWAY – Galway West by-election candidate Sheila Garrity is calling for the immediate enactment of recommendations laid out by the government last year to help ease the SNA crisis that has erupted across the country.

Garrity, a leader in Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland who lists Special Needs Assistants as critically important parts of our school communities, said it is urgent the government implement recommendations outlined in a 2025 report, including establishing a mediation process so that families have a fair system to appeal resourcing changes.

This past week, families across Ireland, and throughout Galway City and County, were left reeling as news emerged of planned changes in which SNAs at some schools could be ‘reallocated’ to other schools to students with the ‘highest care needs’.

Garrity, who has earned a doctorate in Early Childhood Education, said such a policy would create a system where the allotment of resources could be based on which child is more ‘deserving’  rather than all children’s needs being met.

“From a rights perspective and tied to our obligations under the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child, and on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Irish state has a duty to enable all children to fully participate in education,” Garrity said. “Providing educational supports and accommodations to children is not a charitable act. These are entitlements.”

SNAs, Garrity continued, “ensure children’s medical and care needs are met, support children’s wellbeing, emotional regulation and increasing independence, while enabling learning and promoting inclusion. This is rights-based education in action.”

In 2021, under pressure from groups such as the National Disability Authority and Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Department of Education and Youth undertook a review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004. The department published the report last June in which it made several recommendations to align the Act with UNCRPD requirements.

“The crisis this past week has made the need for reform more urgent than ever,” Garrity said, calling for the following actions based on the report’s recommendations:

  • A review of the resource allocation model, ensuring all children with special education needs receive the quality of supports and accommodations needed to enable their meaningful participation in education
  • Establishing a mediation process or other appeals mechanisms so that families have a transparent, fair and resourced system to appeal resourcing changes.
  • The need for Actional Rights enshrined in legislation; parents shouldn’t have to fight the state to realise their children’s rights.
  • A merging of relevant acts into one overarching piece of legislation, and defining Inclusive Education in legislation in line with the UNCPD
  • Ensuring special education provision is in line with recent updates to curriculum, assessment and best practice in the proper resourcing of learning environments.

“As an educator and researcher,” Garrity said, “I know that children with additional needs do best when they have consistency of people, routines, and environments. Feeling safe and secure, knowing they are supported by key people in the school community, people they trust and can depend on, enables all our children to effectively engage with learning.”