Fórsa has now secured a redeployment scheme for Special Needs Assistants (SNA) for the next school year. The Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have confirmed that redeployment will be available for SNAs affected by reductions to the number of posts allocated to their school.  

The new arrangements will provide for redeployment from a school where SNA posts are reduced to a different school where vacancies exist. An additional 1,600 SNA posts will be allocated to the school sector in September. Discussions on the details of how this new process will work and what steps will be necessary to facilitate redeployment from one school to another are ongoing. 

Announcing the new arrangements, Fórsa’s head of Education Andy Pike said, “The need for a robust redeployment scheme for SNAs has been a key objective for our union for many years.” 

He explained that from the next school year, SNAs will be able to move to another school with vacancies, rather than having to take redundancy if the number of SNA posts in their school is reduced. 

“There’s still work to be done fine-tuning the details, and we will keep members informed,” he added. 

Redeployment is one of the issues under discussion as part of the SNA Workforce Development Plan and is linked to the ongoing review of the SNA national contract.  

When the discussions are complete SNA members will be given the opportunity to vote on the new arrangements in a consultative ballot on the new national contract, which will cover changes to the 72-hour obligation, changes to June working arrangements, a new minimum qualification, career progression opportunities and training opportunities. The process must be completed by September 2025. 

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