Several Northside TDs have sharply criticised the Government over what they say is a deepening crisis in special education, warning that hundreds of children with additional needs are still without an appropriate school place weeks into the new term.
The criticism came during a Dáil debate last Wednesday (17th) on a Sinn Féin motion highlighting the shortage of places for children with additional needs.
TDs accused the Government of abandoning families, failing to plan, and issuing “empty promises” while children remain at home or in unsuitable settings.
Sinn Féin Fingal East TD Ann Graves said families were being left in limbo and forced to fend for themselves.
“This time of year is about going back to school for many families. That means getting the school bags, getting the books together, and getting the uniforms ready.
“For many families there will not be a school place for their child to get ready for,” she told the chamber.
“Sinn Féin is tabling this motion to highlight the terrible injustice and to put pressure on the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government to listen and to act now.
“It is shocking to consider all of those families that have been abandoned by the Government.”
Deputy Graves said she was working with a family in Swords who had been “left high and dry” after their daughter with additional needs was refused a place in their local school.
“The dad contacted my office in a desperate state.
“I raised the matter directly with the Minister for Education and Youth in a parliamentary question asking what options are open to this family and their child. The written response I received was totally unacceptable,” she said.
“She suggested the family contact TUSLA education support services, which they did, only to be told to go on to Facebook and access a private tutor.
“The TUSLA education support service followed up with a phone call to the family and advised them again to go onto Facebook to try to get homeschooling for their daughter.
“You could not make this up. It is a clear indication of a broken system.”
Graves said this was far from an isolated case.
“The Equality in Education campaign identified a further 168 children without a place in school. It is all guesstimates because the Minister will not provide the actual numbers of children that do not have a school place,” she said.
“In Fingal East I know there is a number of such cases because parents are contacting me. The school term has commenced and they have no place to go with their children.”
She said the State needed a clear strategy instead of crisis management.
Back in June, parents, family members and children gathered at the Garden of Remembrance prior to a protest about the lack of school places for children with additional needs.
Social Democrats Dublin North-West TD Rory Hearne said it was “utterly scandalous” that children were being offered places that “do not exist”.
“As we start a new term in the Dáil, it is utterly scandalous that there are children all over this country who do not have an appropriate school place,” he said.
“The Government says that it has offered places and that only a small number have not been offered places.
“However, the reality of the places that parents are being offered and that children are being sent to is that some of them do not exist because the buildings do not exist yet or that the places are not appropriate.”
Deputy Hearne said he had written directly to the Minister for Education on behalf of three children in his Dublin North-West constituency — Riley, Lucy and Teddy — who still had no appropriate place.
“The parents and I hand-delivered a letter for Riley, Lucy and Teddy, all of whom are children with additional needs and autism who have no appropriate school place yet. They are the reality. The Minister of State is making empty promises. It is more empty promises. These school places are not a reality.”
Riley’s family, he said, had received 13 different refusals from schools. Lucy’s parents had been offered a place “subject to building works” that are still unfinished.
“In September, Lucy is still at home. There is no start date or interim plan and there has been no communication throughout the summer from the Department of Education, the NCSE or the school,” Hearne said.
“What is an absolute disgrace is that they have been asked to pay for photocopying and for arts and crafts supplies by the school despite the class not being open.”
“It is utterly unacceptable that this Government refuses to take responsibility for these children.
“We will continue to raise these cases and push the Government as hard as we can until children have the education-appropriate places that they deserve.”
People Before Profit Dublin West TD Ruth Coppinger also accused the Government of wordplay to mask the scale of the crisis.
“When is a school place not a school place? When it is a sanctioned school place,” she said.
“We have been asking for a figure for the number who were told they had school places but who do not have school places.”
Deputy Coppinger listed schools across Dublin and beyond where sanctioned places had not materialised, including Belmayne, St Mochta’s, Corpus Christi, Lucan Special School, Whitechurch School, St Mary’s Boys’ School, Holy Rosary Firhouse, and Danu Special School, which has yet to secure a promised building.
Sinn Fein Dublin West TD Paul Donnelly accused the Government of years of broken promises and failure to plan.
“Fine Gael has been 14 years in power and Fianna Fáil has been ten years in power and yet they are still talking about forward planning. It is absolutely ridiculous.
“Every single child has a right to an education.
“It is not provided to all children because some are denied that right,” he said.
Responding on behalf of the Government, Minister of State Emer Higgins said she fully acknowledged the frustrations raised by families and TDs, but insisted progress was being made and further measures are planned.
She said the Government was determined to end the annual scramble for places by giving families clarity far earlier and ensuring that every school played its part.
Minister Higgins said that as a Dublin-based TD, she regularly meets parents facing “huge challenges” to secure places and that “they should not have to deal with that level of additional stress in their lives”.
She said the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE were working to ensure parents get clarity much earlier for the 2026–27 school year, with confirmation of new special classes due by the end of this year.
Minister Higgins said 103 new special classes had opened in Dublin this year, bringing the total to 705, and that the new Lucan Community Special School would open shortly for 30 students.
She said a major expansion of capacity was being prioritised, backed by €7.5 billion in capital funding between 2026 and 2030 with a strong emphasis on special educational needs.
She also said the Government was piloting a new single online application system to make the admissions process fairer and less stressful.
“This pilot is a first step towards a national common application system.
“It will be a game-changer for families, especially those who have children with special educational needs,” she said.
Higgins also noted that special education teacher numbers have risen by 23% since 2020 and SNA numbers by 43%, with almost 21,000 special education teachers and more than 23,000 SNAs now working in schools.
She pointed to the summer programme for children with complex needs, which saw a 52% rise in participation since 2022, and said the Government was developing a new education therapy service to be piloted in special schools this year and rolled out further from 2026.
“I know this new service when introduced will have the potential to have a really positive impact on the lives of children and young people with special educational needs and their families,” she said.
While insisting progress was being made, Higgins conceded:
“We have so much work to do to address the challenges facing the parents of children with additional needs and those children themselves.”