Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan has said that the government are failing to deliver on children’s right to an education.
Speaking in the Dáil on September 23, the Dublin Bay North TD said that parents face a “battle with the state” to secure a school place if their child has a learning or intellectual disability.
On Wednesday, O’Callaghan told the Dáil, “this morning, I spoke with a mother about her 13-year-old son. He is autistic and non-verbal. In July he was told he had a place in Belmayne special school; I am sure the Minister can imagine the sheer relief and excitement of hearing that news.”
“Starting a new school is a huge moment. One can imagine the logistics, planning and emotional preparation. Now, I want the Minister to imagine what it must feel like to be told you will be starting school in September, only for September to roll around and you are still stuck at home. When I spoke to this child’s mother this morning, she was at her wits’ end.”
“She told me her child is now going backwards. He is not sleeping. He woke four times last night. She spoke of her utter heartbreak watching children walk by the front window on their way to school while her child languishes at home with no solution in sight.”
O’Callaghan stated, “this government claims disability services are a priority; however, despite all of its pre-election commitments and promises, disabled people and their families continue to be failed.”
“Every day they must battle with a state that is supposed to be there to help them just to get the bare minimum. Every day they learn that is too much to ask.”
O’Callaghan questioned how serious the government parties truly were in combating the crisis in special education.
“The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, has been a champion of special schools. He has called them ‘the future’, but he has not been so vocal on the serious issues these schools and their pupils are grappling with, even though it is in the Government’s gift to resolve them. These schools need proper staffing levels, proper resources and multi-disciplinary teams,” he said.
O’Callaghan stated, “I want to be clear that these issues are not the fault of the staff, who are trying their best in difficult circumstances; the fault lies with the government.”
He remarked, “It is only too happy to get the positive media coverage when announcing these new schools, but behind the scenes it is failing to resource them with the staffing levels they need. Behind these headlines are young children sitting at home while their peers move on with their lives.”
Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan
Fianna Fáil deputy leader and Minister Jack Chambers, filling in for the Taoiseach during his trip to New York to represent Ireland at the United Nations, agreed that “every child should have their educational rights vindicated in this state, including children who have special educational needs.”
Minister Chambers then defended the government’s delivery on the issue.
“What we have sought to do over the past number of years is to respond to the level of demand we have seen increase for special education across our state. We have 34,000 children who will be enrolled in special classes and special schools in this school year, which is an 86 % increase since 2020.”
The Dublin West TD noted, “in fairness to the NCSC and the Department of Education, they have responded to that level of demand. Most children are being accommodated in special classes, and we have ramped up the provision of special schools as well.
Chambers also noted there is a €3 billion investment in special education for 2026, the highest annual provision in the history of the state and a 58% increase since 2020.
Chambers also noted that special classes have increased by more than 136% since 2020, with more than 4,000 classes supporting more than 34,000 students.
O’Callaghan said that “every child has a right to an education, and this government is failing to deliver on their rights.”
“There are children sitting at home without a school place. I have raised with the Minister that this is not isolated. There are children who were given school places and who were meant to start in September. They and their families were told at the beginning of July that they had a school place in September. At the end of August, after they kept chasing and chasing, they found out that the place they had been given and promised does not actually seem to exist at the momet.”
“Why is that happening? Why are families being put through the trauma and stress of being promised a place and told their child has a place, and yet here they are coming towards the end of September, and the child is sitting at home regressing?”
He said that the government promised them a place, and yet they aren’t in the classroom; they are at home.
“When is the Minister going to give these families some certainty about when their children can start school? They have been given no information at all – nothing. When is the Minister going to give them answers?”
Minister Chambers reiterated that the government has put a high level of investment into fixing the special education crisis, and there is now a smaller cohort of children waiting for a school place than previous years.
“From my perspective, we have provided a prioritisation of this in our budgetary process to vindicate every person’s educational rights, as should be the case,” he said.
The Dublin West TD said “it is important that the respective bodies and structures there to deliver that do so for the children involved” and that he also deals with similar issues in his own constituency .
“In my constituency in previous years there was acute pressure in September of any given year and that has been reduced significantly in 2026 compared with previous years through the success of the portal and the forward planning structure,” he explained.
He then acknowledged, “obviously, in the case the Deputy (O’Callaghan) raised, that has not worked for them thus far.