Parents of children with additional needs in Finglas have been left devastated after being informed that new special classes at Finglas Parochial National School will not be delivered until 2027, despite being sanctioned in early 2025 for the 2025/26 school year.
The classes were sanctioned the day before Equality in Education held sleepouts at the Department of Education, protesting the lack of appropriate school places for children with additional needs.
However, due to planning delays beyond the control of the school and failures by the Department of Education and the NCSE, the required school buildings have not been delivered.
In the meantime, children have been accommodated in a local community hall on a reduced-hours basis, receiving just two hours of education per day. The intake has been split into two groups, with one group attending for two hours in the morning and the other attending for two hours in the afternoon.
While this arrangement has provided a vital lifeline for families, parents say it falls far short of the full school timetable their children are entitled to.
Rebekah Clarke, mother of Arlo, who was due to start school in September, said the uncertainty has taken a huge toll on her family:
“Arlo was due to start school this year and we were counting on Finglas Parochial. We were also offered a place in St. Canice’s, but that class wasn’t delivered until very recently. The constant uncertainty has made it incredibly hard to plan our lives. Routines have been disrupted, work has been affected, and we still don’t know when our children will finally get the proper school place they deserve.”
Leanne Roche, whose son Logan requires an autism class, said the delay means her son may not start school until he is eight years old.
“Logan has been rejected by school after school. He needs an autism class and there simply isn’t a place for him. If these classrooms don’t open until 2027, Logan will be eight before he starts junior infants. Most children his age will be in second class, preparing for their first communion. There is no excuse good enough to justify what has happened here - Logan and his classmates have been failed totally and at every turn .”
Maria Conroy, whose daughter Rosie (5) has been attending the reduced-hours class in the community hall, said the difference even limited schooling has made is clear:
“Rosie has come on so much even with the few hours she gets in the hall. It shows how much these children benefit from the right support. I gave up a place for Rosie in PALS preschool because we were promised a primary school place here. Now we’re being told the buildings won’t be ready until 2027. It’s devastating and I am terrified at the prospect of Rosie losing progress or regressing because of this”.
Councillor Conor Reddy, co-founder of Equality in Education Dublin North-West, who is supporting the families said:
“Parents fought hard to get these classes sanctioned. Finglas Parochial NS is a progressive, inclusive school that has gone above and beyond to get these classes delivered but they have been frustrated at every turn. There has been minimal Departmental support for the school through the planning and procurement process and no focus on delivery from the state. It's shocking and what makes it worse is the illusion of new places government politicians carefully cultivated in the media around the announcement of newly sanctioned classes last year. It is beyond cynical! ”
Rachel Lowry, co-founder of Equality in Education Dublin North West, an Special Needs Assistant and parent of two daughters with additional needs spoke to the need for urgency from the Department of Education:
“Two hours a day in a community hall is not a proper school place. These children deserve the same chance at education as every other child. The Department must now urgently set out how these classrooms will be delivered this year - 2027 is not good enough. We will do all we can as a community to support the children in these classes, their families and the school itself”