Teachers say the Government is jeopardising the futures of thousands of children by drastically cutting the number of English language teachers in schools.
Figures from the Department of Education show that the number of English teachers fell by almost one third between last year and this year.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation says it fears that cuts of the same magnitude may be made again for the next school year.
Two years ago there were 2,180 teachers whose sole responsibility was to teach English to the thousands of children who do not speak English with their families at home.
Many of these children begin school with no English at all.
Last year the number of language teachers was cut by 29% to 1,545.
The Department of Education says it is not able to predict numbers for next year but further cuts were announced in the last budget, and schools are now finding out what that means for them.
One Dublin 15 school says its provision has already dropped from three teachers to two teachers and next year they have been told they will have just one.
It says it has 107 children who have been formally assessed as needing assistance.
The Department of Education has defended its allocation, saying the level of language support is determined by the number of eligible pupils enrolled.
