An additional 42 specialised school places for children with autism are to be created in one Dublin suburb to address a chronic shortage there.
Seven primary schools in the Dublin 15 area have agreed to open specialised autism classes for this school year.
Six of the schools were served with legal notices over the summer obliging them to open the classes.
A seventh school has agreed voluntarily to open a special class, according to the Department of Education.
The notices were sent out under new legislative provisions which give the Minister for Education the power to oblige schools to provide for children with disabilities where required.
In correspondence published by the Department of Education, schools served with the notices objected on a number of grounds including a lack of space, a lack of adequate notice, and the need for teachers and other staff to receive training.
The Department of Education says the places to be provided by the seven mainstream primary schools will bring the total number of additional special needs places in the area to 88. The remainder are being provided by a new special school that caters exclusively for children with special needs.
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Dublin 15 is situated towards the west of the city. The area has seen massive population growth in recent years. According to the latest census parts of Dublin 15 are growing at a rate faster than any other part of the country.
In a statement, Minister for Education Joe McHugh thanked principals, school management and patrons, in particular Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, for "their honest and open engagement with the legal process".
The minister referred to the "anguish" suffered by parents and families living in the locality as a result of the lack of suitable school places.
The statement said the new classes were coming on stream after "very intense engagement" between the Department, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), patron bodies and schools.
It said a package of teaching, special needs assistants, training and funding supports was available to schools, and that the schools could apply to the Department for capital funding to re-configure existing, or provide for new, accommodation.
