As the country's primary schools reopen this week and prepare to welcome their new junior infants, many autistic children who were promised a school place for September will remain at home because their school is not ready to accept them.
Others have no offer of a school place.
Seven-year-old Daniel Colgan is among 12 children who were supposed to start at Danu Special School this September.
But last week the Dublin 15 school informed Daniel’s parents and others that construction work on a new modular building to allow for their enrolment was not yet complete.
'We're tired, we're angry, we're frustrated'
The school has postponed admission until mid-October.
Five-year-old Lucy Lowry was supposed to begin junior infants in a special class at Corpus Christi National School also in Dublin, but that too has been delayed due to the non-completion of building works.
Both Daniel and Lucy’s parents were among many others who protested outside the Department of Education and Youth, Leinster House and elsewhere on a number of occasions earlier this year to draw attention to the lack of school places for their children.
They are among a number of families from that group who are now in a similar predicament.
"It’s like you have no trust in the dates you are told. We were told September 2024, then it was pushed out to Christmas, then Easter, then September '25," Daniel’s father, Alan, said.
"We feel so deflated. We are tired, we are angry, we are frustrated. There is no support. It’s just setback after setback," Daniel’s mother, Germaine, added.
Alan and Germaine are keen to stress that the situation they find themselves in is not the fault of the school and that they do not blame the school.
As Alan and Germaine spoke to RTÉ News in the sitting room of their home in Dublin 15, Daniel vied for their attention.
Loving and "very, very active" is how his parents describe him.
"Go Daddy's car now", he asked, "go Centra" as he moved incessantly about the room from the window to the door, to plugs on the wall which he attempted to pull out, and back to his parents.
"We will go for a walk now in a minute bud, ok?" Alan said.
Daniel’s parents described the latest delay as "just another hammer blow".
"He wants to learn, he wants to interact," Alan and Germaine said, one beginning and the other ending a sentence.
"Look at him, he is at the window, he wants to go out into the world. But we need to make sure that he is able to fit in, to be able to navigate the world and for that he has to have an education," Alan said.
They both worry about what might happen to Daniel if anything were to happen to them.
"He will not be able to live in this world unless he gets an education and a chance in life," Alan said.
The bad news about the school delay came in a phone call and a letter from its principal last week.
"We again want to convey our sadness, disappointment and regret with the delay of your child’s start date," the letter said.
Not far from Daniel’s home, in Dublin’s Finglas, five-year-old Lucy Lowry is in a similar situation.
Lucy and Daniel were in the same specialised autism pre-school and Lucy too is a curious and energetic little girl.
Her parents applied to 28 mainstream primary schools in their wider local area for a place in their specialised autism class.
They received just one offer, but in July Corpus Christi National School in Drumcondra informed them that building works to enable that school to open its new special class were not yet complete.
It said it was "actively working to expedite the reconfiguration of our hall building", and that the school and the NCSE were working to develop a "contingency plan" for September.
Lucy’s parents have since been informed that the class should be ready to open in November.
"Decades of neglect in disability services is what has led to this," Lucy’s mother, Rachel Lowry, said.
She is concerned about the impact this wait of two months will have on Lucy.
She said: "It is just a very long time for a five-year-old. Lucy would be a child who thrives on routine and structure.
"As you can see, she is lively, she loves chatting away, she loves to learn, she loves to sing, she loves to dance, she loves being around other children.
"So the longer she is at home obviously that has a negative effect on her development going forward."
She added: "It is going to be very hard to sit back and watch [other children going] back to school and know that your child is not part of that, just because she is neurodivergent."
While no count is available, it would seem there are many other children with special needs like Lucy and Daniel who have an 'offer’ of a school place, but who are not starting school this week or in September because that place is not ready for them.
Rachel Lowry draws a distinction between having an ‘offer’ and actually being able to attend school.
To her mind Lucy does not have a school place "until she walks through the school gates".
But some children with additional needs in Dublin do not yet even have an offer of a place.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland programme on Friday, Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee said that outside of Dublin "children have been provided with places", but she acknowledged capacity challenges in Dublin.
"In Dublin, we are still working with a small number of parents to try and ensure that they have appropriate school places," she said.
"The biggest challenge is literally the capacity and the space," she added.
The Department of Education and Youth said the National Council for Special Education has sanctioned 407 new special classes in mainstream schools and over 300 new special school places for the 2025/26 school year, "ensuring sufficient capacity to meet demand, including for all children known to the NCSE by the February 2025 deadline".
It also pointed to five new special schools due to open this year.
"Where there is any delay to reconfiguration works or schools may be waiting for new modular accommodation, the NCSE is working closely with schools and families to support the development of contingency arrangements for students enrolled in these new special classes," the department said.
"Teaching and Special Needs Assistants have been allocated to schools opening new special classes and it is expected that these staff would work closely with students enrolling in new special classes under any contingency arrangements that may be necessary for some schools," it added.
The department has asked the families of children with additional needs who are seeking a specialised school place for the 2026/27 school year to contact the NCSE by 1 October this year - four months earlier than in previous years, to aid planning.
