A taskforce established to examine the provision of special education in the Dublin 15 area has estimated that dozens of additional special classes will need to be opened in coming years to meet demand for special education in the area.
The report of the taskforce, which was submitted to the Department of Education and Youth last June, concluded that approximately 80 additional special classes would be needed in coming years, each typically catering for 6 children, as well as 48 special school places.
Since the report's completion, 16 new special classes have opened in the area, and a further 12 have been sanctioned for next year. Two new special schools are also due to open in Dublin 15 next year.
Dublin 15 is the third-most populous urban area in Ireland and has a population greater than Limerick city. Its population is projected to reach 140,000 by 2029.
Comparing the area's special needs provision with that of Limerick city, the taskforce states that "the disparity in provision is stark".
The taskforce was established following strong campaigning by the parents of autistic children over the shortage of appropriate school places in the area.
While its focus is on one specific geographic area, the report notes that "many of the planning and delivery challenges that arise at national level are also evident in the Dublin 15 area, resulting in a shortage of appropriate special education places and delays in making these places available for children".
Commissioned by Hildegarde Naughton in late 2024 when she was Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education, the taskforce report makes 21 recommendations.
They include a call for substantial additional capital funding for the delivery of school building projects in the Dublin 15 area in order to provide sufficient additional special educational needs accommodation and school resources.
It has also recommended "increased substantial funding for the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of existing and new special education facilities".
Published just weeks after additional funding of €646 million was sanctioned for the Department of Education and Youth the report states: "This increased capital funding is necessary to meet the projected level of need for new special class and special school places in the Dublin 15 area."
The additional funding approved for the department does not include capital funding.
The taskforce has also called for an increase in funding for schools with special classes and for special schools to meet day-to-day running costs "in line with increased costs".
Noting that 40% of children who have been referred for special needs assessments are currently on waiting lists to be seen, it calls for better resourcing of Primary Care and other local health services to provide "timely assessment and intervention to children with additional needs".
It also calls for new measures to address what it says is a teacher supply crisis facing schools in the Dublin 15 area, in particular special schools and mainstream schools attempting to recruit staff to work in special classes.
It has recommended that a special allowance be paid to teachers teaching in special schools and in special classes in mainstream schools, and that an allowance formerly paid to teachers with a post-graduate qualification in special educational, needs also be reinstated.
It has called for therapeutic and behaviour supports for schools in the area, and for training for staff in schools and early years education settings, particularly with regard to child behaviour management.
Publishing the 'Taskforce to support forward planning of special education in the Dublin 15 area’ report today, Minister of State for Special Education Michael Moynihan said the findings of the taskforce had national relevance.
He said significant progress was being made in many of the areas highlighted and he instanced the establishment of a new education therapy service and increased capitation funding for special schools.
Mr Moynihan pointed to the sanctioning of 12 new special classes in Dublin 15 for the forthcoming 2026/27 school year and he said further new special classes were expected to be confirmed shortly.
