Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
============================================================

Paul Donnelly (SF), Dublin West

I am going to give the Tánaiste some examples of how this Government is failing our most vulnerable children. Hansfield Educate Together National School is telling us it will not be able to support children with additional needs due to the lack of SNA allocation for this September, forcing it to reduce timetables for students with additional needs. One school in Dublin West has been awarded DEIS plus status but there is none in Corduff, Blakestown or Mountview. At least 19 children with additional needs have no post-primary school place for September. The Minister's task force on special education, set up in October 2024, has still not published its recommendations. Why? Children have been waiting six years for an assessment of need for children with additional needs in Blakestown CDNT. School completion programmes tackling disadvantage in the Mountview, Blakestown and Ongar areas are operating with no increased funding and have been asked to support a school population that has increased by over 1,000 children. Deaf children get supports, or not, due to a postcode lottery. There is a baby alarm and monitor scheme in Meath-----

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23