Early Childhood Care and Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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John Lahart (FF), Dublin South-West

Parents of children with special needs require certainty and predictability. Their lives and those of their children are challenging enough without having to endure distress and anxiety caused by uncertainty and unpredictability. The Minister of State appreciates that. As my colleague Deputy Moynihan said, parents are deeply concerned that Nexus in Knocklyon and other locations has been informed by Tusla that due to its registration as a part-time service provider, it cannot take children who will be aged six or older for the 2026-27 school year. Nexus has been warned it could face sanctions, fines or prosecutions if it continues to provide services for those children.
The families affected have argued that this decision could leave their vulnerable children without appropriate educational supports at a time of severe shortage of special school and special class placements. Deputy Moynihan and I had a meeting with the parents on Tuesday, where we heard at first hand about those anxieties. Parents are frustrated that they may be forced to choose between keeping their child at home, having to leave employment to provide care and placing their child in an unsuitable educational setting.
Deputy Moynihan has highlighted the crux of the issue. As the parents have pointed out, Nexus has already been supporting children aged six and over for many years. It has undergone inspections without this issue being highlighted heretofore. Families are seeking clarity as to why a difficulty has now arisen and what steps will be taken to ensure their children are not disadvantaged. Tusla must explain why the provision of this care was okay until now. Was there an incident? What changed? Transparency on the part of both Tusla and the provider is needed before we can move forward.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15