On Thursday morning, shortly before 9am, Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton addressed a largely empty Dáil chamber to reveal figures that special education advocates, journalists and opposition parties had been seeking for months.
“The NCSE [National Council for Special Education] has verified that by October 1st, 7,860 children and young people notified to them meet the requirements for a special class or a special school place for the 2026/27 school year,” she told the small number of TDs present, reports RTE.
“Further children have come forward after that date and this will continue right up until September 2026,” she said, reports RTE.
All of these children currently lack an appropriate placement. It had already been understood that the record number of additional school places planned for next September would fall short of demand.
This had been acknowledged by the Taoiseach and the department’s secretary general in mid-February, and since then both journalists and politicians had been pressing for the precise figures, which were finally disclosed on Thursday morning, reports RTE.
The situation became clearer, revealing the scale of the shortfall facing the education system.
“Budget 2026 initially provided for 3,000 new places, and there are also over 2,500 places also available through normal annual movement of students from primary to second-level or finishing school,” the minister went on to say, reports RTE.
In total, 7,860 children require a special school place for the coming year—either in a special class or a dedicated special school—but only 5,500 places are currently available.
This leaves 2,360 children whose needs will not be met by September under existing plans, not including additional cases reported to the NCSE since 1 October, which are expected to be considerable, reports RTE.
The manner in which this information was released was unusual, coming unexpectedly in a sparsely attended chamber. Labour’s education spokesperson Eoghan Kenny, who had posed the question, appeared taken aback.
With at least 2,360 children in need of placements—a number expected to rise—the scale of the issue is significant, reports RTE.
“So the funding approved by Government earlier this week will allow to provide for further new special places and special school places over and above the 3,000 new places already budgeted for,” Minister Naughton continued, reports RTE.
The additional funding she referred to amounts to €646 million, approved by the Government on Tuesday, though the announcement received relatively little attention.
It was revealed by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers during a busy Spring Economic Forecast briefing, where it was overshadowed by news of a €9 billion government surplus, reports RTE.
“Today we are choosing to allocate additional funding to Education and Youth,” Minister Chambers said, reports RTE.
His emphasis on the word “choose” was notable, suggesting the allocation was a deliberate decision rather than guaranteed.
He described the approach as “a trade-off”, involving a levy on other government departments, which will need to implement reforms and efficiencies to generate €446 million in savings, reports RTE.
“We have to reprioritise in the context of education,” Jack Chambers said. “It’s a control mechanism to make room for increased investment in the education sector,” reports RTE.
Five months into her role, Hildegarde Naughton has made clear that addressing what she termed a long-standing structural deficit within the department is a key priority.
The additional €646 million will be directed towards core needs, including teacher pay and pensions, school transport, and special education provision to meet the growing demand outlined in the Dáil, reports RTE.
Of the 7,860 children requiring special placements, around 75% are already enrolled in schools, often attending mainstream classes due to a lack of suitable alternatives.
Approximately 7,000 of these children have been diagnosed with autism. “So the focus continues to be on [creating] new places for children with autism,” the minister said, reports RTE.
While special education remains the most pressing issue, it is not the only challenge facing the department, where demand continues to drive provision.
Observers in the education sector point out that there has been no additional capital funding—meaning no extra resources for the many deteriorating school buildings awaiting upgrades, or for constructing and refurbishing the growing number of special classrooms now required, reports RTE.
The key question now being raised is whether this latest funding allocation will be sufficient to meet the scale of demand, reports RTE.
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