(Ireland) Finglas: Autism classes delayed until 2027; children only get two hours of school/day
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Mar 18, 2026, Dublin People: Finglas children left waiting years for autism classes
Some children in Finglas are currently receiving just two hours of schooling a day in a community hall while they wait for autism classes that were promised for this school year.
Parents say they have been left devastated after learning that the long planned special classes at Finglas Parochial National School will now not open until at least 2027, despite being sanctioned more than a year ago.
The delay means families who believed their children would finally have a proper school place are instead trying to build their lives around drastically reduced school hours while the promised classrooms remain undelivered.
Two special classes at Finglas Parochial National School were sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education in early 2025 after families and campaigners spent months pressing for additional autism class places in Dublin North West.
However, the buildings required to accommodate those children have still not been delivered.
Planning delays and administrative hurdles have stalled the project, leaving the school unable to open the classes as originally intended.
Parents of children with additional needs held a 24-hour sleep-out at the Department of Education in Feb 2025 over difficulty accessing special education school places.
Families say the situation has left them struggling to understand how classes sanctioned more than a year ago for the current school year are still not in place, with some children receiving only a fraction of the education they were promised.
In the meantime, a temporary arrangement has been set up in a local community hall where children attend on a reduced timetable.
The intake has been split into two groups, with one group attending for two hours in the morning and the other attending for two hours in the afternoon.
While parents acknowledge that the temporary arrangement has provided a vital lifeline, they say it falls far short of the full school day their children are entitled to and urgently need. . . .
Councillor Conor Reddy, a co founder of the group, said parents had fought hard to secure the classes and that the school itself had made enormous efforts to deliver them.
“Parents fought hard to get these classes sanctioned. Finglas Parochial NS is a progressive, inclusive school that has gone above and beyond to get these classes delivered but they have been frustrated at every turn.
“There has been minimal Departmental support for the school through the planning and procurement process and no focus on delivery from the state.
The Minister of State told the Dáil that the Department would continue working with the school authorities, the NCSE and Deputy McAuliffe to ensure the classes could open fully.
“It is important that we get this over the line and return the children’s full time education places,” he said.
However, more than three months after those assurances were given in the Dáil, the school is still waiting for the promised facilities to be delivered.
For the families involved, the issue is no longer about planning applications or departmental processes.
It is about children who were promised a proper school place this year but are instead receiving just two hours of education a day in a community hall while they wait for classrooms that may not arrive until 2027.
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