Waterford parents protest at the Dáil over lack of school spaces for children
Parent's protest outside the Dáil over the lack of school spaces for their children. Photo: Caroline Spencer
Waterford parents travelled to Leinster House to have their voices heard about the education crisis facing their children.
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered outside the Dáil to protest the lack of school spaces for children with additional needs.
Throughout the day, multiple politicians came out of the Oireachtas to watch and lend support to the protest, including TD Paul Murphy and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Parents staged a sleep-out outside the Department of Education to keep pressure on the Government to provide their children's constitutional right to an education.
Róisín O'Donoghue was just one of the parents from Waterford who travelled up to Dublin in solidarity with the protest. Her daughter Willow is still waiting on a general assessment of need. She said: "I'm feeling hopeful, however, I am hesitant in that hope.
"Our hope hasn't gotten us anywhere yet but I think the more we rally across the country on a national level, hopefully some action will be implemented."
Like many parents, Róisín has had to go through private channels for her little girl, but even the private waiting lists are "inundated with children waiting to be assessed".
Recently, parents met with Minister for Education Helen McEntee over the crisis. In the weeks following the meeting, the parents have not heard any news.
Róisín commented: "It's all very good and well for [McEntee] to compel schools to open units and to be more accommodating for our children, but 'compelling', 'thoughts' and 'hopes' don't produce action."
Mother Rebecca Meehan spoke movingly about her son at the gates of Leinster House, telling the crowd: "My child's education will include him learning to be as independent as he can be because, unfortunately for him, I actually can't live without him, like most of you here, but one day he is going to have to live without me and we all need to stay strong, stand up for our children and make sure that they get the right and the entitlement of what they deserve."
TD David Cullinane and TD Conor McGuinness lent their support to the protest. Deputy Cullinane said: "It shouldn't take parents to sleep out to get movement from the Government or to get the education that their child deserves.
"We had a lot of the same parents from Waterford a number of weeks ago when we moved a private members' motion, it was on this issue, demanding that the Government and the Minister would look at putting additional classes in place, making sure that those classes would be in place by September, making sure that the physical space was available, that the teaching posts, the SNA posts, and so on, and that there was an appropriate school place."
Deputy McGuinness commented: "Government has failed to address the capacity crisis that means local children with additional needs remain without a place for the coming school year at St. John's Special School. Waterford may well be the worst affected county in the country, but we don’t even know as the Department of Education have not begun collecting the data needed to understand how many children are affected by the issue.”
On Saturday, April 5, there will be a major protest on John Roberts Square in Waterford city at 2pm. As Róisín said: "We're trying to get as many in attendance as we can for that, whether that be parents, carers, supporters, general public, because we need to get everyone to rally behind us."
Minister of State Mary Butler commented: "Through late February and early March, 12 new special classes in Waterford were sanctioned by the NCSE for the coming school year 2025/2026. I continue to work with all relevant stakeholders regarding the provision of these classes throughout the county.
“I remain satisfied that the NCSE, the Department of Education, and the Minister for Special Education have a comprehensive understanding of the situation affecting families in Dungarvan and Waterford, based on the detail of discussion which has taken place to this point."
Her statement continued: "The NCSE and Department of Education continue their detailed analysis of the needs profile of the various children currently without a place with a view to securing a satisfactory resolution for families. I also continue to engage with parents who have been affected by the shortage of places.
"Throughout my dealings with all stakeholders to this point, including the very hard-working principal at St. John’s in Dungarvan, I have prioritised adopting a collaborative, constructive and honest approach. My main focus at this point is working directly with the respective schools to ensure that they are supported in resolving their capacity issues in advance of the impending academic year."
