People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West, Gino Kenny, is hosting a public meeting on the pressing issue of special educational needs in the area. The meeting will take place on Thursday, September 26th, at 7.30pm in the Clondalkin Leisure Centre. The event will provide a platform for parents, educators, and the general public to discuss the chronic lack of school places for children with special needs, the shortage of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs), and the unacceptably long waiting times for critical services such as Assessment of Needs, Speech and Language Therapy, and Occupational Therapy.
Gino Kenny TD, who has long campaigned for better support for children with disabilities, expressed his deep frustration at the current state of services. “It is acceptable that in 2024, we still have children in Dublin Mid-West waiting years for an assessment or struggling to find a school place. The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government has completely neglected these children and their families. It’s a damning indictment of their priorities when vulnerable children are left behind, while there is no shortage of resources,” Kenny said.
Local campaigner Vanessa Murphy, who has been advocating for children with autism in Clondalkin, stressed the urgent need for an autism-specific school in the area. “Families in Clondalkin are at breaking point. We need an autism-specific school here that can properly cater to the needs of our children. Right now, parents are having to travel far outside the community to find adequate supports, and that’s simply not sustainable. Our children deserve better, and we need action now,” Murphy stated.
