Dublin mother says budget makes no difference to her autistic son’s education

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

A Dublin mother whose son is autistic has said Budget 2026 would make no difference to her son’s education, and did not prioritise children with special needs.

Budget 2026 provides for 1,717 new special needs assistants, a €20 boost for the monthly Domiciliary Allowance, and the provision of 6,500 private assessments of needs to reduce long waits faced by families.

Adrienne Doyle Whelan has three children: Max, eight, Jessica, three, and Teddy, aged five-and-a-half, who is autistic.

She said Teddy has been offered a special school place, but the building of the structure has not yet begun.

She said he received his assessment of need two years ago and is yet to get access to special therapies and services.

She is in receipt of the the Domiciliary Allowance, for carers of children with severe disabilities, which got a €20 boost in the Budget to €380 a month.

She added: “We’re very grateful to receive the Domiciliary Care Allowance, but we can’t spend it because we can’t even get the services privately.”

She said that the provision of 1,717 special needs assistants (SNAs) for next year, is just a 100 people higher than the last budget.

The funding boost in specialist community-based disability services, includes funding for the Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs), who provide supports for nearly 45,000 children with complex needs.

It is understood this will increase the number of specialist staff on that team to 150, which Adrienne said was “ridiculously low” and “a drop in the ocean”.

She added: “Teddy’s been known to the CDNT since he was two-and-a-half or even younger. Teddy is five-and-a-half now, he still hasn’t received any, so I don’t think 150 staff is going to cut it.”

She also raised concerns about the provision of around 6,500 private assessments without the services in place afterwards.

“All these children are going to need services after, but they will be left waiting,” she added.

She said she would “one hundred per cent” prefer a focus on education and healthcare services instead of changes to income tax bands or cost-of-living measures.

“They need to treat the special education crisis like it’s a house on fire,” she said.

“The SNA crisis has been all over the news; it’s a big issue, and yet they’ve only put an extra 100 (SNAs) on since last year.

“I don’t think they’ve done a lot different. They haven’t allocated a lot more compared to last year.

“It’s very similar to the budget they had last year for special education. It doesn’t sound to me like they’ve prioritised it.

“I don’t think it’s enough.”