The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, intends to keep all seven schools for children with autism open until September 2004.
The Fine Gael spokesman on Education, Mr David Stanton, had warned that at least 90 autistic children in three schools faced an uncertain future because Mr Dempsey could not guarantee funding after March 2004.
The three schools - all run on the CABAS (combined applied behavioural analysis) method - were set up by parents and funded as pilot projects for five years by the Department.
Located in Dublin, Drogheda and Cork, the schools have "enjoyed remarkable successes" over the past four years, and there is a "huge demand" for more such schools.
But they will be given permanent status only if the Department of Education is satisfied, after an independent review, that the system is the best method for children who have learning difficulties on the autism spectrum. There are seven schools in total using the applied behaviour analysis (ABA) method. CABAS is a trademark created by a US professor with links to the Cork schools.
Many other autistic children are in mainstream schools in special classes, or in mainstream classes with classroom assistants and resource teaching. According to a Department spokesman, the intention is to review objectively all the methods being used to find out what systems are best for which children.
Parents fear, however, that the review could lead to closure of CABAS schools. "Parents are exasperated, because we asked for an independent assessment when our school was set up four years ago," said Mr Kieran Kennedy, the father of an eight-year-old boy with autism in Cork.
After four years in the CABAS school, the boy can now attend mainstream school. CABAS is an intensive form of learning that is continually monitored so that even the smallest learning outcome can become a major advance.
CABAS starts with a one-to-one pupil-teacher ratio and then progresses to one to three, then one to 10.
"In the long term, CABAS is keeping these children out of residential care. Without it, they would not be able to fully function in society," Mr Kennedy said.
"There has been an explosion in the number of pre-school children diagnosed with autism and there has been no Government planning whatsoever."
The Minister said that all children with special education needs within the primary school system, including children with autistic disorders, have an automatic entitlement to a response to their needs. They must first be assessed by psychologists with the National Educational Psychological Service.
At the INTO conference next week, long waiting lists due to an insufficient number of psychologists is set to be a key issue.