I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, for coming to the House to discuss this Commencement matter. It is ironic that as the former Minister of State in the Department, Senator Malcolm Noonan, takes the Chair, it was he who responded to one of the final Commencement matters taken last year in relation to this area.

I had a look yesterday at the number of times I have raised this matter since 2016. Luckily, I kept a few copies of documents, so that when I was looking for archive hard copies I found that I still had a few in my office. The Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, published in 2016 with a foreword by then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, set out clear ambition and guidance for the delivery of a fully comprehensive IT suite and online interactive portal for citizens all over the country. I was on the housing committee from then onwards and I continued to monitor that. There has been a lack of real progress. To be fair, as the Minister of State will appreciate, we have had a whole new Planning and Development Act since then. I looked at the Estimates in relation to funding sought and granted for this project. That is another point to make.

I will be as brief and concise as I can because I recognise, to be fair, that we have a new Planning and Development Act and comprehensive reform of our planning system. An Coimisiún Pleanála plays a critical role in the Irish planning system, deciding on appeals, planning decisions made by local authorities and direct applications for major housing, infrastructure and other categories of development. Historically, instances of failures in corporate governance and direction framed public debate and public confidence in our planning system and An Bord Pleanála, as it was then. Thankfully, a new code of practice is in place that is guiding governance matters within An Coimisiún Pleanála.

In my Commencement matter, I asked the Minister to provide an update on the progress on the full roll-out of the Plean-IT project to enable full citizen engagement. That will now be the focus of my commentary. It is important to fully enable citizens to go online as part of their engagement in the planning process for appeals, applications and other submissions. Online services and enhanced portal and website functions should be available for all citizens from all parts of the country. I spoke to a number of councillors, particularly in rural communities, where there were difficulties in this regard and citizens had difficulty accessing the system. Clearly, if people do not have IT competence, there are issues. In terms of the ready availability of coloured scanned graphs, however, some local authorities are raising issues with the capacity to scan accurately and with great clarity coloured graphs and photographs and upload them to the system. This is particularly the case with protected structures. I do not want to knock the system and I accept there are challenges, but we have to address them.

Access to and participation in the planning system are important for all citizen engagement. It is important to maximise the use of our new IT systems and online capabilities and technologies to support the operations of An Coimisiún Pleanála, the planning authorities and anyone who wants to interact with our planning process.

I ask for an update on progress and seek assurances from the Minister of State that his Department is satisfied An Coimisiún Pleanála has sufficient resources to deliver its remit, particularly in this area. I hope it will not be necessary to pursue this in great detail but there are serious concerns in relation to the IT capacity, but also the overruns, of a number of bodies under the aegis of Departments. We know from correspondence I have on file that a number of pilot projects costing substantial amounts of money have not been fully delivered. We may need to revisit An Coimisiún Pleanála, in particular, in relation to costs, overruns and systems being abandoned halfway through the process. There are challenges and concerns, and there may need to be a greater focus on those. I am here to listen to the update, however, because I do not know what the current state of progress is in this regard, which is why I have asked the Minister of State to the House.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to update the House on progress with on the Plean-IT project in An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála.

The Senator's question is interesting, based on the response I have, and he will hear it now. An Bord Pleanála commenced an ICT strategy in 2013. The purpose of the strategy was to address the organisation’s reliance on legacy systems. The Plean-IT programme was initiated in 2014 to implement this strategy. An external consulting firm was appointed following a public procurement process to carry out a feasibility study to assist in making a business case for the project. The business case was for three elements: a new case management system, geographical information systems, GIS, and a new website and portal. The project was projected to take five years, from 2014 to 2019.

A further public procurement process led to an external IT company being appointed to develop the selected CMS development. This development commenced in 2016, and the CMS went live in October 2017. The GIS element of the project also went live during 2017 and was integrated with the new CMS.

At the conclusion of the initial five-year period, a suite of enhancements and system improvements were introduced. This was the second phase of the project. Additional external expertise was publicly procured in 2019 to progress this phase. The board approved the renovation of the CMS using an internal team led by a new project manager and business analyst. The system has now been operational for eight years in total. Throughout the implementation period, the board reported regularly to the Minister for housing on progress.

In April 2021, a new website was launched which facilitated online submissions and-or observations, including associated fees for cases before the board. As is standard with all major ICT projects, a lessons learnt review of Plean-IT was carried out in 2022 by an external consultant following a public procurement process. A director of transformation and digital services post was sanctioned following the ministerial action plan and the Office of the Planning Regulator report of 2022 to head up the next development phase of the board's ICT strategy.

An Coimisiún Pleanála's transformation and digital services units are working with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer to develop online applications to provide the capability for the public to submit planning appeals online. Regulations were introduced last year, and SI 540 of 2025 specifically provides that appeals to An Coimisiún Pleanála can be made in electronic form.

An Coimisiún Pleanála commenced a pilot of the system for online submission of planning appeals towards the end of November. This pilot ran throughout December 2025 and was open to the public. Pending some recent upgrades and further testing, the system for online appeals is expected to go live during February 2026, which is obviously a significant development. I hope this provides clarity.

Senator Boyhan's question asks about the IT system, which was completed five years ago and which has been operational for eight years.

That was not my question. My question was to ask the Minister to provide information on progress. In fairness, the Minister of State has done that. There is no ambiguity about my question, however, the purpose of which was to ask the Minister to provide information on progress with the roll-out of the Plean-IT project to enable full citizen engagement. It is simple; it is a two-line Commencement matter.

I thank the Minister of State for the update because he highlighted matters of which I was not aware. He will know that I am in possession of correspondence. I will be happy to share it with the Department on Monday. I arranged to have a number of parliamentary questions asked in the Dáil by a network of TDs with which I work closely. We were told that there were possible legislative impediments holding back the board from progressing its full IT suite. We will need to look at that. It is very interesting that the Minister of State shared with us information on the lessons learnt report and I thank him for this. Clearly I will be looking to see a copy of it. It is important. We are here to improve the system and not to knock it.

I acknowledge we are making progress, the positivity in the board and how it is addressing other issues but these are for another day. My real focus is on citizens and on city and county councillors and their ability to fully interact to the maximum capacity that technology allows through an IT planning system that is fit for purpose and that will assist all of us, particularly with the national development plan and infrastructural challenges. The Minister of State has been to the fore in all of this and has been supportive of it. We want to encourage our citizens to rather than stymie or stop them from engaging fully with the planning process. I want to do this, and I know the Minister of State wants to do it. This is why I asked for an update. The update is helpful because I am now aware of things I did not know before. I appreciate the Minister of State bringing them to the table and I thank him.

Everyone is entitled to bring whatever they wish into the Chamber. I hope I have provided Senator Boyhan with a clear update of the timelines and the progress that has been made. Of course, An Coimisiún Pleanála wants to continue to improve its digital services in order that all customers can interact with it in an appropriate manner.

I want to put on record my thanks to An Coimisiún Pleanála for the significant progress it has made in turning matters around since its establishment. We now have a situation where all large-scale residential development applications for developments of more than 100 units are disposed of within the statutory 16-week timeframe. This is completely transformational and is having a positive impact in terms of the delivery of housing throughout the country. It is also important to put on record the significant work that has gone into bringing the number of cases on hand down from a high of more than 3,600 a couple of years ago to approximately 1,300 last month. The goal is to get the number down to 1,200. It will never be zero, and we will always have applications in the system. However, the organisation is working to ensure that we have a modern, fit-for-purpose planning system that meets current needs and that addresses the deficits relating to the backlog of applications.

I thank the Minister of State for being with us this morning to discuss this matter, which relates to the potential impact on Ireland of the EU proposal to restrict lead ammunition. The European Commission has proposed a restriction on lead. The matter is before the EU REACH committee, on which Ireland is represented by officials from the Health and Safety Authority and the Department of enterprise.

It is important to note that in December, the Dáil rejected a Bill which sought to ban all forms of fox hunting. Among those opposing the Bill, there was widespread acceptance that farmers and landowners need to have the capacity to protect their livestock and engage in predator and vermin control. This is primarily done through the use of licensed shotguns which, along with rifles, are also used in game hunting and other rural pursuits. What happens if Ireland's more than 140,000 shotgun and rifle owners can no longer use their licensed firearms because appropriate and safe ammunition is not available? That is a very real prospect.

The original proposal from the European Commission envisaged transitioning to an alternative form of ammunition and cited steel shot in this regard. However, it seems that this option would be both dangerous and unsustainable. More than 80% of firearms in Ireland are unlikely to meet the higher standards required to use steel shot, which would make them redundant. There are inherent health and safety concerns relating to ricochets, which would become a major issue when using steel-based ammunition in shotguns and larger rifles near hard surfaces such as stone walls.

There is no proof house or infrastructure in place in Ireland for firearms owners to check the capability and safety of their firearms. In order to get a gun proofed and deemed suitable for steel shot, it must be exported out of Ireland. This would give rise to a cost of €600 and €700 between import costs, couriers and insurance. Despite previous requests, the State has yet to supply this key infrastructure for users and dealers. It is very important that it be provided.

The European Chemicals Agency has been asked to carry out a health and safety assessment on the impact of such a restriction in each country, with the same being asked of the Health and Safety Authority and the Department of enterprise in Ireland. So far, requests in this regard have not been dealt with.

At European level, in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the primary focus on rearming in many countries at present, there are concerns that the munitions industry will not have the capacity or incentive to upscale the manufacturing of steel ammunition for rifles and other firearms. If the proposed restriction on lead ammunition goes ahead, it will impact tens of thousands of Irish farmers, hunters and other licensed firearms users, many of whom are based in rural areas. This proposal does not have to proceed. It is interesting that practically all of the eastern European states are against it. Quite a few other large states, including Italy and Germany, are also against the proposal and have many concerns about it.

I am seeking an answer on the lack of clarity regarding the position Ireland is taking. So far, it seems that a debate has not been held. There has been lack of any public consultation or structural engagement with stakeholders in this regard. I would appreciate an update if one is available. While it has been reported that Ireland is supporting a possible compromise, which would not ban the use of lead ammunition but would ban its importation into the EU, this would effectively be banning lead ammunition in any event because most of it comes from outside the Union.

I am seeking clarity. There is an EU REACH committee meeting next month. If this question comes up at that meeting, what will be the Irish position? We need a commitment to protect the capacity of licensed shotgun and rifle owners to continue to use their weapons efficiently and, most important, safely.

I thank Senator Eileen Lynch for raising this really important issue in regard to the EU proposal to restrict lead ammunition, mainly in respect of hunting and outdoor sports shooting. I also thank the National Parks and Wildlife Service for its excellent work to date in formulating Ireland's position on this.

I want to make some initial points of clarification. While the EU proposal to restrict lead ammunition is not within the policy remit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, my Department has an administrative co-ordinating role for the REACH committee. It is important to note that the breadth of this proposed restriction spans several Government Departments and agencies, including the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the EPA, the Department of Housing, Local. Government and Heritage, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, and also the Department of justice. Officials from my Department continue to circulate to relevant Departments and agencies material received for REACH committee meetings where the agenda includes the draft restrictions on lead in ammunition.

Ireland is represented on the REACH committee meetings for matters within the remit of the Department of Health, the Health and Safety Authority and agency under the aegis of our Department within enterprise, tourism and employment. Our Department has the administrative co-ordinating role and, where the policy remit is not within my Department, as in the case for the proposed restriction on lead ammunition for mainly hunting or sports shooting, officials from the lead policy department for the REACH committee agenda item formulate the Irish position, and they attend and vote on behalf of Ireland. For example, officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service attended and voted at the REACH committee meeting that dealt with similar restrictions on lead in gunshot on wetlands. The latest proposal is mainly in respect of ammunition for hunting. It is expected that officials from the NPWS will continue to lead in formulating the Ireland position on the draft EU proposal, attend the relevant REACH committee meetings and vote on the latest proposal.

To date, the draft on the proposed restrictions was discussed at confidential REACH committee meetings in February, April, June, October and December. Discussions on this matter are expected to continue at the February REACH committee meeting and potentially for some time into the future, until a draft proposal that is acceptable for the majority of EU member states is arrived at. As the Senator said, there are varying positions in regard to how this will play out over the coming months. There has been no call to date for any member state to call a vote on this matter. We will watch this very closely.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. However, it seems to have failed to answer the questions that I raised about the potential impact that this vote passing would have here, but also as to whether there is an Irish position. I take the Minister of State's point that this proposal regarding lead ammunition is interdepartmental and affects many different Departments. Maybe it is just not within the Minister of State's authority but lies more with the NPWS. Perhaps the Minister of State could clarify that point. Do we not have a decision or is it currently being formulated? The Minister of State commended the work the NPWS has been doing on this, so I assume that we are heading towards a position if one is not there. It is disappointing that there does not appear to be a position and there has not been consultation. I am taking from that reply that there is no stakeholder consultation in the offing at the moment either. I note that there has been no vote on this on the REACH committees up to date, but that is not to say that there will not be in the future.

Before I ask the Minister of State to respond, I had some oversight on this in my previous role. Certainly my understanding at the time, giving direction to the NPWS, was on the ban on use of lead over wetlands. It was quite specific and there was to be stakeholder engagement as far as I am aware.

I thank the Senator for her interest and for bringing this into the Chamber this morning. What I can state here today is in regard to the interest and the progress within the EU Commission's proposal on the wide-span ban on lead in ammunition in the context of lead being toxic for human health and the environment. It is important again to stress that I do not have a policy responsibility in respect of the proposal and also I am not in a position here this morning to address the technical aspects of such a restriction. It is important that there is cross-governmental input in regards to the stakeholder engagement. The Department of justice also had an important role in regard to its advice on the implications for firearms legislation in regard to an alternative use. The Senator referred to firearm proofing, which is really important and significant. There is an absence here in Ireland in regards to those 140,000 licences that are currently in existence.

We are looking for further engagement with the NPWS in assessing its proposal from its perspective and indeed from its previous experience working on such an issue over wetlands. It is well informed by its expertise, but also its previous experience of attending and voting within the REACH committee on Ireland's position. The Department of agriculture and others are also best placed in regards to the proposed ban on the activity within their remit. We need a co-ordinated and coherent Irish position on the very diverse perspectives. The Senator has raised many of those concerns here this morning and I am sure many other member states have other perspectives. There will be an updated text on any proposal and we will continue to engage with the EU Commission on the policy position. We will update the House on that.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and thank him for coming in to take this commencement matter, which is specifically related to his Department. It is great to actually have the lead minister here. Over 30 years ago when I was in UCD, one of my student colleagues at the time was a lady called Margaret Fitzpatrick and her brother was Mick Fitzpatrick. Mick sadly passed away a long time ago now and we remember him. I was recently reacquainted with Margaret when her school came on a trip to Leinster House and she raised an issue with me at the time of the lack of autism classes in their school. Subsequently to her visit, she followed up with me. I have quite a lot of detail on the Stapolin Educate Together school in Baldoyle now and the wonderful work they are doing in the whole area of autism. They have two classes already which are very successful. The classes are well embedded into the school community and the children who are benefiting from the special autism classes are thriving, which proves that the model works.

Within the school are a number of other students who are in the mainstream school body. Even more importantly, there are an estimated 30 students within the Baldoyle community and the surrounding catchment area who have applied for places in the Educate Together school. They have engaged with the Department, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and previously her predecessor, Deputy McEntee, to get sanction for another two classes, which will be filled overnight.

In recent days, the classes have been sanctioned but not the build, so the school simply does not have the space. With the best will in the world, you cannot turn toilets into a classroom or have a classroom in a corridor. Such scenarios are just not workable. Without the sanction to build the two classrooms, the project will not go ahead. It defeats the purpose of granting sanction for two extra classes without providing sanction and the funding to build.

I have a simple and straightforward ask of the Minister of State, namely, that he and his Department sanction the funding to build the two new special needs classes for which the school has been approved. Such sanction would continue the ethos of quality education and continue the tradition that has been well established in this school of inclusivity, equality, equal opportunity and getting the best out of every student irrespective of his or her ability, disability or circumstances.

The Minister of State and I know, because we have spoken at length about it over the last number of years, that there are lots of schools that have no interest whatsoever in special education and providing special classes. When there is a school that not only wants such classes, but embraces the opportunity and sees the benefit to the school and society in providing equality of opportunity and of access to education, then we need to work with it, support is and put funding in place to make things happen. It is by providing the foundations and classes that we get the best out of all of our students. I know that this is something that the Minister of State is passionate about and wants to see happen. I hope that he will be able to tell me today that not alone has this school been approved, which we know, but also that the Department will provide the funding to build the classrooms.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. We all have connections to school communities, be they within our own communities or, indeed, across the country. It is hugely important that political representation continues to engage with school communities because they are the bedrock of the future of our society.

The Senator is right to say that special education is very important to me. Since I took up this role, I have worked with the then Minister, Deputy McEntee, over the last number of months and now with the new Minister, Deputy Naughton. We look forward to advancing all education, in particular special education.

As the Senator may be aware, an additional 168 classes have been sanctioned across 159 schools over the last couple of weeks. That is the first tranche of the amount of schools that we will sanction over the next number of months. We hope to be in a position to sanction other schools in the not-too-distant future. All Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas will be made aware of them, they will be on the NCSE's website and the school authorities will be notified about them.

In terms of Stapolin and the school mentioned, I know about the great work that is being done there. The school already has three special classes, with two dedicated to children with autism and one for students with developmental language disorder or speech and sound disorder. That school community does exemplary work. They really are at the cutting edge in terms of what they provide to students right across mainstream but particularly for special classes. I compliment the school leadership, the teachers and the SNAs for the work that they do within the school every day.

It is always great to see it when schools that already have special classes look forward to having more because they see the benefit and get a huge sense of reward from working with children with additional needs. I saw that quite clearly from the work being done by many of the schools that we visited across the country over the last number of months.

The NCSE has engaged extremely closely with school authorities in terms of what is needed into the future. The next tranche of announcements will occur within the next week or so. The NCSE and the Department are working very closely with this school's authorities to ensure we understand what they want to enlarge the cohort of special education requirements within the school. There is huge demand right across the country, but particularly in Dublin, of which we are acutely aware. We understand all that.

I take the points that the Senator made about the buildings. What we are trying to do across the country is look at what can be done within existing school buildings. In every school in which we will open special classes, we would have to go in with new build or modular build but those decisions are being made at the moment. My Department and the NCSE have weekly meetings to monitor them. Over the next number of weeks as the position becomes clearer, I propose that I come back to the Senator with an update rather than giving carte blanche information here this morning that we might not be able to stand over. I propose to take back the issue raised by the Senator and then report directly to him when we have an update from both the Department and the NCSE.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. The ask is fairly clear. Of the 168 extra classes that were announced, I imagine a lot of them are in schools that have the physical capacity and, potentially, have classrooms that can be changed and adapted. There are some. Clearly, the Stapolin Educate Together school is one where it is neither practical nor possible to incorporate a class without a new build. There are situations and this is one of them. In order for this project to proceed, funding must be made available to build a new classroom. The school would probably be delighted if the Minister of State, in his capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for special education, visited the school because he would get a flavour of the work that the school has done on the ground very successfully to date and learn of its plans for the future. I am sure that the school would be open to having more than two extra classes if possible. Perhaps a visit could be considered in the Minister of State's diary.

I thank the Minister of State for his constant engagement with me on this issue. I know from the many years he was Chair of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters of his forensic knowledge of this area, his determination and his absolute commitment to an equal society. As somebody with a disability, I get great encouragement and zealousness from his passion and commitment. Therefore, I believe that special education is in very good hands. Hopefully, when this term is up in four years' time, we will see huge changes in terms of access to education for people with various disabilities, there will be equality and opportunities, and we will have a society that has a level playing pitch for everybody. That is all anybody wants. People do not want any special favours. They just want a level playing pitch.

In conclusion, I hope that we will see a physical build in the Educate Together school in Baldoyle. I commend Margaret Fitzpatrick, principal, and all of the staff for their ongoing commitment and the work they do.

I do this in memory of my old friend Michael Fitzpatrick, who passed away many years ago.

I thank the Senator, and Mary and her team. It is a great tribute to the Senator's friend as well. I acknowledge that. I also thank the Senator for his kind words on the job at hand.

On the specific school, I confirm that the Department and the NCSE are continuing to liaise with the school authorities on additional classes. We are trying to make sure we have classes within existing structures across education systems. We have many challenges in that regard but the Department and the NCSE will continue to engage to make sure we bring this to fruition.

I thank the Senator for the comments he made. It is also important to acknowledge the great work being done by school authorities across the country which have embraced special education, many in recent years and decades. There are many other school communities that we need to bring into the fold. We need to ensure they open special classes because we need to have special classes in every community, urban and rural, so that people do not have to travel. It is important that we do that.

I compliment the school on what it is doing. I thank the Senator for raising the issues and look forward to working with him. When the conclusions of the NCSE and the Department's consultation with the school authorities are made available to me, I will bring them straight to the Senator's attention.

As always, I look forward to visiting Ennistymon and Clare, as I have done in summer over the years. I have seen at first hand the massive school building. It is across the hill from where we have stayed for the past few years. We look forward to our visit to Clare every year.

I thank the Senator for his comments and his interest in education. When I have further information to hand, I will bring it to his attention.

The Minister of State comes to Clare, to my home town, on his holidays every year and he and I have great social engagements. The school in Ennistymon took ten years to plan and another ten years to build, but it is a fantastic facility, one of the best in the country.