Programme for Government
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-04
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I thank all the Deputies who spoke in relation to this question. Deputy Connolly raised the issue of affordable housing and the local authority affordable scheme in Galway. I will certainly engage with the county manager and the city manager there on the low progress in respect of the application of that scheme in the Galway context. Certainly, as part of the housing action plan, we want to do more on the affordable housing front as well as the social housing front. There have been certain local variations in terms of the application of the schemes. Some of them have been better than others in terms of scale and the number of schemes completed. I will engage with the county councils, the managers and the Deputy to try to progress it. I will talk to the Minister for housing in respect of the Galway situation too.
Deputy Cahill raised quite a number of issues, including Presentation Monastery National School. He mentioned a significant number. I think the Deputy said that the first language of 85% of pupils is not English, which is huge. This means there are particular needs. Progress is being made in terms of an examination of DEIS plus. If a school is not even in DEIS, the prospects of being in DEIS plus are more limited. There was an extensive review of DEIS about three years ago. I will talk to the Minister about whether there are specific supports we can give that school, particularly in terms of the language issues, that might help it to deal with what is clearly a different set of challenges being faced. The Deputy also referred to Knocknagoshel, where the roof of the sensory room has collapsed. Emergency works grant funding should be available for that. I will alert the Minister to it. I think he also mentioned Filemore National School, Aghatubrid National School and Coláiste na Sceilge. What is the problem with Coláiste na Sceilge again?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-04