Education (Medical Emergencies in Schools) Bill 2026: Second Stage [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23 ============================================================ Eoghan Kenny (LAB), Cork North-Central I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and the other Deputies. The Minister of State is here longer than me, but this is probably my first time to agree with everything that has been said in the Chamber, from both this side of the House and the other side of the House. A timed amendment is appropriate and necessary. I thank the Government for engaging me on this crucial legislation. The Minister of State referred in his opening statement to engaging with stakeholders. It is extremely important that there would be engagement with stakeholders. I warmly welcome the fact that discussions have already begun between the Department of education and the Department of Health. The Minister of State mentioned legal advice. The indemnity of staff is something that has come up regularly with the three teaching unions. Seeking legal advice as part of the preparatory work is absolutely essential. We must ensure that no extra pressure is added to school staff. As the Minister of State mentioned, we are 21 years behind Canada and Great Britain passed a Bill this year. We can be a flag-bearer across Europe if the legislation is enacted here. I do appreciate that the preparatory work has to be done. I want to state clearly on the record that there are many schools already among the 4,000 schools in the country doing very good work. Some schools have trained personnel on site to deal with medical emergencies. I am not putting every single school into the same bracket. This legislation would ensure that there would be school staff in all schools across the country who are prepared to deal with a medical emergency, be it for a colleague or a student. I want to quickly touch on the keeping of prescribed medication in schools. The Minister of State referenced already that very few schools across the country are able to act as locations for the keeping of prescribed medication. This is about empowering school communities to respond to issues when they occur, from epilepsy to allergies, and to make sure that those working in schools are fully equipped to provide emergency care when medical assistance is required. Once again, I thank the Government for engaging with me on this crucial legislation. I offer to work constructively to see this crucial legislation become law. With the right supports, the right training and the right legal clarity, we can build a safer school environment for all children and school staff. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-23