I moved the amendment for Deputy Ó Laoghaire.

It is not in any way our intention to prolong the process. The briefing that the Minister's Department provided is very clear. It is trying to truncate the process and is trying to take simultaneous steps along the way rather than sequential steps. What we are saying here is very much that schools can prepare if it is something that needs to be utilised. The Minister has said she does not want to be in a position to utilise it unnecessarily and it is not the best way to go. Schools have to prepare. If a school open…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 6, line 5, after “person” to insert the following: “, such a notice shall issue no later than the 31st of March preceding the new school year and shall not be issued during the months of July and August”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 6, line 15, after “Minister” to insert “, following consultation with stakeholders,”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: “(4) Prior to preparing a report under subsection (2), the Council shall consult with the Minister, bodies representatives of patrons, national associations of parents, recognised school management organisations and recognised trade unions and staff associations representing teachers.”.

I appreciate the Acting Chairman's indulgence. The reason for my tardiness was because the Oireachtas football team was playing a game in Mountjoy Prison. It was an event we felt strongly about that included a representative from all political groupings here. We saw the power of education. By pure coincidence, there was a deputation at the Oireachtas committee today to speak about the power of education in the prison system. A total of 70% of prisoners are early school leavers. I remember reading an article a coupl…

I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation, which the Labour Party welcomes. I will first deal with the Ukrainian situation. In fairness to the Ministers who are present, they have worked hard to listen about the fall gaps for those who are trying to live lives here and who are trying to get accommodation and employment here. They have picked through all those issues and come up with solutions. As has been said, this has been a massive effort across all Departments and across society. We often criti…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am sharing time with Deputy Bacik. Deputies Bacik, Nash, Duncan Smith and I have just come from a briefing with parents who live with autism every day of their lives. Once again, they told their stories of how they are trying to manage the system. As a result of that briefing and other discussions I and my colleagues have had, I feel a new onerous sense of great responsibility to bring their experiences to the House. They are in the Visitors Gallery. We welcome t…

Stop blaming the DEIS principals.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for an autism strategy to be prepared and published, and to provide for related matters. It gives me great pleasure to stand in Dáil Éireann alongside my party leader, Deputy Bacik, to introduce the Autism Bill 2022. In April 2021, the Labour Party tabled a motion calling for a national autism strategy but over a year later, in June 2022, we are still hearing stories of a lack of school places, of a 36-month wait for assessments and basic …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I was really uplifted by the Minister's remarks and his contribution to the debate. As has been said, debates in this House can often be quite negative and a lot of points can be scored, but the Minister's contribution has challenged us all to point to positives. We can point to a lot of negatives. We have to do that and to point to challenges. Only two weeks ago, however, I brought my four-year-old daughter into the Dublin Pride shop and we decked her out. We got her a flag and a t-shirt for the Pride march on Sat…

My amendments are Nos. 14, 15, 17, 18 and 50. Amendment No. 14 states, under the broad heading of "Academic freedom", that "Nothing in this Act shall be construed as modifying or restricting the principle of academic freedom as provided for in section 14 of the Universities Act 1997.” Amendment No. 15 inserts on page 16 between lines 3 and 4 "support and recognise the application of the principle of academic freedom", and we feel strongly that the principle of academic freedom needs to be implicit throughout the Bi…

I appreciate the point the Minister makes on amendment No. 18. There is nothing in the Bill that precludes an institution expressing its view but we are trying to say here that having it explicitly referenced in the Bill gives more cover to somebody who was minded to express their views.

I support the amendment. The point about teacher training is well made. Most teachers are now trained by a private online training college, which is owned by a book company. The Minister was in my part of the world not long ago at the Marino Institute of Education. When we are trying to change the nature of teaching and teachers, ensure the teaching profession is reflective of the children being taught and encourage those from different backgrounds, including disadvantaged, Traveller, migrant and disability backgro…

I will address amendment No. 19. We suggest that, between lines 9 and 10 of page 17, it be included that one of the functions of an tÚdarás shall be to "advise the Minister in relation to the adequacy of the level of public funding that is made available for higher education and to advise on future funding requirements". All of these amendments are on a similar theme. Amendment No. 33 speaks to the same thing and proposes to insert "the funding status of individual designated institutions of higher education". Amen…

The Minister was doing so well.

I move amendment No. 14: In page 16, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Academic freedom 9. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as modifying or restricting the principle of academic freedom as provided for in section 14 of the Universities Act 1997.”.

I move amendment No. 15: In page 16, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(c) support and recognise the application of the principle of academic freedom,”.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 17, line 4, after “frameworks” to insert the following: “and to support the autonomy and decision-making capacity of designated institutions of higher education”.