This is a budget in excess of €9 million that has, incredibly, left people worse off. It contains broken election promise after broken election promise. I will focus my comments on the education and youth sector. People can rightly see through Government spin and that was well captured on the "Prime Time" programme last night. We heard a grandparent from Coolock talking about his grandkids who were all planning to leave this country because they did not see a future for themselves. That is are our youth. We also sa…

I thank the Minister for that update. I have a few follow-up questions. On the initial cohort of 196, does the Minister have an indicative timeline on when that full cohort might be completed? It was a significant number and in excess of 196. Is the Minister close to appointing a lead for the membership of the external review? We are only at the start of the month but there is keen interest in that. There was lots of disappointment that it has taken until January to get the review up and running. Is there a commitm…

I welcome that the Minister outlined a series of dates for engagement, including today. There is some emerging and serious concern about the scope and potential terms of reference for the external review. One area is how it will specifically relate to Crumlin hospital and surgeons operating there, as well as at Cork, Galway and elsewhere across the State and, related to that, how it will apply to children with complex additional comorbidities or needs. Will the Minister commit to ongoing engagement with advocacy gr…

The situation in Gaza is not just a tragedy; it is a moral catastrophe. Over 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, entire districts have been reduced to rubble and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee under relentless bombardment. Starving children are murdered while they wait for food. We have genocide and we have man-made famine. I say "man-made", but they are not men; they are monsters. Ireland knows the pain of occupation, and the struggle for dignity and for peace. Our history compels us to…

There is a group of elderly people outside the Dáil at the minute on hunger strike. They are survivors of institutional abuse and have very modest requests regarding access to a HAA medical card and a pension. These requests were refused by Government during the discussions on the recent legislation. There are concerns for this vulnerable group across the political divide but also by the Special Advocate and by the Justice for Magdalenes group. I have written to the Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Deputy …

There is a major issue with the retrofitting schemes that are in place. On the one hand, as the Climate Change Advisory Council states, the funding supports for heat pumps are not sufficient and this locks many people out of access to a heat pump. On the other hand, a heat pump is not a practical or feasible solution for many homes, in particular one-off rural homes. Very many people are locked out of access to a heat pump, but also locked out of low-emission and zero-emission alternatives, whatever they might be. …

There are widespread concerns in relation to this new set of guidelines for the review of SNA allocations, specifically, the narrowed criteria and rigid timelines. The application window now for school-led reviews is limited to a six-week period from 15 September to 24 October and excludes mid-year needs, and there is the issue of unification and redeployment risks. SNA allocations are now unified across mainstream and special classes. This removes the protection autism class resources had while setting up internal…

I have the guidelines in my hand. They need to be withdrawn, because what the Minister of State has said and what we heard at the committee yesterday from the Department are directly contradicted by what is in the guidelines. The guidelines give rise to real concern because they state: NCSE reviews are conducted on a whole school needs-based analysis, To be clear, this can include mainstream and special class allocations. As a result, a review of the SNA allocation of a special class in isolation is no longer opera…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision whereby the Minister for Education shall make regulations governing the implementation of an affordable school uniform policy in schools; and for this purpose, to amend the Education Act 1998. I welcome the opportunity to introduce the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025 along with Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Clarke. I thank both Deputies for their work on this Bill. Throughout the country, parents are being hammered by th…

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

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important subject. This year is not just another episode in a long-running saga of Government failure on school transport. This year represents a new low. In addition to the usual annual debacle, never before have we had the situation on such a scale where tickets were issued and routes confirmed but, at the eleventh hour, in some cases the day before school was due to start, services were cancelled. There was no bus, no driver, no nothing. It was and remains a shambles. R…

For too long Government policy on migration has been a story of reaction, crisis and abdication of duty. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed our system to be dictated by profiteers and unchecked market forces, utterly failing communities and those seeking protection alike. Our international protection system, for example, is not fit for purpose. Decisions and appeals still take far too long, enforcement is weak or non-existent and a small number of private operators are making many millions from inappropriate ac…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the right to education is a fundamental right for every child, as enshrined in the Irish Constitution and international conventions; — despite two Dáil motions in 2025 calling for the provision of appropriate school places for every child with additional needs in their locality, the Government has rejected these calls; — the Minister for Education has, to date, repeatedly declined to provide the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting a school place for…

I want to start my concluding remarks by saying that some of the utterances from Deputy Danny Healy-Rae were ignorant, ill-informed, insensitive, offensive and disgusting. He should withdraw them. They represent the height of ignorance. The debate, otherwise, was important. It is incredibly frustrating. I say that on my behalf and on behalf of anyone with an interest in this matter. The term "gaslighting" was used. The Minister of State is taking people for fools. He and the senior Minister continually refusing to …

I mentioned FUSS Ireland and the Equality in Education group, but across the length and breadth of this State, parents are fighting for their children. That should be leveraged. The Minister of State should work with them and deliver for them.

I will, thanks.

Will the Minister tell the House the number of children who were identified by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, by the February deadline and are yet to be offered a school place for September 2025? What is the total number of children now with a recommendation for a special class or special school place who have not been offered a school place for September? Will the Minister outline her efforts to ensure all children with additional educational needs will have a physical school place and the neces…

The Minister will guess what my supplementary question is going to be. It will be the same as my initial question. It will be the same question that was put to John Kearney, the head of the NCSE, at the committee's meeting on 2 July, to the Minister of State at the committee's meeting on 18 June and to the Minister at the committee's meeting on 12 June and in the Dáil on the same day during Question Time. The Minister referred to 92% of the 3,275. What is the number? I recognise that progress is being made, but wha…

I am frustrated on my behalf, as a public representative, and on behalf of parents who are waiting to places for their children. They feel like they are being gaslit because the figures are not being spelled out. They do not know where they stand in terms of the system. It feels like a co-ordinated omertà in the context of the failure to release those figures. There are a number of legal cases against the State regarding children not being provided for. Not all of those cases relate to Dublin. The idea that everyon…

Will the Minister indicate the number of children who applied and paid on time who were refused places on school transport in September 2024? Will she outline the specific changes that will be made to the school transport for the 2025-26 school year, in comparison with 2024-25, to ensure that all children who want to avail of the scheme will be accommodated?