I welcome the review of the programme. Some of the measures outlined will indeed assist. Last year, a significant number of schools contacted me about delays in providing details of the summer provision programme, which prevented them from being able to provide the programme to students. The timeframe meant they did not have time to prepare and organise summer provision. I wrote to the Minister of State in March urging her to release details of this year's programme as soon as possible because I was concerned that …

The issue of lower levels of pay for SNAs, and their significant disparity, has been raised on several occasions. I urge the Minister to look at that because SNAs are very often crucial in providing the programme. A significant issue raised each year is that of the late payment of staff who volunteer their time to facilitate summer provision. This comes in the context of many schools and staff feeling very burnt out and feeling that the past two years have been very challenging. If we are asking teachers and SNAs t…

We spoke earlier about SNAs and the respect shown to them. One of the key demands they are making now relates to respect and their qualification criteria. The request is not big or excessive. It is that there would be an independent review to examine the minimum essential qualifications of SNAs. Will the Minister of State commit to such a review and the implementation of its recommendations?

The short version of the Minister of State's answer is that the Department will look at this matter in a few years. I am trying to imagine an alternative discussion. Imagine the UCD course did not exist. We might figure out exactly what we are asking SNAs to do before we design a course. The course is very beneficial. There were difficulties with accreditation and we had many debates about that but that is not fundamentally the issue. The existence of the course is all very well but the place to start should have b…

Again, this is pushing the issue down the road for a few years. Let us play this forward. The Department carries out the review and there are public sector pay talks, followed, I presume, by an agreement. I then come back and raise the question of holding an independent review in, say, a year and I am told there was a review of the contract and it is the way it is. The public sector pay deal lasts for four or five years and at the end of that we will have a discussion around criteria. The contract was agreed, howev…

It is not dismissed. Can I correct that?

Ba mhaith liom cuidiú le mo chara agus leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta Gould. Is scéal dearfach é sin. D'éirigh go hiontach leis an scoil in ainneoin nach bhfuil foirgnimh aici le breis is 30 bliain. It has been a very long and difficult road for this school, but despite that it has thrived. I am encouraged by what the Minister has said, but I hope this can be followed through on and that we finally see a permanent home for Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers. I know the board of management and the principal, Adrian Breath…

I wish to address the issue of the development of a new RSE-SPHE curriculum, which seems to be progressing extremely slowly. There are a number of issues tied up in this. There is a need to expedite divestment but even within that, we need to ensure there is a bare minimum standard in terms of RSE that every school can expect. The Minister will know that attention was recently drawn to a dispute in a school in County Wicklow that touched on the boxing off of certain topics that was proposed by the school. As far as…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I put on record that Deputy Tully shares some of the concerns I previously raised about summer provision.

Thousands of school-aged children and young people have arrived into Ireland from Ukraine over recent weeks. I am seeking an update on what is being done to ensure all Ukrainian schoolchildren receive a school place, and on the supports they will have.

With the limited time I have, I want to flag that children and young people arriving here from Ukraine have had their whole lives uprooted. I acknowledge the huge work that has been done by schools to try to facilitate them by going to significant lengths. Is there a specific funding stream in place for schools and Ukrainian families for the purchase of uniforms and schoolbooks for Ukrainian students? Concerns have been raised with me that some schools are strictly enforcing uniform rules and book requirements for …

Sometimes there is a need for cash too.

Tacaím leis an moladh ón Teachta Ó Broin. Is léir nach bhfuil na spriocanna atá ag an Roinn dóthanach go leor agus ní chuireann siad os ár gcomhair go leor tithe inacmhainne. Tá an ghéarchéim thithíochta ag éirí níos measa ar go leor slite, go mór mór le roinnt míonna anuas. As previous speakers have noted, when we talk to young people, as I do in my constituency in Cork, their attitude is one of asking what they are supposed to do and what chance have they got. They are working, some of them in well-paid jobs, but…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision whereby the entire Carrigaline local electoral area shall be prescribed as a rent pressure zone; to ensure that where a substantial area of a local electoral area is prescribed as a rent pressure zone, the local electoral area shall be prescribed as a rent pressure zone in its entirety; and for those purposes to amend the Local Government Act 2019 and the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. I imagine many people listening in are coming …

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

I listened to what the Minister had to say. I had some things that I intended to say before I came in, but I need to respond to some of the nonsense that he came out with first. As the Minister knows, the figure of €1.2 billion is not accurate. He is incorrect. In regard to dismissing things, nobody is suggesting that we dismiss Covid-19 or that supply chain issues are not there. We absolutely acknowledge those issues. The problem is that it is six or seven years since the Minister started promising housing budgets…

I have five minutes in which to speak but I probably spent in excess of five hours speaking to the previous legislation that sought to resolve these matters. There are differences in the detail of the Bill but there is a consensus that the process for appointing judges must be radically transformed. It is a matter that has been debated in these Houses for approximately 20 years. The appointment of judges carries enormous weight and consequences and we must only consider the intensely political nature of the appoint…

The Deputy was more interested in Waterford than Tipperary, I would suggest.

Without robust legislation securing a legal right to work from home, workers are concerned they will be forced to return to on-site working and denied the option of remote or hybrid working. When will the Government deliver robust legislation that will secure this legal right?

It has been said time and again that remote working is one of the big takeaways of Covid. We have seen its great benefits. The necessary technology existed but the cultural shift towards using it happened during Covid. Many people want to retain this. They do not want to have to commute, which can mean spending three hours per day in a car. Remote working gave workers more time at home with children. It improved the lives of workers, which in itself improved productivity. It is a win–win for all. The draft Bill, as…