Regardless of the announcement every year of additional SNAs in each budget, there just never seems to be enough. This is particularly concentrated in particular types of school. There is also the combination of the roll-out of the front-loading model and indeed the freeze on SNA allocation. What this means in particular is that fast-developing schools or new schools are finding it very hard. While 1,000 SNAs are announced every year, and I always welcome that, thousands of children across the State who need an SNA…

The Minister of State, too, has probably had these conversations with schools. Indeed, I recently saw her engage with the school in County Louth outside Leinster House. In schools that do not have enough SNAs, the SNAs are run from pillar to post, the children feel let down and their parents are frustrated that the children are not getting the supports they need. It harms the children’s development and their ability to thrive in school and to reach their full potential. We have an issue with recruitment and retenti…

Perhaps it is the NCSE that applies the criteria, but the buck stops with the Minister of State in terms of policy and the terms and conditions and pay of SNAs. They have a significant impact on whether we can get SNAs through the system, that is, whether we can recruit and keep them. She mentioned that in the case of new and developing schools, the allocation has been frozen, but that is precisely the problem. There is a degree of additionality but nothing near what is required. There are schools that are growing …

I echo what Deputy Calleary said. It is vitally important that there is good engagement, not just with Bus Éireann but with the private operators on whom we rely enormously. They are under big pressure in the same way as hauliers and others, and it is important that there is engagement and that they get the support and assistance they need. There were improvements to the school transport scheme last year, but there are still outstanding knotty issues relating to routes in particular. It comes back to what Deputy Ó …

I also wish to raise something related to our anticipation that a significant number of school children will join our system from Ukraine. Typically, English language support would be allocated in September. Schools will need that much sooner in these circumstances. Will the Minister examine this to see whether additional English language support can be provided? There are schools that want to take on additional language support teachers but the funding is not there. I encourage the Minister to provide this. It is …

There has been a lengthy debate on how the leaving certificate should be done. I do not want to rehash it, but it arose for a number of reasons, such as, the difficulty in covering the course and the anxieties and pressures students were experiencing because of two or more years of Covid and everything that went along with that. What plans are there for mental health supports for students between now and the exams? Will the Minister of State put in place a helpline, run by the Department, to ensure that information…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." In the first instance, I extend an apology to the Minister from Deputy Carthy, my co-sponsor of the Bill. He is at Dublin Airport to provide a lift for a family coming back from Ukraine. That is a fairly legitimate excuse. He asked me to give his apologies. I asked him if he wanted me to make any particular points, for example, on County Monaghan. He specifically asked me to say, "This is the year." The Minister can make of that what she will. The legislation befor…

I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Minister for their contributions and I appreciate the former's support for the Bill. The Minister's speech would have been fine save for the part where she stated that the Bill's primary objective was to provide greater clarity and transparency. Of course, it is not. That is just one relatively marginal part of the Bill. We want greater transparency. We also want a prohibition - this was not addressed by the Minister and is not addressed in the student and parent charter Bill - on …

The price of fuel and cost of living generally are issues we have been talking about for well over a year. It has come right to the centre of the debate now but let us be honest, the issues in respect of the cost of living have been raised by many, not just the cost of fuel but also the cost of childcare, rent, housing and all these issues. The cost of fuel is now creating a massive issue for many employers, families and workers. It is very worrying. I welcome that the Government has belatedly moved after we and ot…

Táim sásta deis a bheith agam labhairt ar Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan agus é a cheiliúradh. The truth is that gender equality or, more properly, gender inequality comes into almost every aspect of our lives. This year on International Women's Day we focus on breaking the bias, stop a chur leis an gclaonadh i dtreo dearcadh nó gníomh áirithe nó cinneadh. We must break the bias in society. We must break the bias in childcare. The crippling costs of childcare push many women, particularly single mothers, out of their car…

Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis na Teachtaí Tully agus Cullinane as an rún seo a chur le chéile. We parents have to fight tooth and nail to get the basic supports for our children. [...] We feel outcast and abandoned. [...] We have given up our jobs to care full time for our children with no support. [...] I am scared and upset, I don't know what's ahead for my son. Those are quotes from stories that parents of children with disabilities in Cork have shared with me. Deir na figiúirí go bhfuil 300 duine ag fanacht ar mh…

Transforming how we see towns will be at the heart of how we deal with our changing world. In both rural and urban areas, we need to bring people back to the town centre, close to services, shops and schools and able to walk or cycle wherever they need and leave the car behind. There has been much talk of the 15-minute city but we need the 15-minute town as well. This fund has potential in a situation where dereliction is a major blight in many of our towns. Deputy Ó Broin has clearly outlined some of the issues th…

The report of the ombudsman into the south Belfast killings is grim. It details 27 loyalist murders and attempted murders in south Belfast. There were eight RUC special branch agents involved in 27 murders. One agent was recruited because of his involvement in the planning, preparation and execution of previous murders. There was collusion in each and every killing. State agents involved in murder were allowed to kill and kill again. RUC agents handed guns back out to loyalist paramilitaries so they could kill agai…

The primary medical certificate is so important for people's independence and dignity. It is really extraordinary that a board resigned because of how its members felt this process was being neglected. I appreciate what the Minister of State has said but these people took this action in the first place because they clearly felt so frustrated by the lack of progress being made and how the issue was being neglected by the Government. They did not do it for the sake of publicity because it only came to light afterward…

There are 84 people on trolleys in Cork University Hospital today. The INMO has described this as "dangerous levels of overcrowding", the highest ever that have occurred in the State. Many of these people are likely to be quite sick and elderly. I know the Taoiseach will mention Covid. It is a given that that has an impact, but the INMO has stated that it is not acceptable for the hospital group to continue to blame the national picture. Staff feel abandoned, that neither the HSE nor the hospital group is listening…

School secretaries have been fighting for fairness and equal and decent pay for years. They are absolutely essential to keeping our schools going. Our schools could not function without the school secretary at the heart of everything. They proved that, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis. The Department of Education committed to placing secretaries on a public service incremental pay scale and give them a pay increase. In October 2020, the Tánaiste committed to regularising the employment terms and conditions a…

A motion before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee today has been signed by 34 Members of Congress. It calls on the British Government to withdraw its amnesty Bill. Relatives for Justice, the Wave Trauma Centre, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, CAJ, and Geraldine Finucane are among some of those who will give evidence at today's hearing. Resolution 888 opposes any attempt by the British Government to implement amnesty or statute of limitation laws that would end or inhibit investigations or prose…

The Government's digital framework strategy commits to build a strong well-resourced network of regulators to oversee and enforce digital regulation which must ensure the safety of all. Fáiltím go bhfuil admhaithe sa straitéis seo go gcuirfear le chéile coimisinéir sábháilteachta ar líne chun córas a chur ar bun do shábháilteacht ar líne. The progress on this issue is glacial. All the issues in regard to online bullying and online harassment evolve and change at a rapid pace and the Government's and the previous Go…

It is not that-----

This legislation is a good start and it is vital we treat white-collar crime with the same seriousness as any other form of crime. It has an enormous impact and its victims are all of us in many respects but at times particular groups or individuals are affected. It is vital for people to be prosecuted and fined in the correct way, and there should be sufficient resources. That is a question we must return to in properly resourcing the ODCE. That must be done and I am not convinced there are adequate resources ther…