Yesterday the Cabinet met at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork to unveil the national development plan, NDP, to great fanfare. While the Government may have sought to distract the public with a dazzling performance in that hallowed stadium, the reality is the plan lacked any real substance. There was another glossy brochure filled with projects running years late, project that are running massively over cost and projects that have been announced and re-announced for decades. Regardless of whether it is roads, public transpo…

This one of the most crucial pieces of infrastructure in the State, as the Minister has said, and I do not believe one could find another developed European country where one could say there is no motorway between the second and third cities. It is a crucial piece of infrastructure. It is about the region as a whole offering a counterbalance, as the Minister has identified, and the very clear need for it and the very clear objective for it. There is an element of the Government speaking from both sides of its mouth…

It is a "Yes" or "No" question.

So, it is a "Yes".

It is. The Minister is in government.

I do not believe this issue gets the attention it deserves, whether it is in this House, the media or in discussion generally. This is one of the biggest issues out there, certainly in my constituency when I talk to young families in particular. Childcare costs are absolutely crippling people. It is a second mortgage for so many families. It is a weight around their necks that prevents them from having any kind of quality of life for years on end. It means that a couple can be slow to start a family. One parent can…

When somebody dies in tragic circumstances or other circumstances that require an inquest, that inquest is part of the process of healing, recovering afterwards and grieving. Obviously, it is complex and it is not possible to do it straight away. It is not reasonable to expect families to wait a year and more for such an inquest, particularly when there may be unanswered questions and when there may be so much that they want to know, or where there is a need for closure. That is what the inquest is about. I have be…

I have had a fair few Topical Issues taken since I was elected five years and that is one of the shortest printed responses I have ever seen. That is a desperate response. I can see from the Minister of State's face and from the way she spoke that she is sympathetic and that she understands the problem here. She did not write this. Officials in the Department of Justice had input into this. I ask her to have a word with them. This is not a good enough response for us to go back to those families with. The Minister …

Sinn Féin has always said that the priority must be a safe and sustainable return to school. We all know that in-school learning is unmatched in terms of children's development but there is clearly a distance to go in terms of some of the mitigation measures. There are issues to address in schools, not least securing CO2 monitors and adequate ventilation. How does the Minister plan to ensure all schools have the mitigation measures they need?

The Minister instanced the return to school documents that schools have received. As I demonstrated on Tuesday, and as has been borne out since, there are contradictions between that document and the HSE advice. On Tuesday, at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education, the Minister said that she did not expect any significant changes in terms of contact tracing or mitigation measures. That has obviously proven not to be the case. Indeed, what has transpired has gone significantly further than reporting on the m…

Using my words as a suggestion that the Minister was forthright is not totally consistent. However, if the Minister is saying she was not fully aware of the situation as it was at that stage, of course I accept that. That said, I still urge her to ensure the CMO addresses parents and school staff about these changes and that the Minister makes it clear what these changes will mean on the ground and addresses the nation in that regard. There are still questions about how these changes will work out in practice. Ten …

Will the Minister comment on filtration?

The cohort comprising children with special educational needs is the cohort most affected when school buildings are closed, along with those who suffer educational disadvantage. These children were among the greatest victims of the lockdown. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in March, I raised with the Minister the devastating impact removing in-school supports from children with special educational needs as an element of the progressing…

I thank the Minister of State. Much of her answer is irrelevant to this topic. While much of what she has laid out is good, the answer does not address the key point I raised which was that, from my contact with schools, it seems to be the case that the elements of the progressing disability model which we had understood to be paused have now resumed and that in-school supports for children with special educational needs are now being withdrawn. The Minister of State announced the CLASS programme, which could have …

I will raise the matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. It is cross-departmental and does not belong exclusively to her. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, should be concerned about it and I urge her to speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, as well and find out if this is happening in special schools. That is a key element of the Minister of State's portfolio and it is what I am hearing from schools. This is International Week of Deaf People 2021. In a speech to the Irish Deaf Society ye…

What about the interpreters?

Deputy Calleary is right that having a focus on the whole strategy, from infants classes right through to third level, is key. That should come before the proposals regarding the leaving certificate. The problem with what is on the table in regard to the leaving certificate examination is relatively easily to comprehend. If we are going to put in place a more challenging course that is not a second, additional course that someone can take on top of the existing Irish course and there are no bonus points available f…

I know the Minister is passionate about this issue and that there is a cross-party desire to resolve these matters. The criteria are dated. I can think of numerous examples of schools affected. Two that occur to me immediately are Togher boys and girls schools. They are in a RAPID area. Around 200 additional units of additional social housing have been built there in the last three years. There is a significant number of children with additional language needs and with English spoken as a second language in the hom…

There is no doubt but that this has dragged on for far too long. I welcome the progress that has been made. I appreciate that the Minister is working on this and that negotiations are continuing. I urge her to continue to engage and try to ensure a fair and equitable solution. The fact is that schools would come to a halt without caretakers and secretaries. It is vital that caretakers not be forgotten. The Minister's words suggest they will not be. Pay equality is not an outrageous demand, nor is fairness in terms …

I support what Deputies Carthy and Kerrane have said. It is very clear and the inconsistencies in my constituency are very frustrating for people. Most students who travel to school will do so on public transport where if they get a bus, they will travel on 100% capacity. However, for the minority of cases in my constituency and probably for the majority overall, they are on 50% capacity. It is difficult and frustrating to comprehend this and I am glad that this is being reviewed. I agree with Deputy Carthy that it…