The programme for Government recognises the need to work in partnership with private childcare providers to make core funding work as well as taking the critical step into State-led childcare. The three main issues the Government needs to tackle are staffing, accessibility and affordability. The truth, as the Tánaiste knows, is that reliance on the private sector alone will never deliver the childcare capacity we need in communities, which is essential for workforce participation by women and equitable access to ea…

I welcome the new planning framework recognising the need to reflect changes since 2018. Back then, it was an innovative plan. Today, we must double its ambition. Setting objectives is one thing, but delivering them is another. We speak of building 50,000 homes per year until 2040. That is achievable, but it demands radical change in efficiency and execution. People are asking about housing now, not just in the future. This morning, I met fifth year students from Mount Sackville school in Castleknock. Their biggest…

I wish to ask about the programme for Government commitment to earmark cost-rental units for key local workers like gardaí, teachers and nurses. We heard it at the GRA conference yesterday and at teacher conferences over Easter - housing is a key recruitment and retention issue. They need to be able to secure affordable accommodation that is accessible to the communities they serve. We already have some cost-rental unit projects in Dublin West and they are proving very popular in Hansfield, Churchfields, Mulhuddart…

Our public transport in Dublin West is under serious pressure. Punctuality figures for the 37 bus route over winter and spring last year stood at approximately 60%. I often wonder what employer is okay with staff being punctual just 60% of the time. The National Transport Authority, NTA, admits that we are badly affected by ghost buses. The BusConnects roll-out is now delayed until late 2026 because of a lack of mechanics and drivers and issues around the electrification of bus depots, which I believe warrants more…

For the first time, common application processes are included in the programme for Government, which is great. If there are not enough school places in an area, a common applications process, CAP, cannot make up for that. It will streamline the enrolment process for families, some of whom face months of stress waiting to find out if their child has secured a place in their local school. Will the Minister update me on the common application trial, which principals in Dublin 15 are spearheading for children with addi…

I thank the Minister. Yes, we have our trial in Dublin 15 and I commend the principals on it. There are 13 schools involved but with the support of the Department, it can be scaled up. The trial done for secondary schools is being run independently, and with the Department's involvement it can be piloted in other areas, such as Dublin West, as a project. As I have said, when it comes to the common applications process we still need sufficient places. Will the Minister give an update on the autism classes for Septem…

I thank the Minister. The truth of the matter is that parents go through a rollercoaster to secure a school place in Dublin West. There are lengthy waiting lists that have to drop in order for children to attend school and it is very stressful. A new secondary school in Hollywoodrath is excellent news for the Blanchardstown and Mulhuddart school areas but not when it is at the expense of the new school that opened in Barnwell, Hansfield. We need both schools. I do not trust the figures from the Department that just…

If we are going to have a debate about the diversion of young people from criminal activity, then we have to look at the whole picture of youth work and youth services. It is an entirely lopsided system if youth services only kick in for the vast majority of young people when something goes wrong and criminal behaviour is involved, especially when it has been well established that youth work is an effective form of prevention and early intervention, as well as a means of cultivating a multitude of positive outcomes…

Sinn Féin likes to talk up the new combined Opposition but what in fact we are getting is combined obstructionism, a calculated web of chaos to undermine the legitimacy of government, where even staff and clerks of the Dáil are fair game. However, what else would you expect from a party that for decades refused to recognise this House and opposed this State – experts at blame and shame and little else. The Opposition won the argument that you cannot be in government and opposition at the same time when the Ceann Co…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. This is a question that she raised today during Questions on Policy or Legislation. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, for being here, and I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, who cannot be here, in advance for his written response. I hope that, based on this, he can meet us and other Deputies about this issue, since I know it is an issue he is interested in. The Department of Education has a policy of opening special classes for c…

I want to acknowledge how significant that sentence in the written response is. I take the Minister of State's point that more reading classes for children with dyslexia would be a positive step to support their educational needs, because there has been a policy of not opening reading classes and reading schools. Parents are having to fight for those places and then have to travel very long distances in order to access them. It should not be like that. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government regard…

Last week, An Taoiseach, in line with his elected mandate, admirably represented all of us in Ireland when he met President Trump, as did the Tánaiste in Philadelphia and New York. However, the future of Irish-US trade remains under a cloud. The threat of a spiralling transatlantic trade war is the latest in a series of significant challenges to global trade and supply chains. That is why the people voted for this Government - to bring solutions and stability when those dark clouds are looming. I hope that all part…

The Government has a responsibility to increase Garda numbers nationally. That commitment is reflected in the programme for Government but I have a duty to highlight the challenges in Dublin West and the K district, one of the most demanding policing districts in the country. There are significant and concerning differences in garda numbers in the K district versus neighbouring districts. It can be as high as one garda for every 531 people in the K area versus one garda per 397 in a neighbouring district and that n…

I note media reports yesterday that stated two thirds of the most recent recruit class from Templemore will be deployed to the streets of Dublin city. Like all Members of the House, I warmly welcome the deployment of additional gardaí to our capital's streets and communities. I sincerely thank those recruits for signing up, but if it is true that 98 out of 150 new Garda recruits are heading en masse to the city centre, I must admit it adds to my concern and that of the people I represent that Dublin's suburbs are l…

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for being here and I wish them luck in their portfolios. I appreciate the opportunity to focus on the Housing Commission report and on housing today. I agree with the view of the commission that we cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to housing delivery, and that we need a critical mass of social, affordable and cost-rental housing. I will put forward my view about how we go about that. If we want communities to stop pushing back on planning applications for apartment…

Is the Taoiseach aware that women in Dublin are struggling to find childcare before they return to work? They are spending endless hours ringing around crèches and on childcare websites instead of spending quality time with their new babies. Some mothers delay their return to work not because it is the best option for their families but because it is the only option. There are 262 childcare services in receipt of core funding in Fingal and there have been at least 62 fee adjustments, impacting hundreds of parents, …

I would like two words to guide the new Government and my work as a new TD over the term of the Thirty-fourth Dáil, namely "reform" and "delivery". We have much to be optimistic about, such as full employment, budget surpluses and putting money aside for two long-term funds to future-proof growth and investment. However, we would be foolish to take this position for granted. Brexit and Covid showed that our strengths lie in being prepared, united, well funded and capable of agility in confronting crises and challen…

-----towards it to make sure it works for everyone, regardless of whether you live in Castlecaulfield or Castleknock.

As this is my first time to speak in the House, I express my sincere gratitude to the people of Dublin West who have given me the honour of representing them - I will work every day to show them it was the right decision - to my supporters, who showed up for me day in and day out, and to my family: daddy, who is watching from his armchair in heaven surrounded by newspapers, my mum, the most tolerant politician's wife and now politician's mother in the world, and my husband and daughters, who are quickly following i…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. I believe I understand the parameters by which the fee adjustment has been operated but I still feel there is a difference between using the subsidies to mitigate fee increases and reducing the impact on individual families and the real cost of their childcare. A 25% reduction in childcare fees in the household budget in 2023 was meaningful but the 50% reduction last September was significant. We should still honour this. We shou…