I welcome the fact Ireland will become an associate member of CERN, and my colleagues in the Labour Party will be happy to support this motion. Scientific and academic research are significant assets to Ireland. This membership has been pushed for a long time by many in the academic community in Ireland, so I congratulate the Minister on having got it over the line. It will serve scientific research in our third level institutions well. Ireland becoming an associate member of CERN will provide new pathways and reso…

Today The Guardian newspaper reported on the up to 13,000 survivors of mother and baby homes living in Britain who risk losing access to essential means-tested benefits if they accept compensation. A campaign led by our British Labour Party colleague, Liam Conlon MP, shows that if the compensation is taken up by survivors it is considered to be savings and therefore disqualifies them from the means-tested social welfare supports they receive. I ask the Taoiseach to engage with his UK counterpart to encourage people…

I second the motion and commend my colleague Deputy Smith and all in the Labour Party for drafting and bringing it before the House. The Labour Party has provided as many options as it can to Government to take further action against Israel and its campaign of genocide. With more than 50,000 Palestinians murdered and their infrastructure and society being wiped out around them, I struggle to imagine how normal life will ever return to Palestine. That is, if there ever has been a normal life for Palestinians. For de…

First, I welcome to the Gallery today Diarmaid Dulohery from Blarney, Louise Ahern, Pat Egan and my brother, Marc Kenny. This is the first time most of them have been in Leinster House and I wish them a fantastic day. I welcome this debate. It is seriously important but with this debate, I would appreciate that we would take these issues on board and work with them. I will begin in relation to leaving certificate reform. As the Minister will be aware, this is something that I have a great passion about because I ta…

If the headline stated that 14,000 Irish, British or American babies would starve to death without aid in the next 48 hours, would we stay completely silent? If the answer is "No", ask yourself why and speak up now. We are witnessing a genocide being livestreamed on our handheld devices. Every day, people across the world are seeing images and videos of innocent civilians and children being slaughtered. There is no grey area. No one can deny the pure and simple fact: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinia…

I commend Cara Darmody and her father, Mark. I was delighted to meet them this morning with my party leader, Deputy Bacik, at the gates of Leinster House. I commend Cara on the wonderful work she is doing. I want to read an email I received from a parent: I am just touching base to see if anything can be done to try and progress an Autism Assessment. I have 3 year old twins who both need Assessment ... (we have only just been accepted by CDNT Mallow), and CDNT have told me that they have since gone back and request…

The Government is literally using support measures for senior cycle reform as a negotiating tool. These are essential for any reform. There will be a significant impact on students' experiences of senior cycle reform. As someone who has experience in the field, I am of the view that this senior cycle reform is absolutely destined to fail. The package includes fast-tracking permanent contracts for new teachers, more middle management in schools and changes to the hours under the Croke Park agreement. The Government …

As regards the Minister of State who has just left the House, Kieran O'Donnell, it would be remiss of me when speaking on an issue like this not to commend his father, Martin, one of the founding members of St. Joseph's Foundation, and his commitment to disability services in north Cork. This morning I raise a serious issue regarding residential placements for adults with disabilities. I want to speak specifically about the Cork and Kerry region. The programme for Government states: After reviewing the recent two-y…

I appreciate that. As regards the 2021 disability capacity review to which the Minister of State referred and the projected need for a minimum of 1,900 residential placements by 2032, which we want to get to, and if we continue in the same vein of the previous four years, which is not mentioned in the response, with 140 placements opening each year, give or take, there will be 400 fewer than the figure. The same disability capacity review asked for an extra 3,900 placements needed to return to pre-2008 levels. This…

As the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will be well aware, a car is an absolute necessity in any rural part of Ireland now. In a number of parts of my constituency of Cork North-Central, a car is an absolute necessity because public transport is not available. The Minister of State will be just as inundated as I am by the number of people contacting us looking for representations to get their driving tests much faster than the predicted date. I concur with everything my colleague Deputy Ahern said in his speech. …

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the power of higher education, research and skills as economic enablers. My predecessor, former Deputy Seán Sherlock, was a champion of research and skills when he served as a Minister of State. It is often said that education is a great leveller, meaning that further education qualifications can enable those with the least in our society to make good careers and comfortable lives for themselves and that they can overcome social and economic disadvantage. I am a believer in this…

I thank Sinn Féin for this extremely important motion. In the majority of towns and cities across the country, there are very serious difficulties with public infrastructure and this is having a knock-on effect on the development of housing. The provision of housing is by far the greatest issue of our time and of our generation as politicians. I am a 25-year-old still living at home, like an enormous number of people my age. Approximately 70% of us are locked at home, unable to privately rent or to afford a house. …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — there is an ongoing failure by the State to adequately plan for school places for children with special or additional educational needs; — parents have resorted to sleeping outside the Department of Education to raise awareness of the lack of appropriate places; — significant sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 remain un-commenced, and a review of the EPSEN Act was begun in 2021 with a public consultation in 2023 but to date …

Is the Minister aware the national childcare website does not list fees for childcare providers for the year 2021, the key year against which fees are benchmarked for core funding? Will the Department rectify this as a matter of urgency? The Labour Party has submitted at least four parliamentary questions over the past year but the Minister and the previous Minister have failed to provide an answer.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The Minister will appreciate the Labour Party has frequently asked her and the previous Minister about this in parliamentary questions and parents have been told to go to their local childcare committees for historic fees, go to the national childcare website or contact the NCS directly for the fees. Parents have already gone down those three routes to access fees. A response to a parliamentary question from my party leader, Ivana Bacik, on 29 September 2024 stated the Department woul…

I appreciate that. It would be great if the Minister could clarify the position. We have the figures for 2021, although the website might not be working to its full capacity because it is a brand new website and, as the Minister said, it has been designed for the current 2023-24 price for childcare. Do we have the figures for the childcare facilities of 2021? Once the website is fixed, will the figures be available to put up on the website? Are we still looking for the figures or are they available to the Departmen…

I am asking this question for Deputy Wall. Will the Minister provide the number of access and inclusion model childcare places provided since 2020 by county in tabular form? What are the actions she is taking to increase the number of places? Will she make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister. I appreciate that. If that table could also be shared with my colleague, Deputy Wall, that would be great. AIM is extremely important for early childhood care. As the Minister will know from her previous Department, the resourcing of special educational needs supports is very necessary in every facet of education. The issue of maintaining AIM comes back to financial constraints as regards level 7 and trying to get people into level 7 courses so that they can provide the universal and targeted …

I thank the Minister. That is really to be welcomed. As the Minister has mentioned it, I will briefly touch on enhancing settings, access to settings and capital grants. As she has said, if we are trying to move towards more targeted supports for children with less visible disabilities, such as those on the autism spectrum and those who have speech and language difficulties, targeted support and capital grants for enhancing access to settings will be much needed. The Minister's reply is very much welcomed.

I appreciate Uisce Éireann is not in the Minister of State's portfolio, but where do we start with Irish Water. My county of Cork has had its fair share of dealings with Irish Water. The quality of our water and the response of Irish Water to the problems we have in Cork are utterly shameful. On Monday last, my Labour Party colleagues on Cork City Council met officials from Irish Water. To say that their questions remain unanswered is an understatement. Most of the time, the answers received from Irish Water lack a…