It is not something that is allowed. It has never been approved.

It is not happening. We need to be very careful about saying that this is an absolute fact.

My understanding is that, as the Deputy has rightly outlined, we do not have a national quota on this. At the time when this was being divvied up, there was not a track record of commercial fishing for bluefin tuna. Obviously, that has changed. What we have now is a small bluefin tuna bycatch quota which is available to Ireland, primarily for use in our important Northern Ireland albacore tuna fishery and Celtic Sea herring fishery, when there can be bluefin tuna bycatch. Any changes, as the Deputy has mentioned, w…

I do not think anybody thinks mistreatment of any animal, whether an animal in the food chain or an animal in our home or a pet, is acceptable. We need to make sure that where there are clear laws and procedures that should be in place, they are adhered to. As the daughter of a farmer, I would say the vast majority of farmers comply with these regulations and treat their animals better than they might treat anybody else. I appreciate there are exemptions to the rules here, but obviously where somebody does not comp…

My understanding is HSE South West has developed a business case and that has been presented to the HSE and the Department of Health. I also understand it is a supported plan, so there are conversations and engagement happening to see how this plan can be funded and how it can be progressed for all the reasons the Deputy has outlined, including that we provide that support and that resource to people who need it most. There is a costed plan there and the intention is to see how funding can be secured.

I thank the Deputy. I too acknowledge and recognise our entire teaching profession, our teachers, our special education teachers, our SNAs and the entire school staff who support children every day and those who support children with special educational needs. It is for the reasons outlined by the Deputy that I wrote to the Teaching Council recently to ensure we put a process in place such that any person coming through teacher training would have a focus and emphasis placed on a mandatory element on special educat…

I thank the Deputy. Having been one of the leads in the negotiations for the programme for Government, I know the conversation on this was very clear. We need to support Dublin Airport but we also need to support our regional airports. We need to ensure people living outside our capital city in our rural towns and villages have access to perhaps not the same level, but to an increased level, of air connectivity. That is why those commitments were made in the programme for Government. I do not have a timeline for th…

I thank the Deputy. I do not think we should compare or pit any student against another. It is important every child has access to education and can progress. It is important also to acknowledge that a huge number of young people can access grants - there has in fact been an increase over the years in the number of young people who can access SUSI - but also the investment that has gone into higher education to reduce the fees for those attending college or university. Obviously that has a positive knock-on impact …

I thank the Deputy. There is a record €6 billion being invested in all our different housing policies and only in recent weeks the Minister for housing secured additional funding, so we are doing everything we can to support not just the development of new homes, the bringing back of homes into stock and the development of social housing, but also to support every person to be able to purchase or to stay in the home they are in. There is a lot of money going into it and every further extension of that will have to …

No.

The Government and I as Minister for Education are committed to increasing funding to support all schools. This has already seen a €30 million permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and in the longer term with increased day-to-day running costs through budget 2025. This represents an increase of approximately 12% on current standard rates and enhanced rates and is on top of the circa 9.2% increase from last year’s budget. In the past two budgets alone, there has been a 22% increase in the ov…

I have also spoken to teachers and principals and I fully accept we need to do more. There is a clear commitment in the programme for Government to do more. However, the Deputy has to accept that, in the past two years alone, there has been a 22% increase in capitation across primary and post-primary as well as an enhanced rate for special schools or where support is needed in DEIS schools. I am not saying that is going far enough but I cannot negotiate the budget here on the floor of the Dáil. What I am saying cle…

With all due respect, the Deputy's party called for multiple different variations of €150 million. We have to work within a budget and we have to make sure we prioritise where the need is most. I fully accept the need is here in education and that we need to provide more, but there is no school that will be let go to the wall because funding is not being provided. I cannot be any clearer than that. I also commend our principals, teachers and all the staff who work so hard day in, day out. I appeal to any school, if…

If we start allocating budgets outside of the budget every month, then we do not have a budget.

We have to work within the budget that has been provided, and what has been provided is 22% of an increase. I am absolutely committed to providing more. It could not be any clearer in the programme for Government. There is no school that will be let go to the wall because there is no funding being provided. We will always provide funding to schools.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue and something we all have a responsibility to try to deal with to support our young people, to educate them and to protect them insofar as possible from many of the challenges they face online. In respect of the mobile phones during school time, the pouches were just one of a number of measures that have been recommended and will be rolled out. It is not mandatory for any school but is an option for a school to take up. I have spoken to schools where thi…

So much work is being done. I mentioned Webwise and the different programmes that are being rolled out. The change in the curriculum has taken a number of years but it is now being rolled out and will be mandatory for leaving cert students. The ban that has initially come into our primary schools is absolutely fantastic but we all have a role here. There is more that schools can do, such as through the ICT grant, which ensures that children are digitally literate. Yesterday, I was at a school in Trim where there is…

To outline the action to date, phones have been banned in schools, and in primary schools in particular, which is only right. Young people are still being educated through the reform of the RSE programme. On post primary, a directive was issued by the Minister for Education urging schools to have restrictive mobile phone use in place, and we can see that being implemented in many of the schools. Most important, the new SPHE curriculum is going to be mandatory. While that focuses on everything from sexual health to …

The SPHE programme is being updated so everything will be up to date, and young people are being asked what is important to them and what they should be discussing. Only last week, I launched a new programme in arts, which has been taken up by about a third of schools at the post-primary level. This is an overall health and well-being programme that brings everything into one place. It can be accessed by teachers and students and there is peer-to-peer learning. Most important, parents can also access it. We know th…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At the outset, we have to ensure we have the capacity there for any of these types of new application systems to work. My Department has a very significant capital programme, which is providing additional capacity around the country. Since 2020, €5.8 billion has been invested in our schools, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. Additionally, we are working very closely with schools and patrons to ensure that there are sufficient places available…