Of the 421 schools, just 96 have had their work completed.

The Taoiseach identified the six areas where the Government sees the potential to make the most difference to children living in poverty. One of those mentioned is family homelessness. If the Taoiseach will forgive me, I am going to be parochial on the issue. As the Taoiseach will be aware, the homelessness figures are calculated monthly per region for nine different regions. A consistent statistic is that outside Dublin, the west region has the highest number of child dependants accessing emergency accommodation. …

Cuirim ceist ar an Aire faoin obair atá ar siúl sa Roinn faoi láthair chun múinteoirí, scoileanna agus daltaí a shásamh go bhfuil an t-ullmhúchán ceart déanta acu don ardteist nua i mí Mheán Fómhair seo chugainn. I ask the Minister about the efforts under way in the Department to make sure schools, teachers and pupils are adequately prepared for the introduction of the first tranche of the new leaving certificate or senior cycle syllabus for this September.

Aontaím leis an Aire go bhfuil chuile dhuine den tuairim go bhfuil gá le hathchóiriú ar chóras na hardteistiméireachta. I agree there is universal acceptance among all parties and partners in education of the need to reform the leaving certificate and introduce a new senior cycle, in particular one that, as the Minister says, would assess skills development and develop critical thinking rather than just content knowledge. We all welcome that, but there is no doubt there is still some concern among teachers in parti…

I echo the point of my colleagues across the floor. Some 82% of teachers surveyed feel they require some guidance on AI in regard to the new leaving certificate and authenticating the work that will be produced as part of the additional assessment component. I am glad to hear the Minister tell us tonight that thousands of students have selected their subjects, because some parents have advised me their child is concerned about picking some of the tranche 1 subjects because of a lack of clarity on or awareness of th…

I concur with what my colleague said. I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue. I am more recent to the story but I agree fully with Deputy Connolly's relaying of the history of the project and the previous efforts of public representatives to raise and progress it. There are two ambulances in Clifden, which would be the nearest town to where it is proposed to locate this base. Last week, a player suffered an injury at a rugby match and waited 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive having suffered a dislocated …

I agree with Deputy Connolly that the content is limited to what is relevant to the specific issue. One line in the reply says that, "Approval will then be sought to proceed to issue tender documents." This is concerning because, as Deputy Connolly said, we all had an understanding that not only had this approval been granted previously but also the tender documents were prepared and ready to go. I hope this term can be changed from approval to a date for when it will happen. Another issue that arises concerns the …

It is difficult for people to believe that in the ten weeks since Storm Éowyn, people are still suffering landline and broadband outages. As my colleagues have said, that is across many parts of the country. We must ask what obligation the companies with whom we entrusted the responsibility for communications infrastructure to the citizens of the State have to the Government and to the people. It seems that some of that responsibility has been lost. There are still locations experiencing residual impact from the le…

Mar a luaigh mo chomhghleacaí anseo, is é seo an chéad deis a bhí agamsa labhairt ar phíosa reachtaíochta sa Teach, cé go raibh cuid le rá agam ar ráitis agus ábhair eile. Seo an chéad phíosa reachtaíochta atá deis agam labhairt air, agus cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille. Mar atá ráite ag go leor daoine eile, guím gach rath ar an Aire agus é ag obair air. Gabhaim buíochas chomh maith leis an gcoiste Gaeilge a bhí againn sa Dáil dheireanach as an obair a rinne sé ar an ábhar seo. Aontaím go mór le mo chomhghleacaí tras…

Tá a lán ráite ag na Teachtaí Ward agus McGuinness atá fíor. Rud a cheap mé féin le píosa ná go bhfuil orainn athrú meon ó thaobh úsáid na Gaeilge a bheith againn sa tír. Is é sin an dúshlán, go bhfuil ar chuile dhuine an méid Gaeilge atá aige nó aici a úsáid chomh minic agus is féidir leis nó leí. Más rud é gur féidir le chuile dhuine é sin a dhéanamh, beidh dul chun cinn mór déanta ó thaobh na Gaeilge agus a húsáid mar ghnáththeanga an phobail. Ní hí seo an chéad deis atá agam cúpla focal a rá sa Teach, ach motha…

I welcome the establishment of the Cabinet committee. It will do important work and no doubt its work will complement that of the child poverty and well-being programme in the Department of the Taoiseach. There has never been a greater awareness of the importance of well-being and wellness in enabling learning and educational progress. I have found in my professional experience that teachers are outstanding advocates for the well-being and welfare of children. I would ask the Cabinet committee to prioritise the red…

The commitment in the programme for Government to establish a new DEIS plus scheme for schools is very welcome. What steps will be taken within the Department to develop that scheme? The existing scheme has been reflected on very positively by both schools and teachers who participate in what are currently considered DEIS schools and it has had independent verification of its success by reports from inspectors, among others. Some of the initiatives in the initial scheme have been extended to all schools, such as th…

The Minister's comments on closing the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools are interesting because in a number of our schools, the teaching personnel observe a level of disadvantage among pupils that is probably not recognised under the scheme. This is even in terms of how the existing scheme is calculated, for lack of a better term, or how schools are assessed for their inclusion. One aspect schools are finding increasingly puzzling is where there is a high proportion of pupils who may be residing in internation…

One of the advantages DEIS schools enjoy over non-DEIS schools is the position of the home school community liaison teacher. This is a valuable position that would be valued in any school. The Minister might look at closing the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and providing additional roles. We could arrive at a position whereby a home school liaison officer might work with several non-DEIS schools but it is certainly one of the significant advantages. As I said in my opening remarks, some of the additional be…

Another welcome initiative in the programme for Government is the extension of a pilot scheme that has been running in several smaller schools that have come together to seek the synergy of their operations within the community and how they might get administrative support from the Department. The schools involved in this scheme went about their business in different manners and different schools sought to work together on different aspects. It would be very beneficial, however, if we could come up with a communal …

We all recognise the importance of small schools within communities, particularly in communities that might have suffered the loss of other services. We are all familiar with towns and villages throughout the country that might have lost banking and post office services. There is always an outcry rightly when these things occur but the school should be sacrosanct within that. If we can support those small schools and communities to maintain their operation, it will keep the community vibrant. I also welcome that th…

The accident and emergency unit at University Hospital Galway has been the subject of much political commentary for many years. Many taoisigh and health Ministers have recognised the facility is not meeting the needs of the large population it is designed to serve and it is of a substandard nature. The Tánaiste will be aware of his own time as Minister for Health. The facility is now in a temporary facility. There have been many false dawns for the progression of a new accident and emergency unit in Galway, most no…

Like those in every other portfolio and in every other role, I wish the Minister well. I wish every Minister who has some part to play in resolving this issue well. It is our greatest challenge. We have had a number of debates in recent times on the health service and mental health service, and there are significant challenges in all those areas. However, resolving the housing issue will be particularly challenging but it will also have a knock-on effect in improving health outcomes. It is not unjust or unfair to s…

I thank the Tánaiste for his answer to this point. I recognise in his response that he has outlined the challenge Storm Éowyn brought to certain parts of the country. However we like to present it and would contest this position, though, there is a perception in some constituencies, particularly on the western seaboard and midlands and Border area that had the impact of Storm Éowyn been felt in other parts of the country, or had the lack of services as a result of the storm been suffered in other parts of the count…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. It is clear from his response that he recognises the necessity of the review and how in-depth it needs to be. The Tánaiste also has a clear understanding of the suffering people endured. In terms of the range of skills that is available to the Defence Forces, one area that comes to mind is medical and support skills for people who are medically vulnerable. There certainly is a sense in certain locations, when there was no power, that medical assistance was needed or would have…