In the time I have, it is important to say the experience we have and the disability issues we have learned about are going to lead us to putting actions in place to make sure people with additional needs can say the Irish education system really did them proud, whatever role they had. International studies show that for people with additional needs, one of the great things is nature. Some of the stuff we have lost over the years, such as sensory gardens, are being put in again, as are therapies such as equine ther…

I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places are being provided for in the coming school year, 2025-26. Five new special schools are being established in addition to 11 new special schools having opened over the past five years. Special school capacity is also being expanded in a number of special schools. Along with providing additional special school capacit…

I take the point, but it is important that special schools, special classes and special places for children with additional needs are as local as possible to pupils' own communities. In various debates on special education, we constantly talk about people who are travelling long distances, be that in urban or rural Ireland, for those places. That is something we really are very serious about tackling. On students with mild general learning disabilities, the experience over the past 20 years regarding mainstreaming …

Most of the 30 mild general learning schools have worked extremely well with the National Council for Special Education over the past while to broaden their profile and to accept students with autism and more complex educational needs. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have worked extraordinarily hard over the past number of months on making sure that we have a place for every child in September. That is a fundamental issue. We are trying to make sure that it is done early every year but in some of the infor…

At the outset, I recognise this project has been ongoing for some time. The major building project for the school referred to by Deputy Connolly will provide a new 16-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for pupils with special education needs. Following planning conditions imposed in 2018, a redesign was necessary. At that point, additional capacity was added to the school and subsequent planning was achieved in September 2023. The project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2(b…

Yes, the submission has been with the Department since March. These reviews take time. I do not have a specific date for the Deputy but I will endeavour to get that information to her as a matter of priority. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I will follow up to ensure that it is done as speedily as possible. I will endeavour to come back to Deputy Connolly with that timeline and a report as to how the process is going through the Department.

I will come back to the Deputy on it in writing. The documentation submitted in March, as I understand it, is quite a detailed document and involves a lot of work to make sure it is properly gone through. I give the Deputy a commitment that we will work to make sure it goes through the Department as speedily as possible, and we will come back to her in writing.

I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential, and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants. The NCSE contacted all schools on 6 June to advi…

I take the point. I also met with the INTO yesterday in regard to its pre-budget submissions. It outlined the challenges in respect of SENCOs. The provision of special education has developed extraordinarily throughout the country over recent years. We have to pay tribute to school leadership and the school communities, be they teachers, SNAs or the other support people who make that possible. We have to look at how we are going to make it more inclusive and what better way we can structure the system to improve it…

In respect of special classes and the huge issue of provision, the Government is totally committed to the provision of special classes and special needs places to allow children to grow to their full potential. Almost 400 special classes have been sanctioned for this year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level. In April of this year, the Department wrote to all schools opening new special classes requesting them to begin admissions processes without delay. The NCSE is engaging closely…

There are a couple of things there. We understand the challenges that are ahead of us in terms of post-primary education because of the information we have at primary level. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and myself are acutely aware of it and are working extremely hard on it. One of the things we agreed very early on was to bring back the date from 1 February to 1 October to give better planning. I take the Deputy's point. We had some challenges in respect of primary school because the NCSE or the Department had no…

On the therapists within the schools, that is being rolled out from September into the special schools. The plan is for the special schools in the first instance and then on to the special classes. They will be great enablers to provide the best possible outcomes for children with additional needs throughout the education system. An awful lot of work has gone into it over the last while. I compliment the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as well as the previous Minister on their commitment and the work they have done over …

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. First, I will discuss the Department of Education and Youth school energy retrofit pathfinder programme. The Department is leading an ambitious sustainable agenda and has progressed a number of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings as part of our work towards the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Its performance has been recognised at national and international levels with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design, specification and de…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I will give a bit of background information. The development of football is a matter for the FAI, which, like all national governing bodies of sport, is an independent, autonomous body that is responsible for the organisation and development of the sport. While the FAI has sought significant State funding to support its academic development plans, it is important to note the sizable financial support directed to the FAI and to football more generally over the past number …

I again thank the Deputy for raising these issues. I note the concerns she has regarding the building in respect of damp, leaks, the toilet facilities and the other issues raised. I take them on board and I will be liaising with the Department in relation to what she outlined. It is greatly important. I understand and accept that St. Joseph's CBS in Drogheda is liaising with the emergency section of the Department. I emphasise it is important this communication channel is kept open so the best possible applications…

I take the point. It is clear from the prepared script from the Department, and the House will know, that there is serious investment. Much work has been done with the FAI over the past number of years and we will continue to do so. It is an important sport in our communities, and it is important that we engage and encourage more people. The Senator referenced women’s participation, which is as important in this sport as in others. We have to liaise with the FAI. I also take the point on high performance and centre…

It is great that we are discussing Cork North-West and these issues in general. I congratulate the Senator on her election and wish her every success. The Department has outlined the various schemes and payments - the pension payments and social welfare payments - the double jeopardy issues and so forth. Everybody understands what social welfare payments entail. All of us will have come across very genuine cases. The point the Senator made in relation to bereavement can come at any age. The Taoiseach recently state…

I will take the point that Senator Lynch made back to the Department. The challenge here is that relating to one person one payment. In 2000 or 2001, the half-rate carer’s payment was introduced. If memory serves, Seamus Brennan, who was the Minister at the time, brought it in. We will explore that. I want to put on the record the fact that the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension) Bill 2025, concluded Second Stage in the Dáil on 27 March. Committee Stage is due to be taken on 25 June next. It is extremely im…

I am responding on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, who unfortunately cannot be present. I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter and I thank Senator Andrews for his question. In December 2024, the Department of Defence signed a contract for the delivery of four German-made Airbus H145M helicopters, which will provide a modern light utility helicopter capability for the Air Corps. They will replace the present aging fleet of two EC135s, which have reached the end of their useful service l…

The specific line in the reply is "there is no intention to purchase military equipment from Israel". This is an issue the Senator has been passionate about, not just for the past 18 or 20 months, but for a long time. Like him, we are horrified by what has happened. We have been to the forefront in the European Union in condemning what is happening in Israel for quite some time, and we are quite shocked by it. Where international politics are concerned, it is something we take very seriously. There is no intention …