I referenced the CAP earlier. Approximately €10 billion, between EU and Exchequer funding, will support 130,000 farm families under the new CAP. On forestry, there is a new €1.3 billion forestry programme, which is open for applications. New licences are issuing every week. We believe this will be a significant departure from previous years where the industry was in difficulty. It will see an increase in forestry premiums of between 46% and 66% and farmers will receive 20 years of premium payments compared to 15 ye…

I am in no doubt about that, Deputy. Deputy McGrath has called for a Dáil debate. The people are superior to the Dáil and Seanad on constitutional matters. That is the great thing about De Valera's Constitution of 1937. He gave the power of amendment to the people and he did so in an era of fascism. Many people never want to give credit to the Constitution of 1937. When the rest of Europe was going fascist, a genuinely republican constitution was enacted, with the power of amendment resting with the people. Of cour…

The wording would not have damaged carers. I am not going to rekindle the debate but I contest very strongly the Deputy's assertion. The Government continues to spend on special needs, carers and disability more generally. Thousands of special education teachers and special needs assistants have been appointed since this Government took office and continue to be appointed. Approximately 25% of the education budget is now allocated to special needs education. This is the highest ever, even in percentage terms, of th…

The fishery has been closed on scientific advice to make sure stocks can recover. Can the Deputy be a bit more honest in his public debate on these issues? He presents it in a certain way-----

-----and with a certain spin. Is he saying we should ignore scientific advice? Is he saying we should now enter into a new era where we simply ignore all advice that we get, just do whatever we want, allow the stocks to be depleted and then some fine day people will turn up and there will be no fish to fish? I am advised that the fishery has been closed on scientific advice, with reducing stocks. If you close it, it recovers and people will be able to fish sustainably into the future. That apparently is the issue.

Come off the stage.

The Deputy calls our honesty into question every single day.

Come off the stage.

I think the Deputy is talking about the special education teacher model and its organisation. There are about 14,600 special education teachers supporting mainstream classes in the 2024-25 school year. That is an increase of about 1,000 since the end of the 2021 school year. It is the highest number of special education teachers ever in our schools. The model has been in place since 2017. There has been a limited change to the method since then. I have spoken to the Minister on this. The model makes an allocation o…

There has been a substantial increase in employment numbers in health over recent years and provision was made for additional numbers this year. I will speak to the Minister for Health on the specific case raised by the Deputy and ask him to revert to her.

On autism classes, 1,300 additional teachers have been appointed, we have opened new special schools and we are opening new autism classes on a regular basis. There will be specific issues with specific schools, with configuration of buildings and so on. All that has to be in place before you can take on a new school. On the allocation model, the Minister has informed us that school bodies and managerial bodies at a national level, for example, support the new model.

I am just saying what the position has been at national level. Principals' organisations also support the new model.

We are anxious that no child with a complex need will be under-provided for in respect of the allocation model. We will keep the matter under review.

One of the fundamental rights in the Constitution, as the Deputy said, is the right to a primary education. It is a good right that is in the Constitution. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the Department have an obligation to fulfil that right in terms of securing a place for the child. We have made significant progress on this in the last two years but wherever there is a need, provision should be made. I empathise with the anxiety many parents feel when their child cannot get a school place. …

If the Deputy knows of specific cases, I ask him to bring them to the Department's attention. I will speak to the Minister for Education after this session and will raise the fact that a number of Deputies have raised this issue. I know the objective is to provide places for children when it is appropriate for them to progress to primary or secondary level schools.

As we know, referendums can be very complex.

The first row will be about the wording.

I make the point that we now have a national State body in public ownership. There is no question of the privatisation of Irish Water or water supplies at all-----

-----other than the group water schemes, which are private schemes delivered by local communities. It is simple to propose referendums, but we have all learned the complexity involved in-----

-----formulating a referendum proposal and delivering one through-----