I will take this question on behalf of the Minister. I reassure the Deputy that the regeneration of the Naval Service is one of the key priorities for the Minister and the Department. To that end, the Minister has had detailed discussions with the Chief of Staff on the need for a regeneration report on the Naval Service. The Defence Forces are working to have this report completed in the coming weeks. In relation to recent events the Deputy mentioned, I can confirm that during Storm Chandra, the LÉ Aoibhinn suffere…

The Deputy asked specifically about the LÉ Gobnait . That ship is scheduled to enter service in the third quarter of this year. We acknowledge that it would have been preferable to have it in service much sooner. It is the case, however, that the readiness and capability of and the activities carried out by the Naval Service have increased substantially over the past year. Work in that regard is going to continue. The Government has acknowledged that we have come from a low base of capabilities and that some capabi…

Thankfully, there was no more serious damage. The damage was minor in nature. The Naval Service remains satisfied that Carlisle Pier meets its needs. It has pointed out that the berth has recently been refitted with a modern fendering system, which should add to our ships' ability to withstand damaging impacts. In relation to the potential use of Carlisle Pier as the new forward operating base, the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces calls for the development of an east coast base for the Naval Service. …

I will answer this one on behalf of the Minister. As the Minister has already set out, the defence (amendment) Bill is included in the Government legislative programme for priority publication. There are also some other amendments to the Defence Acts in the legislation. What the triple lock legislation or the defence (amendment) Bill will do is remove the requirement for the UN Security Council mandate because, quite frankly, it is almost impossible to get one and we do not know what the UN Security Council will sa…

We want to make sure our Defence Forces can, first of all, engage in their primary function, which is the protection of the security of the State and, when called upon, to go abroad to serve as peacekeepers, as they have honourably done. Removing the triple lock will not change this in any way. There are many neutral countries and I do not think any of them have as restrictive a law as we do. I agree with Deputy Duncan Smith who said we must protect our neutrality. I was in Switzerland last week when the subject of…

The reason we have a constitutional amendment is if we want to change the Constitution. We are not changing the Constitution, it is simply changing legislation. What was agreed at Lisbon is still in the Constitution by virtue of the protocol to the Lisbon treaty. This does not affect it in any way. I am quite sure that whatever referendum the Government would put forward on Europe or defence, Sinn Féin would oppose it as it has opposed every one of them over the years, but what was agreed by the people in the Lisbo…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I will start by recognising the importance of the Reserve Defence Force to the State. In the past few years, we have witnessed a revitalisation of the Reserve. The strength of the Reserve Defence Force, as of the end of 2025, was 204 first-line Reserve personnel and 1,612 second-line Reserve personnel, which is comprised of 1,481 Army Reserve personnel and 131 Naval Service Reserve personnel. The priority of Government is the modernisation of our Defence Forces and revitalising …

The regeneration plan was published in July 2024 and has four main priorities: recruitment and retention: resourcing; training; and integration and deployment. In relation to specific issues with Reserve Defence Force activities that attract payments, conditions under which reservists are paid for certain activities are set out in the Defence Force regulations. In 2023, a letter of instruction was issued that was not consistent with the regulations and items have been replaced with an updated guidance note. The off…

Recruitment has increased substantially, particularly in 2024. It slowed down in 2025 but the numbers were substantially higher than they were 2023. The numbers will be boosted by the number of applicants who were undertaking module 1 pre-induction training at the end of last year. Work has been done and numbers have gone up. That is very important. There is a huge effort under way to attract more people into the Reserve Defence Forces, such as increasing the upper retirement age and mandatory retirement age. There…

Ar son an Aire Iompair, gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú agus deis a thabhairt dom freagra a thabhairt air sa Teach inniu. The DART+ programme comprises five different rail projects in and around the greater Dublin area. It includes extending the existing DART network to Maynooth, the M3 Parkway and Dunboyne in my constituency, Hazelhatch and Celbridge, and Gormanston, Laytown and Drogheda, also serving my constituents, and improving current DART services from Dublin city centre…

In the opening statement, I outlined a lot of the progress that is happening. I might mention the fleet situation now. Regarding the roll-out of the new DART+ fleet, this has started to undergo safety testing. That will progress from 2027 onwards and will allow what is described as a cascade of existing trains to serve new areas of the Irish Rail network. Three fleet orders have been placed for both battery-electric carriages, which obviously do not need the overhead wires, and electric carriages. Trains from the f…

Enabling students with special educational needs to receive an education that meets their needs is a priority for the Government. It is also a key priority for the Minister, the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The NCSE is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for students with special educational needs. Special schools funded by the Department are classified as primary national schools. They are intended, in accordance with the…

The Senator raised a good point. Clearly, there are rules and an exemption process, which is transparent. People can apply for an exemption and that is clearly set out. However, an important point, which the Government acknowledges, is that we need more transition information to be available to people, and at an earlier time. That has to happen. There is a process for exemption from the rule and it is down to the individual case. I am sure the Senator will assist in the navigation of that process, but let us see wh…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I know we have all seen, along with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, who cannot be here today, the devastation that flooding has on people, businesses and the Enniscorthy community. The town of Enniscorthy, unfortunately, has a long history of flooding, the most recent being this week, with previous events in 2000 and 2015. Flooding is a huge problem and leads to incalculable losses to people and a loss of a secure feeling as well. Th…

I agree with the Senator. I know that the Minister, Deputy Browne, agrees with the Senator that the town has lived with flood risks for too long. The consent refusal in 2022 was a setback for the town. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, not to reduce environmental protection, because nobody wants to do that, but to reduce the bureaucracy that comes with planning and development in this country. We are engaging with European colleagues on this. There is a whole agenda in the European Union at the moment …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta ós rud é gur chuir sé an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo ar an gclár inniu. Gabhann an tAire, an Teachta Browne, a leithscéal. Níl sé in ann a bheith linn um thráthnóna. At the outset, I should point out that the operation of the public water supply and the wastewater supply are operational issues locally for Uisce Éireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects. The Minister, Deputy Browne, does not have operational function in the matters to which the Deputy refers. We have, h…

Across Louth and other affected counties, Uisce Éireann teams are still actively responding to the impact of the storm to triage incidents, to prioritise safety-critical interventions and to ensure that essential services remain operational. The exact cause of specific flood incidents observed in parts of Dundalk remain unclear. Multiple factors, including ground saturation, river level fluctuations and tidal interactions relating to coastal positioning can influence flooding behaviour during storms. A full post-in…

I have huge empathy with the Deputy and the residents. My suggestion would be to let Uisce Éireann and the council deal with the immediate aftermath of what is happening this week. Thereafter, it is fair to say, Uisce Éireann has responsibility for wastewater and the sewerage system in general. The local authority is responsible for drainage. It is probably a case of knocking heads together in the context of the combined systems and maybe trying to arrange a meeting between the local authority and Uisce Éireann. Th…

I will take it back to the Minister.

I thank the Deputy for making this important case. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with special educational needs. Budget 2026 secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE is currently looking at where these places should be best located for the school year 2026-2027. There is a lot of work going on at the moment in that regard. Over 2,700 new places were provided in 2025-2026, meaning there are now 3,741 special classes nationwide. That …