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 …

I assure people that this process is still under way. Quite frankly, the Department of education does not look at it in terms of Kildare South or Kildare North. It looks at the children who are there. Through the process that will balance out. There will be more in Kildare North, I assume because it is a bigger population. I also assume it will balance out as the process goes on. The idea that this is some sort of political decision is wrong. It is based on the needs of-----

I do not know. The Deputy keeps talking about constituencies and why one constituency is getting more than another. The Department-----

The Department has information about children and is going through that information. It has not come to any final decision and there will be quite a few more announcements to be made. It is about the children and their constitutional right to be educated, which we are proud to have in this country. It needs to be implemented and the Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, work every day of the week to execute and implement that right. The Department continues to engage with the NCSE. The vast majorit…

On the individual case, I strongly urge the Deputy to give the details to me or directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. There is funding, as I said previously, for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE today is currently examining where those are best located for the 2026-27 school year. We now have 3,741 special classes around the country, and we will build on this figure. T…

We have to guarantee those places for children. The Government is acutely conscious of that. Work is ongoing to ensure that this guarantee, which, in my view, derives from the Constitution, is fulfilled for every child who needs a school place. The Department continues to engage intensively with the NCSE to forward plan for new special provision to get a place for every single child in the setting that best suits their needs. The NCSE is continuing to engage with a large number of schools across Dublin in the conte…

I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this matter. The Minister for Education and Youth has asked me to set out the position with regard to youth work provision and the funding supports available. Supporting youth services and youth work is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and Youth. The Department is committed to ensuring that young people in Ballyfermot and everywhere else in the country have access to valuable resources and opportunities that enable them to thrive. The UBU, Your Place Your Space…

Deputy Cummins can be assured that the Department, Minister and officials will continue to actively engage with City of Dublin ETB, youth services and young people to ensure that there is appropriate provision for young people in Ballyfermot. The Department's commitment builds on the significant work already undertaken through targeted funding and collaborative initiatives, which have strengthened youth services and expanded opportunities for inclusion and development. The Department is committed in its support for…