Eoghan Kenny

That is not-----

I am happy to share my time.

Today we must recognise the immense pressure that our nurses are under in this country, but also other front-line health professionals across Ireland. This morning, I met with paramedics outside Mallow General Hospital who do not take this strike action lightly. Listening to them this morning, it was clear that this dispute was more than pay and grading. It is about burnout, staffing pressures, re…

151. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he and his Department have considered not proceeding with the planned reduction in student contribution fees for the 2026-27 academic year, in light of the recent Government decision requiring Departments to absorb expenditure overruns within existing budgets; and if he will make a sta…

I appreciate that. The Minister will be acutely aware of the level of concern among families and students to the news that there is a possibility that the incremental decreases in student contribution fees will not go ahead. The Minister mentioned that this must be done in a financially sustainable way, which is something that is not spoken about perhaps in the media or by other spokespeople. The …

Is there a date on which that paper will be made available? Those costings will be very important to politicians in this Chamber but also extremely important to the very students who we profess to represent in this Chamber regarding to the amount they will have to pay for the coming academic year. I represent the students across this country and the important issue for them is that there was a com…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.

157. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the engagement he has had with University College Cork and Munster Technological University Cork on the housing crisis and the impact on student accommodation in Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34346/26]

I wish to ask about the Minister's engagement with University College Cork and the Munster Technological University in Cork on the housing crisis and the impact on student accommodation in Cork. This is something that has been spoken about at a consistent level by the Labour Party and by me and my colleagues, Senator Harmon, and an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Sheehan.

I appreciate that there have been developments in student accommodation. However, Cork, as a county with a huge university city, has the lowest proportion of public student accommodation beds available at 18%. In February 2026, a report by Sherry FitzGerald showed that the State needs at least 38,900 beds to keep up with the demand. The report says that for every 13 students across the south-west…

In relation to what my colleague, Senator Harmon, has said in relation to the technological universities being allowed to borrow to build student accommodation, is it something that the Minister and the Department are taking seriously? There would be an appetite there from MTU. In relation to private rented accommodation, we have had many debates across this House on private rental student accomm…

Will the Minister explain why the Government has chosen to impose expenditure levies on Departments given that the State is currently running a surplus of more than €9 billion? The State has run surplus budgets for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, all while the top 10% hold nearly 50% of total net wealth in this country and the number of super rich has doubled in the past five years. Successive Governme…

I must note the irony of a Fianna Fáil Minister coming in here and trying to lecture the Labour Party on fiscal responsibility. It is unbelievable. Fianna Fáil crippled the country and allowed the Labour Party to try to bring it back from the brink and the Minister of State comes in here and tries to lecture us on fiscal responsibility. This is a vital and timely motion. It is clear to many of us…

What about those parents who are struggling to get their children to school, predominantly children in rural areas who the Minister of State professes to represent? Education in Ireland is supposed to be free. It is clear to parents across the country that it is only free in name. Prior to the general election in 2024, the then Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government implemented supports to househol…

-----but we profess to and do represent ordinary working people in this country - for example, by putting forward this mini budget, with practical, real-life solutions that will help in the here and now, rather than the Minister of State just throwing his eyes to heaven in the face of the people and the families across this country who are struggling to put food on the table for their children.

You cannot blame the housing prices on that.

2. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth if a memo has been sent to Cabinet in relation to the way in which her Department plans to deliver enough special class places and special school places to match the level of demand; the number of children who await a special class or school placement; the number of children who made an application for a special class or school plac…

At the Committee of Public Accounts in February, the Secretary General of the Department of education told me that a memo would be sent to Cabinet in relation to how we are going to deal with the exponential growth in the level of demand for children who require school places. Last Thursday, the Secretary General told me that the memo is set to be sent to Cabinet. Has that memo on how we are going…

There are also a lot of parents who know their children need a special class or special school placement and they do not know whether their child will get a school place. The memo sent to the Government did not only relate to special education, but it must have included the number of children who require a special class or special school placement. The Department knows that figure. The NCSE has to…

18. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth the rationale her Department has in choosing particular schools for priority building lists, to outline the denomination of each of the 105 schools chosen by category; if schools that are currently at stage 2b will be progressed over the next two years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28885/26]

I want to reference one school in particular. I taught in Coachford College for a year. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, will be acutely aware of Coachford College. I know he has engaged with the school on a consistent basis as it represents a number of his own constituents. Coachford College is a fantastic school with around 900 pupils. It has a huge offering of subjects. However, Coachfor…

I was in communication with the Department last Thursday at the Committee of Public Accounts. We have moved to a modular accommodation style of building works. While we are still building traditional school buildings we have significantly moved towards modular accommodation on which a significant amount of money has been spent over the past five years. I am not saying at all that modular accommoda…

I wish to raise the ongoing issue of Garda numbers in Cobh in County Cork. This issue has been brought to my attention by my Labour Party colleague, Councillor Cathal Rasmussen. Over the past number of months, and including this week, there have been a number of knife attacks in Cobh. Recently the doors of the Garda station itself were closed with no access to the public because of the lack of gar…

211. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of purpose-built student accommodation beds that will be available in the State for the coming academic year; the amount that this has grown on the previous academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22017/26]

In relation to the student accommodation strategy, the Minister knows I am not in the business of criticising in any way, shape or form any new development and I welcome it. However, I will call out certain aspects of it that I do not perhaps agree with. We might differ on that but that is fine. I have a sense that the strategy itself is developer-led with an enormous reliance on the private marke…