86. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the number of applications for a special place in County Kildare; the age profile of the applicants; the number that have been successful; and the plans to provide a school place for those that were unsuccessful. [74947/26]
TDs / Eoghan Kenny
Eoghan Kenny
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1,325
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
81,310
words spoken in the chamber
Across 303 contributions
392
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
244
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 1,325 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 303 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 25 | 5 |
| February 2025 | 82 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 47 | 13 |
| April 2025 | 51 | 8 |
| May 2025 | 30 | 10 |
| June 2025 | 39 | 12 |
| July 2025 | 169 | 17 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 88 | 10 |
| October 2025 | 77 | 10 |
| November 2025 | 116 | 22 |
| December 2025 | 62 | 22 |
| January 2026 | 105 | 15 |
| February 2026 | 146 | 33 |
| March 2026 | 24 | 9 |
| April 2026 | 44 | 27 |
| May 2026 | 75 | 29 |
| June 2026 | 36 | 8 |
| July 2026 | 36 | 28 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 33 | 5 |
| October 2026 | 40 | 1 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 206 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork North-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Labour Party 29 November 2024 to now
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. I have been receiving a significant amount of correspondence in recent weeks, as, I am sure, have all TDs, on the proposed citizenship changes. I am totally against the changes to the residency period requirement to apply for citizenship. They are totally unnecessary. This is an attempt by the Government to appease a vocal minority.
On a personal level, my best frien…
On 15 July I raised the public sector pay agreement with the Taoiseach in this House. He assured me talks would begin at pace in September. September is ending and there is no agreement. Tomorrow thousands of public servants commence industrial action with co-ordinated strikes planned for 14 and 21 October. Last week the Minister, Deputy Chambers, claimed his Department was ready to negotiate, yet unions say they hav…
I find the decision to increase the price of public transport absolutely mind-boggling when all of the available evidence proves that the use of public transport is dictated by the price of it. Every day, every Member of this House hears stories about mothers with prams and elderly commuters left standing between carriages. In my own county of Cork, I receive a significant number of emails from commuters on the Midle…
As my colleague Deputy Nash has outlined, the Labour Party has provided significant costed budgetary proposals that would help people in the here and now. I do not think any of us in this House can justify raising taxes or increasing the price of petrol, diesel or home heating oil on ordinary working people any further in the midst of a years-long cost of living crisis.
For families across Ireland, the cost of livin…
Hear, hear.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— research by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the University of Limerick from a survey of more than 720 post-primary schools showed that more than three in ten mandated the purchase of digital devices, including 17 per cent of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), and that there is a risk of growing inequalities in the education system;
— the B…
To finish the debate, I thank all Deputies across the House for their contributions. I am quite surprised by the contributions from some Deputies in Sinn Féin, which holds the finance Ministry in the North of Ireland, where there is currently a €700 million shortfall in the Department of Education.
Sinn Féin Deputies come in here and have a go at the Labour Party for something that happened 15 years ago, when I was in primary school and 11 years old.
It is quite interesting. I am not sure where their priorities lie in providing solutions.
The priorities lie in this motion. Instead they come in here and have a go off the Labour Party - no problem at all.
No, not at all.
Sinn Féin should get back to the priorities in this motion.
The Minister in her speech referred on a number of occasions to encouraging schools:
I encourage schools to consider how existing ICT supports and funding could be used to meet students' needs before any expectation was placed on parents ...
Using the words "encourage schools" is extremely blasé in that it does not pay for digital devices. Saying to schoo…
I raise the issue of the lack of a plan for a new public sector pay deal and the lack of engagement on this matter. SIPTU, Fórsa, Unite and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are now to ballot their members for industrial action, up to and including strike action. The public sector pay deal expired on 30 June and formal talks have yet to begin on a successor agreement. We are in the final week before D…
There is a question in my name, but Deputy McGettigan's question is the next to be taken.
84. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way in which apprenticeship provision to the higher education sector is funded; and whether his Department expects the funding in question will be used to increase administrative and support staffing in line with the growth in apprentice numbers and the recruitment of additional lecturing staff, technicia…
There is a positive aspect to this question. In the context of the way in which apprenticeship provision is funded through his Department, does the Minister expect the funding in question to be used to increase administrative and support staffing in line with the growth in apprenticeship numbers, for the recruitment of additional lecturing staff, technicians, and heads of trades, given that some institutions have rec…
That is appreciated. Institutions have come to me directly to say that, although they understand that they are the ones that deploy staff to the busiest departments of their institutions, they feel that there is not enough funding coming to them to do so, given the increase in apprenticeships in all of their institutions.
While I thank the Minister for giving me the opportunity to focus on one particular institution…
I am sure that the Minister is aware of this but I want to put it on the record. The figure of 72% came to me through Munster Technological University, MTU, in Tralee, which the Minister is very familiar with and has visited. It is important to put that on the record, but it is also important to outline the broader aspect of it. We hear a great deal about the need to build more homes, deliver major infrastructural pr…
88. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science given the growth in apprenticeships in Ireland if he is considering plans to introduce a CAO-type application process to secure an apprenticeship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50207/26]
As I have mentioned already during these questions, given the growth in apprenticeships in Ireland, is the Department considering plans to introduce a CAO style type of application process to secure an apprenticeship? We all know there is a significant number of people who are waiting and trying to get an apprenticeship and trying to get a company to take them on for their apprenticeship. There is the CAO system and …
In relation to apprenticeship.ie, I ask the Department to promote this more strongly and more to career guidance teachers in our secondary schools who are probably aware of it but I am not necessarily sure how many parents or young people are aware of apprenticeship.ie. It is a simple fix. It probably would not need a lot of funding to promote that. The main focus of the question is on the fact they are no longer con…
I am willing to work with the Minister on this. Our objective should be to remove barriers and not create them. If Ireland is to meet its future skills need, we must make apprenticeships as visible, accessible and attractive as every other education pathway. I welcome the Minister's views. This CAO style application system for apprenticeships is not going to happen overnight but that is the ambition the Department sh…
98. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for an update on his discussions with the European Research Council in relation to the multi-annual funding framework for science; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50208/26]
Will the Minister give an update on his discussions with the European Research Council, ERC, in relation to the multi-annual funding framework for science? Ireland has built an international reputation for excellence in scientific research. Our universities and research institutions consistently compete successfully for European funding and Irish researchers have made significant contributions in areas ranging from h…