I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this hugely important and challenging motion. I join the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in recognising the enormous contribution of the survivors whose tireless work and participation has brought us to this point today. I add my personal note of welcome to David Ryan who is in the Gallery, and who spoke so compellingly about his experiences not just in the RTÉ radio docume…
TDs / Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan
Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
5
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
133,123
words spoken in the chamber
133,123 as a minister, 0 as a TD
426
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
4
topics asked about
Across 3 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 5 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 382 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 27 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| April 2025 | 1 | 25 |
| May 2025 | 1 | 5 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 15 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 19 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 2 | 4 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 18 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 10 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 42 |
| January 2026 | 1 | 12 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 34 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 8 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 26 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 23 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 30 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 18 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 57 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 349 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Not enough questions on record to compare.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork North-West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Education 29 January 2025 to 1 May 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth 2 May 2025 to now
I thank Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn for raising this issue. I understand the apology made by our colleague, Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher. I recognise the Deputies' dedication to the people of Donegal and to the issue.
I will first address the issue of locations for the surgical hubs. The programme for Government commits to establishing six new hubs, in south Dublin, north Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and W…
Again, I thank Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn for raising the issue. I will take back exactly what they have said regarding Letterkenny University Hospital.
The information I have is very clear. No decision has been made on the location of the north-west surgical hubs. I understand meetings were held and there was engagement with the Minister last night on this issue. I hear what the Deputies are saying about th…
I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, and I fully accept and understand the genuineness with which it is raised. I fully accept the Deputies' bona fides in respect of this issue.
The Government is fully committed to supporting all children with additional needs to achieve their full potential. It is a core priority of the work of the Department of education that every child should receive a school place that …
There is a meeting taking place today with the school and school patrons to try to resolve the issue. Without putting words in anybody's mouth, I know the school authorities and the Department have been in contact and they will have a meeting today. Let us see what happens with that. I would be only too delighted to bring back any information to the Deputies by email or otherwise when we have that information to hand…
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. I thank my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for her opening statement. I wish to thank those who conducted the review and Members of the House for the opportunity to discuss the review.
The review represents the most comprehensive national reflection to date on how we can support children and you…
I thank all the Members for their contributions. The report was published last week and is before the House this week, which shows the urgency with which the Government treats the issue of special education. The one thing I am always encouraged by is the depth of knowledge of Members of the House about special education and the challenges being faced by families and I compliment them on that. I urge them to continue …
I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places are being provided for in the coming school year, 2025-26. Five new special schools are being established in addition to 11 new special schools having opened over the past five years. Special school capacity is also b…
I take the point, but it is important that special schools, special classes and special places for children with additional needs are as local as possible to pupils' own communities. In various debates on special education, we constantly talk about people who are travelling long distances, be that in urban or rural Ireland, for those places. That is something we really are very serious about tackling.
On students wi…
Most of the 30 mild general learning schools have worked extremely well with the National Council for Special Education over the past while to broaden their profile and to accept students with autism and more complex educational needs. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have worked extraordinarily hard over the past number of months on making sure that we have a place for every child in September. That is a fun…
At the outset, I recognise this project has been ongoing for some time. The major building project for the school referred to by Deputy Connolly will provide a new 16-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for pupils with special education needs.
Following planning conditions imposed in 2018, a redesign was necessary. At that point, additional capacity was added to the school and subsequent planning was…
Yes, the submission has been with the Department since March. These reviews take time. I do not have a specific date for the Deputy but I will endeavour to get that information to her as a matter of priority. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I will follow up to ensure that it is done as speedily as possible. I will endeavour to come back to Deputy Connolly with that timeline and a report as to how the process i…
I will come back to the Deputy on it in writing. The documentation submitted in March, as I understand it, is quite a detailed document and involves a lot of work to make sure it is properly gone through. I give the Deputy a commitment that we will work to make sure it goes through the Department as speedily as possible, and we will come back to her in writing.
I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential, and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs, in…
I take the point. I also met with the INTO yesterday in regard to its pre-budget submissions. It outlined the challenges in respect of SENCOs. The provision of special education has developed extraordinarily throughout the country over recent years. We have to pay tribute to school leadership and the school communities, be they teachers, SNAs or the other support people who make that possible. We have to look at how …
In respect of special classes and the huge issue of provision, the Government is totally committed to the provision of special classes and special needs places to allow children to grow to their full potential. Almost 400 special classes have been sanctioned for this year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level.
In April of this year, the Department wrote to all schools opening new spec…
There are a couple of things there. We understand the challenges that are ahead of us in terms of post-primary education because of the information we have at primary level. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and myself are acutely aware of it and are working extremely hard on it. One of the things we agreed very early on was to bring back the date from 1 February to 1 October to give better planning. I take the Deputy's …
On the therapists within the schools, that is being rolled out from September into the special schools. The plan is for the special schools in the first instance and then on to the special classes. They will be great enablers to provide the best possible outcomes for children with additional needs throughout the education system. An awful lot of work has gone into it over the last while. I compliment the Minister, De…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue.
First, I will discuss the Department of Education and Youth school energy retrofit pathfinder programme. The Department is leading an ambitious sustainable agenda and has progressed a number of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings as part of our work towards the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Its performance has been recognised at national a…
I again thank the Deputy for raising these issues. I note the concerns she has regarding the building in respect of damp, leaks, the toilet facilities and the other issues raised. I take them on board and I will be liaising with the Department in relation to what she outlined. It is greatly important. I understand and accept that St. Joseph's CBS in Drogheda is liaising with the emergency section of the Department. I…
I thank the Deputy for the question. I will outline the AIM programme although I understand the Deputy is well aware of it. The AIM programme is the model of support designated to ensure children with disabilities can access the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. The main supports are grouped into universal or targeted supports. The universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture …
I thank the Deputy again for outlining the facts. The challenge we have, particularly in respect of the AIM programme, which has been very successful for a good number of families, is that when there is a closing-off date, there is always a challenge therein. As we go forward looking at how we can expand the AIM programme, in the evaluation of it that was announced last year, because of its success, it is important w…
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It gives me the opportunity on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to ICT grants and minor works grants. I am delighted to confirm that my colleague, the Minister, this morning announced that both grants will be paid to schools in June, with a combined €65 million investment in our schools to help them with…
There is constant engagement between school authorities and the Department. A number of schools have been in contact with the financial unit in the Department and issues have been resolved. I assure the Deputy we have moved to have the funding in place for the 2025-26 school year for the ICT and minor works grants.
These grants are hugely important. When it comes to engagement we are not isolated from what is happen…
I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the issues regarding how Bus Éireann manages the school transport system on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. As the Deputy may be aware, the school transport 2030 report was published in early 2024, following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommen…