Michael Moynihan

I take the point. If I may be a little flippant, I might contest that Bweeng is in the Cork North-West constituency, rather than Cork North-Central. That is only a flippant point.

I appreciate that. I understand. I am fully aware of the work that is going on in Bweeng. I do not want to single out any specific school. I take the point. If I am realistic, I am heartened each time there is a debate on special education by the commitment across the House and Deputies' fundamental understanding of the challenges that are there in respect of special educational needs and special…

I thank the Deputy. The Government is fully committed to supporting special education needs to achieve their full potential and the programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The NCSE has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special education needs. I assure the Deputy the 860 special education teacher…

I thank the Deputy. Last year 1 February was the deadline. That was extended by a week due to Storm Éowyn. We looked at trying to plan in February, March and April last year and saw the challenges families and people were meeting. A decision was made by the then Minister, Deputy McEntee, and me to bring the dates back to 1 October. One of the first discussions I had with the Minister, Deputy Naugh…

I accept the point they are travelling across the county. Transport and trying to ensure the provision of special education is as close as possible to families is one of the things we have discussed. A lot of children with additional needs are travelling long distances to get to their school places and it is something we need to be very mindful of. Regarding 1 October, for anyone after that date w…

My understanding is the issue is 1 October. That is my information on that specific case. We are aware of it and will follow up and report back to both the Deputy and his colleague. In regard to Drogheda and County Louth, in particular, the Government is committed to continuing acceleration of provision of additional special classes and special school places across the country. The National Counc…

I wish the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach a happy St. Gobnait's day. This is a hugely important day in his home territory, and it is important to recognise that. I thank Deputy Hearne for raising the matter of the Gaelscoil in Finglas. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton. The purpose of the Department's emergency works scheme is to provide funding specifically for unforese…

I thank the Deputy for the points he has made. Record investment is going into the Department of education's capital programme for developments right across the country. Over the past number of years, record investment has been made in the building stock across the system. We recently announced over €7.5 billion in school investment through the national development plan. Thousands of schools acros…

I understand fully the need for specialised provision of education across Galway. The Deputy is quite right. I did visit St. Oliver's and Esker National School recently. I know the points he made in relation to St. Vincent's and the work being done by Ability West. The Deputy also raised an issue here, even though I did not directly respond to it, in relation to equine therapy and the equine cent…

I reassure the Deputy that the NCSE, the Department and ourselves meet on a weekly basis. We have 300 extra classes - 301 to be specific - sanctioned this year for the 2026-27 school year. That is four months earlier than it was previously because, as I outlined, we want to ensure that we have certainty and give information earlier to families. That is very welcome but we also have to work through…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the Gaelscoil in Youghal. This falls under the remit of my senior Minister, Deputy Naughton, so I am taking it on her behalf. Educational disadvantage is a key priority for the Minister, the rest of the Government and me. The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative for addressing concentrated disadvantage at school level. Supplementing universal suppor…

I will certainly pass on the comments to the Minister. She brings a wealth of experience because she served in the role I am in now quite recently so has a good understanding and has hit the ground running on these issues. It is not right. We are putting forward a programme and there is huge commitment by the Government. A total of €180 million is being put into this matter currently and more mon…

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for the question. I will update the Deputy and the House on the current situation regarding the building project for St. Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo in Rush, County Dublin. The delivery of this campus project has been devolved to Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust, CEIST. The brief for St. Joseph’s Secondary School includes the provision of a 1…

I understand this is the Deputy's former school where he has taught, so he knows first-hand the challenges being faced in the school communities there. He has outlined it in his opening remarks. I reassure the Deputy that the project is at stage 2B and CEIST has advised that the stage 2B report is ongoing. It is important there is no delay at any stage. The Deputy outlined the issue with prefabric…

It is like being in a meeting in Cork North-West. I am delighted to see how professional an operation it is. I am delighted to be serving with the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach as well. Deputy Heneghan raised the issue in relation to disadvantage in the north-east inner city. I thank the Deputy for his engagement on education matters in the role that I hold at the moment. I urge all Deputies and all pub…

I thank the Deputy for the question and the energy he has put into it. The DEIS programme has been hugely successful right across the country, both in urban and rural Ireland, to ensure that we are tackling disadvantage at its core. Retaining students within the education system is a huge priority for the Government. It is huge for Government policy and for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Hilde…

On my way down we were discussing the odds that Deputy Heneghan would raise the issue. I assure him that a lot of work is going on in this regard right across the education system. I will address the matter in response to the matter raised by Deputy Whitmore. I thank Deputy Heneghan for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien…

I will continue with the response later if that is okay with the Deputy.

I addressed that issue during Commencement matters in Seanad Éireann this morning as well. I assure the Deputy that I am aware of the issue.

Regarding the 80 and the 130 bus routes, it is of course acknowledged that these changes will require some passengers to take different routes. Following on from the discussions with Dublin City Council, in 2027 and in advance of the closure of Dame Street between College Green and South Great George's Street to facilitate the College Green pedestrian plaza scheme planned by Dublin City Council, i…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue because it allows me to outline where things are at. Two weeks ago, we announced the first tranche of the special classes. There will be multiples of those over the next number of weeks. It is not the case that it is just the number of classes that were announced as opening two weeks ago; there are a number of them. To reassure the Deputy, we are aware of …

I note the issue the Deputy has with the family who are looking for a letter of eligibility. If she shares with me details of that specific case, we will take it up and respond to the Deputy, rather than giving a carte blanche reply. It is important that we are very clear in our public statements that we are working extremely hard to make sure children who were notified before 1 October last have …

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for raising this issue on behalf of St. Brendan's College in Belmullet. I always appreciate it when a Deputy raises an issue about which he or she has lived experience, in this case, family members in the school in question. I acknowledge the genuine tribute the Deputy has paid to the team in St. Brendan's College, as well as the huge amount of work that is going on acr…

It was remiss of me not to mention at the outset that the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Pa Daly, raised an issue in relation to the HSE and the Department of education. I will follow up on that from our side as well about getting the Donal Walsh video circulated. On St. Brendan's College, I will go back to the planning and building unit and we will see where that is at. I take the point about fundin…

I thank the Deputy for the genuineness of the question. Without filling it out, she has gone directly the core of the issue. I will respond accordingly. We have had a huge amount of investment in special education, which I am glad to see, over the past number of years and last year we expanded that. This time last year, after being appointed, the deadline was 1 February. We were then correlating a…