Tá áthas orm a bheith anseo chun labhairt faoi bhuiséad 2027 mar a bhaineann sé leis an Roinn Oideachais agus Óige. While we are here today to discuss the important education measures in budget 2027, I wish to begin by extending my congratulations to the almost 74,000 candidates who received the results of their junior cycle examinations today. It is a milestone for each and every one of those students, so well done …
TDs / Hildegarde Naughton
Hildegarde Naughton
Minister for Education and Youth
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
67,004
words spoken in the chamber
67,004 as a minister, 0 as a TD
322
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Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
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Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 251 in all
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|---|---|
| December 2024 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 10 |
| February 2025 | 23 |
| March 2025 | 7 |
| April 2025 | 7 |
| May 2025 | 10 |
| June 2025 | 19 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
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| July 2026 | 34 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 4 |
| October 2026 | 2 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 213 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Galway West 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with responsibility for Disability 23 January 2025 to 1 May 2025
- office Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality 2 May 2025 to 18 November 2025
- office Minister for Education and Youth 18 November 2025 to now
I move:
That it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Education and Youth on the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 [Seanad], that pursuant to Standing Order 194, the Committee has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing provisions of the Bill to provide that Section 13 and Section 29 of the Education Act 1988 be amended for the purposes of:
a) providing…
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the new school building of Gaelcholáiste Reachrann in Dublin 13. This school building project will cater for a long-term projected enrolment of 600 students with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs.
It is a project which has been a long time in development…
It is envisaged that construction will commence in the fourth quarter of 2026. When I came into this Department earlier this year, Gaelcholáiste Reachrann was announced as part of the 105 school building projects on the NDP list, so this is a priority for my Department and, as I have said, it is due to go to commence construction in the fourth quarter of this year.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the new school building for Scoil Mhuire, Moycullen, County Galway. At the outset, I would like to state that the delivery of this new school building is a significant priority for me and my Department and I know this is school in the Moycullen area is close to the Deputy's heart.
The …
I also acknowledge the hard work that the board of management and all the school team have put into this project. As I said, it is expected to proceed to tender shortly. In relation to engagement with the Department of public expenditure and reform, all school building projects that are over €10 million must be submitted to the Department of public expenditure and reform for its approval before proceeding to tender. …
I thank the Deputy for his comments and I too wish everyone well over the next couple of weeks.
An estimated 25% of students, or approximately 240,000 children and young people, have special educational needs. While the majority are supported successfully in mainstream settings by their class teacher, special education teachers, SET, and special needs assistants, SNA, as necessary, there remains an increasing need f…
There is weekly engagement with the NCSE. Since January, 584 special classes have been sanctioned for the upcoming school year. That includes 68 inclusive classes. Of the 584 new special classes, 378 are being established in primary schools and 206 in post-primary schools. This brings the total number of special classes sanctioned to date to over 4,300. The NCSE continues to work with families and schools on this. As…
A huge amount of work is being done on securing specialist places, be it in special classes or special schools. We are far ahead of where we were this time last year. We had a budget for 400 special classes. I got increased funding in March of this year. We are ahead in relation to forward planning. There are now 584 special classes allocated. This is far more than any previous years because of the parent notify syst…
As Minister for Education and Youth I am committed to supporting the workforce in the youth sector to deliver high-quality youth work and non-formal developmental opportunities for young people. Action 7 in Opportunities for Youth: National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028, commits to developing a workforce development strategy in respect of the youth sector. This is to include consideration of …
I thank Deputy Farrelly. I would be very happy to receive that information. It would help our data collection and make sure we are getting a really good picture of the youth work sector across the country. The work that has been under way within the Department is to try to get that profile, to really understand our youth work sector and to get feedback from them.
The first advisory group will have its first meeting …
It is very fitting that youth has moved into the Department of education. It is a good fit. I have met with many youth organisations across the country since I was appointed and they seem very happy with the formal education and the informal education. I have witnessed the huge expertise on the ground. This is the data we want to collect and there is a willingness there and an appetite for training as well. As the De…
This Government is committed to improving staffing levels in primary schools and supporting the recruitment and retention of teachers. According to the latest published data from November 2025, there were more than 97% of allocated primary teaching posts filled. Teacher numbers at primary level have increased by almost 6,000 since 2019 and now stand at the highest level ever recorded at over 43,400.
The Government i…
It is an absolute commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio over the lifetime of the Government. The Deputy will appreciate I cannot announce anything here in the Dáil. I have to go into negotiations in relation to the upcoming budget.
In the past ten years there has been a five-point improvement to the primary staffing schedule. In 2015, teachers were allocated to primary schools …
There is a number of issues here, such as the staffing appeals criteria. The numbers going into primary schools are reducing and our population bulge is in post-primary. That is a reality of the way trends are going. There is a staffing appeals circular, set out in Circular 0025/2026, and it includes specific appeals for small-school enrolments in the previous October, involving projected enrolments, accommodation di…
The National Parents Council, NPC, is the representative body for parents of children in primary and post-primary education. It serves as an important channel of communication between parents and my Department. Annual funding is provided to support its work, including €765,782 in 2025. The National Parents Council represents parents’ views on education policy, curriculum reform and educational resources, ensuring tha…
I do not know exactly what the Deputy is asking me in relation to the Department of education. I do not know if it is a book used in schools but, so the Deputy understands how it works, in regard to schools that use textbooks or other teaching and learning resources, that is a matter for the individual school. Decisions around materials are made at a whole-school level. Textbooks are commercially produced and my Depa…
I will repeat it for the Deputy. In regard to our schools, I come from a teaching background myself. I do not know exactly what the Deputy is inferring in relation to the education system.
I have not read that book but what I can tell the Deputy in relation to our education system is that, be it social, personal and health education, SPHE, or relationships and sexuality education, RSE, there is a huge amount of consultation between schools and parents.
With regard to the NCCA as our curriculum is developed, there is huge amount of consultation. Our teachers are so well trained in this country to make …
The Government is investing a record €14.1 billion into education and schools through budget 2026. This record level of investment has allowed the Government to invest in tackling educational disadvantage and supporting those with special educational needs to achieve their full potential. It has enabled huge investment in the school buildings programme, in curriculum reform, in school leadership and in continuous pro…
Where we can, we give guidance and I know schools are very well aware of this. They do this well themselves so that where possible, the more junior classes would have a lower class size. Where there are higher numbers in some classes in many schools, one will find other classes within the school that would have lower numbers to accommodate for that earlier, so that the junior classes would have lower class sizes wher…
We have more favourable ratios as part of our DEIS urban band 1 schools. The Deputy heard me announce the DEIS schools earlier this year, so there are measures for children and students who are most at risk of educational disadvantage. We have been reducing the pupil-teacher ratio incrementally over the years and that is something I want to continue over the lifetime of this Government but, as the Deputy can apprecia…
The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an application under the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme for an additional temporary classroom in 2025. This school had previously been approved for a permanent extension under the ASA scheme in 2021 for a two-classroom special education needs unit and one mainstream classroom. The project is devolved to the school for delivery and my Department is currently…
The Department funded a substantial extension and refurbishment in 2014 of this school. This included six new classrooms, special education rooms, a GP hall, a new basketball court and a new carpark. The existing building was also completely refurbished. The school was subsequently approved for a further extension under the ASA scheme in 2021, to provide a two SEN classroom unit and one additional mainstream classroo…
The information I have to date is the project is devolved to the school authority for delivery and it is currently at stage 1 of the architectural design and planning. I can give the Deputy more detail if he needs it. Since 2020, the Department has provided more than €796 million in capital funding for Cork schools. Over this period a total of 168 schools have been upgraded, either through the provision of a new scho…