I acknowledge the contributions of everyone here and assure them this issue of assessment of need is a top priority for me as a Minister of State with responsibility for disability who sits at the Cabinet table and indeed it is a priority for the whole of Government, as is the national disability strategy. As Deputies know there is a disability unit set up within the Department of the Taoiseach. We have also had a nu…
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
votes recorded
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.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 251 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| September 2025 | 10 |
| October 2025 | 8 |
| November 2025 | 14 |
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 4 |
| February 2026 | 41 |
| March 2026 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 31 |
| May 2026 | 22 |
| June 2026 | 2 |
| 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 welcome this opportunity to discuss the important issue of early learning and childcare. It is clear from the discussion so far that we all recognise the importance of early learning and childcare for children and their families as well as for society and the wider economy.
In her opening statement the Minister, Deputy Foley, described the constituent parts of Together for Better - the Government's funding model f…
There is a huge priority in regard to recruitment and retention within children's disability network teams, CDNTs, right across the country. As the Deputy probably knows, there was an increase of 17% in the CDNT workforce from 2023 to 2024, which amounts to the recruitment of 272 whole-time equivalent staff. That said, we need to do much more. International and domestic recruitments processes are under way, we have b…
A children’s disability network team workforce survey was conducted on 16 October 2024. This survey captured staffing levels across various disciplines and grades, providing a snapshot of the current workforce across the 93 CDNTs. While this report only provides us with a snapshot in time, with recruitment having continued in the interim, it is the most comprehensive workforce report we have on CDNTs.
The report was…
Significantly, the CDNT vacancy rate has reduced from 29% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, a reduction of 7% nationally. The Deputy is correct regarding recruitment and retention. A lot of work is happening in that space. In order to achieve the staffing level improvements seen in 2024 and fill those vacancies, there were intensive domestic and international recruitment efforts across the HSE and section 38 and 39 organisatio…
I will start with the last part of the question. We are working on a national disability strategy, which will be published before the summer recess. A high level of engagement is happening right across Government with my Cabinet colleagues, including the Minister, Deputy Foley, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Transport. When talking about di…
As I stated to Deputy Ó Murchú, the CDNTs workforce survey was conducted last October. That captured staffing levels across various disciplines and grades, providing a snapshot of the current workforce across the 93 teams. The 2024 CDNT workforce report is based on the outputs of the survey.
The published report shows that all six regional health areas were carrying vacancies at mid-October. There is a wide disparit…
I agree that far more needs to be done as regards retention and recruitment within the CDNTs. That is an absolute priority for my Department. We have under the disability action plan and the progressing disability services roadmap set out measures. I will outline a few briefly. We are supporting practice education in CDNTs. We are supporting student sponsorship programmes. There is an initiative whereby four years' s…
I take both Deputies' points on board and it is an absolute priority. I came from having responsibility for special education and the Minister, Deputy Foley, was Minister for Education. We are now in the Department with responsibility for disability. We have a very clear picture of the need for more therapies, access to therapies and access to assessments. That is at the forefront of the work we are doing. We have a …
We are looking at pay and terms and conditions. That is under way as well, as the Deputy knows. We are looking at absolutely everything. There is our national disability strategy. That will not be just the Department with responsibility for disability but every single Government Department having disability in their brief. I will be publishing that strategy before the summer recess and that is going to feed into this…
I thank speakers for their contributions today to this very important debate, which both celebrates and highlights the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women not just in Ireland but across the globe and highlights the challenges to achieving gender equality. International Women's Day has been celebrated since 1911. The theme for this year is accelerate action. It speaks volumes that despite wo…
Táim ag freagairt an cheist seo ar son an Aire, an Teachta McEntee. I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this matter which provides me with the opportunity to clarify to the House, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the position regarding the Gaelcholáiste for Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8.
The Department is fully supportive of and remains committed to the establishment of a Gaelcholáiste in the Dublin south city ar…
As outlined, the Department is and remains fully committed to the establishment of a Gaelcholáiste in the Dublin south city area and is working with the Edmund Rice Schools Trust on the successful transition of Synge Street CBS to a co-educational Gaelcholáiste on a phased basis from September 2026. I will ask the Minister to come back directly to the Deputy if he needs clarity on any specific questions. The Departme…
With whom?
I will raise that with the Minister. I cannot answer for her but I am sure everything is happening within the Department. I will relate that back.
I thank the Deputy for his question. I will be raising the matter with both Ministers. I have a response here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Heydon.
Neglect or causing unnecessary suffering to any animal is unacceptable in our society and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is fully committed to the ongoing promotion and enforcement of high animal welfare standards. The Department continues to enfo…
I thank the Deputy. I will relay back to the Ministers what the Deputy has said here. In dealing with breaches of equine identification legislation the policy is to adopt a fair and proportionate approach. Authorised officers engage with keepers to ensure that they understand their responsibilities and, where potential breaches of the legislation are identified, they generally provide an opportunity for non-compliant…
I thank Members for their contributions on what is a very important topic. The Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can live full lives with the same rights and access to services, education, transport, sport, culture, careers and means to live independently as all other citizens enjoy. Since being appointed the Minister of State with special responsibility for disability last …
The Government recognises that waiting lists for assessments of need are far too long and have a significant impact on the needs of children and their families. It should be noted that children who require services from a children's disability network team, CDNT, do not require a diagnosis or a statutory assessment of need, AON. However, it is a fact that demand for AONs has increased significantly in recent years, w…
The Deputy is entirely correct about the stress, frustration, worry and anger of parents out there, and I absolutely acknowledge this point. They want access to therapies for their children. In many cases, they also want a diagnosis. There is a combination of reasons why people look for assessments of need. I absolutely accept that.
The administrative hubs are in CHOs 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. Established assessment hubs ar…
I will certainly follow up with the HSE on that issue. What we want to do here is ensure that children and others with disabilities, including adults, are getting the therapies and services they need and require. That is my focus, that of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and of the Government. I refer to ensuring that we have the services and therapies required, be they occupational therapists, speech and language therapi…
I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government is committed to providing early intervention services to children with disabilities and their families as referenced in the programme for Government. A total of €3.2 billion has been allocated for disability services in budget 2025. This is an 11.6% increase on 2024 and represents an overall increase since 2020 of €1.2 billion. This increase will support the roll-ou…
In regard to early intervention, it is worth noting that in education, the access and inclusion model, AIM, is in place to support children with additional needs to access and meaningfully participate in early learning and childcare by providing universal supports to preschool settings generally and targeted supports based on the needs of the individual without requiring a diagnosis.
The Deputy asked what we are doi…
I thank Deputy Farrelly for his support in this regard. My door is open as well if there are any good ideas. We do not have the monopoly on solutions and my door is fully open in that regard. This is about ongoing recruitment.
We have also been looking at what else we can do. There may be people working in other disciplines within the health sector who want to become therapists and could be upskilled. We must look a…
The HSE and lead agencies are experiencing ongoing challenges recruiting to maximum capacity in the disability sector. These challenges are reflective of issues affecting the wider health and social care sector and are impacting the ability of the HSE and disability service providers to deliver on their vital work. Ensuring that the disability sector is fully resourced is a key priority of the Government. This priori…