Darren O'Rourke

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. It is reassuring to hear that the Department tracks the numbers and the placements. It would be more reassuring if it would make those public and provide them to Opposition politicians when they ask questions on them. I will ask again in relation to the figures. The last time we were here the Minister of State indicated there were 7,860 notifications to the NC…

There are a couple of things there. We do not have the figure for the number of children who do not have an offer. We do not have the figure for the number of children who were notified to the NCSE after 1 October. I presume the Minister of State does have those figures but is not making them publicly available. That raises very significant concerns. Based on my estimation, we are talking about hu…

82. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the ongoing negotiations with school caretakers and school secretaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40993/26]

I wish to ask the Minister to provide an update on the ongoing negotiations with school caretakers and secretaries.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The reason I raised this issue is because we are coming towards the end of the school year. This will be our last opportunity at priority questions before the school year ends. At the start of the school year, school secretaries and caretakers reluctantly went on strike outside schools in pursuit of pension parity. We could all see - I hope Government could see it, a…

In this, I want to make the case for the Minister to play whatever helpful role she can with the parties involved to try to move things on and bring them to a successful resolution. We are aware of some of the issues at stake here: access, for example, to a public service pension scheme versus auto-enrolment versus a third, bespoke model. I will make a strong case, and I hope the Minister hears it…

Givinostat is a potentially life-altering drug for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The European Commission granted conditional marketing authorisation for givinostat almost a year ago, on 6 June 2025. There has been a frustrating delay, some of it on the company's behalf. I understand that the HSE's drugs group will review givinostat at its June meeting and make a recommendation to the …

Before we move to the next speaker I welcome the children from Skerries Educate Together to the Visitors Gallery, along with their teachers, John and Mary. This is of special interest to Deputy Grace Boland as her two children - twins, Kaya and Millie - are with them. Tá fáilte mhór rompu uilig.

Go raibh maith agat.

15. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [38893/26]

I raise the unscheduled water outages in Ashbourne, County Meath. They are hugely frustrating and increasingly common. People who have lived in the area for decades say it has never been worse. There is a variety of issues: interruptions at the treatment plant, reduced levels in the reservoirs and problems with pumps. However, the main issue is the large and ageing network that has not been invest…

It was water.

30. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island unit in his Department. [38894/26]

The news on the Navan rail corridor was very welcome and I encourage people to engage with the public consultation that is ongoing. I will engage with it and it is very welcome news. Until Navan rail is delivered, the vast majority of public transport in Meath is by bus and on road. There are major weaknesses with the existing services there. The 103, 105 and 109 routes are servicing busy commuter…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and thank Teachta O'Reilly and colleagues for moving it. I am sorry that they have had to move such a motion again. The Minister will have seen similar motions from other Opposition groups. The motion calls clearly on the Government to stop turning a blind eye and to finally deliver an emergency cost-of-disability payment, not next month and not i…

St. Joseph's co-ed primary school in East Wall in Dublin has been told it will lose two teaching posts from September. The school appealed the decision but was told last week that the appeal was unsuccessful. The Department says it will cut one teaching post due to enrolment numbers. The school is one pupil short to retain the teacher - just one pupil. The other post to be cut is a legacy post th…

It is not a debate.

Go raibh maith agat.

Go raibh maith agat. The time is up.

6. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland will meet next. [31756/26]

The Friends of Irish Athletics group presented to a packed audiovisual room earlier today. It highlighted the longstanding discrepancy, injustice and discrimination related to the World Athletics 1934 political boundary rule. This means that when an Irish runner competes for Ireland in the Olympics they are specifically representing the island of Ireland, but when an Irish runner competes in the W…

32. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [37320/26]

Time, Minister.

We will move to the Independent Technical Group. The first speaker is Deputy O'Flynn.

Go raibh maith agat.