Darren O'Rourke

1. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of children with additional needs who require but have yet to receive an offer of an appropriate school place for September 2026, based on her most recent meeting with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE; the date of same; the measures she is taking to ensure that every child with additional needs has an a…

I wish the staff and the Minister all the best for the summer. I know it will be a busy summer but I hope that everyone gets a break. I ask the Minister to state the number of children with additional needs who require but have yet to receive an offer of an appropriate school place for September 2026, based on her most recent meeting with the NCSE; the date of that meeting; and the measures she ha…

The Minister finished on the bit I am interested in and that I specifically asked about,. What was the latest weekly update? The information the Minister has just given me was previously provided to the House on 23 April. It is now 16 July. Does the Minister have any additional information to provide to the House as of this week?

Again, we have those figures from a briefing we had with the Department as recently as yesterday. It is all welcome progress but the question I am asking today is what is the unmet need as things stand? How many children do not have an offer of a school place? How many children have an offer of a school place but it will not be ready for September, in terms of advancing of works? It has been repor…

3. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Ireland has the largest primary school class sizes in the EU; the measures she is taking to address the recruitment and retention crisis in primary school teaching; if she will provide for 1,000 more primary teachers in budget 2027 to allow more individual attention, more effective…

I thank the Minister. She said from November that 97% of posts were filled. In real terms at the same time, 996 teaching posts were unfilled, which is almost 1,000. Figures as recent as last week tell us that over 39,000 primary school students were in classes of 30 pupils or more in the past school year. A figure of 36,805 were in classes of 30 to 34 pupils and 2,237 were in classes of between 35…

It is a statement of fact that in recent years we have seen a reduced number of classroom teachers. Budget 2026 led to the removal of 498 classroom teachers, a net reduction of 381 when one looks at the gains. The year 2025-26 saw a reduction of 290 and 2024-25 a reduction of 237. That has a real impact. I can give the example of Lismullen National School. I hope to correspond with the Minister d…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on statements on the fiscal implications of Irish unity. We hear people tell us Irish unity is a cost we cannot afford but the truth of the matter is partition is the cost we have already paid for for a century and more, and it is a price that is too high. Others have mentioned subvention and how it reduces when we strip away pensions and Westminster debt to an i…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I thank the Labour Party for bringing it forward. The cost of sending children to school has become increasingly unacceptable. Education should be the great equaliser but for too many families the start of the school year brings anxiety, stress and impossible financial decisions. No parent should have to worry about whether they can afford a schoo…

What about the Tories?

The Government is punishing special needs assistants, SNAs, for exercising their democratic rights. It is tearing up a local pay agreement worth 1.5% and a new special leave arrangement simply because workers rejected a separate workforce plan. There is much uncertainty, anxiety and anger about what is happening. SNAs do not know what the future holds. This move on the part of the Government is ye…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and thank Teachta Ó Snodaigh for his work on it, on behalf of the arts in Ireland and further afield. The motion stands up for the people who created the books, music, films and art that we enjoy and sometimes do not enjoy. That is so important to our very essence. AI has many legitimate and beneficial uses, and many people, including artists, use …

7. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to provide an update on the town centre first policy; his views on whether it is achieving its stated aims, taking the Dunshaughlin town team as an example; the evidence he would point to that suggests this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52566/26]

I welcome the work of the Dunshaughlin town team, which has produced the town centre first plan that is very comprehensive. I have participated in some of the consultations, and my colleague, Councillor Fionnan Blake, is on the town team. There was tremendous engagement at the launch recently in the pastoral centre, which would say that the level of commitment from the local community, their inter…

I appreciate that but I have to say that understandably, the community in Dunshaughlin feels as though there were missed opportunities in the past with regard to our RRDF funding and that a huge amount is riding on the next application. We certainly will be making the case to Meath County Council and to the Minister himself that this funding application be successful, because it is an excellent on…

It is not outside my constituency. It is bang in the middle; it is my hometown.

He corrected you there.

I call Deputy Ó Laoghaire.

It is a minute and a half.

The Deputy has a bit more time as a speaker dropped out.

We will go back to the Social Democrats to conclude the debate. I call an Teachta Farrelly.

I thank the Deputy.

I call Deputy Cummins.

The Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2026 provides another opportunity to address long-standing failures in how we plan and deliver our communities. While legislation can amend processes and procedures, it must also confront the reality experienced by families across the country, in particular in rapidly growing counties like Meath. For too long, our planning system has treated community…

Ireland's EU Presidency is not an exercise in mere administration; it is a significant political opportunity, and this Government must not squander it. A Presidency that prioritises optics over action would be an abdication of our responsibility to the Irish people and to the future of our Continent. As we mark a decade since the North voted to remain in the EU, our Presidency must be anti-partit…