Jen Cummins

Why is Pride important and why do we march every year? I was contemplating these questions over the last while. For as long as people are being attacked for who they are, are not able to be who they are and are targeted for their sexuality or identity, we will need to continue marching. That is why. I look forward to Saturday. Verbal abuse of the LGBTQ+ community is a daily, casual occurrence. It…

In my constituency, there are a number of children at risk of deportation. They are too young to have known anywhere else and they are going to be ripped from the communities in which they have friends, classmates and all the people who care for and love them. This time last year, a number of children from my constituency were deported before the end of the school year, which was very traumatic fo…

The summer provision programme has been very difficult this year. It used to not be difficult to implement but this year it has been particularly difficult. I have spoken with parents and principals who feel very disrespected. They have had to assume an extra burden this year, and the stress has really been really unacceptable. The issues include the short timeframe that the portal was opened. It …

Congratulations to Deputy Quinlivan and everybody on the disability matters committee for this great document. I have read it. There is so much in it. It must have been a huge amount of work. It is very thorough. My colleague Deputy Liam Quaide is not able to speak today but he would love to have been able to do so. One of the things that struck me with this report is that in schools, education a…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the making of regulations by the Minister for Health providing for nutritional standards and related requirements for school meals provided under school meal schemes funded by moneys provided directly or indirectly by the State or local authorities; to provide for the enforcement of such regulations by the Food Safet…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I thank my colleague Deputy Gibney for the work she has done on this motion. I congratulate Deputy Ennis on his maiden speech. It is a great honour for people to be able to come here and I congratulate him. Football is important to many people. This game has involved many people who would never watch a programme about politics or tune into anything to do with politics. This means a lot to people.…

Dublin 8 is a magnificent place of history. It is where I live. I am very proud to live there and am extremely proud to represent the area. There are so many places in Dublin 8 that tourists come to visit, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christchurch, Kilmainham Gaol, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, IMMA, the Guinness Storehouse, Dublinia, Marsh's Library, the Liberties and the National War Memo…

There are continuing problems in the area of special education in this country. We now have an issue with summer provision, which used to be called July provision. There are children who are still locked out of that. They will not be able to attend school by day because of staffing issues. They will also not be able to apply for home-based provision because that portal has closed. We need an urgen…

83. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to publish the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. [37945/26]

I would like to have a conversation about the Minister's plans to publish information on the number of children awaiting appropriate school places on a regular basis. This would be similar to how the relevant Department issues the homeless figures every month. It is in order to show transparency as to where the Department of education is with regard to being able to tell everybody how many childre…

I am delighted that there is portal methodology and all of that. It will allow us to get a handle on what the picture is. In the context of children who have not yet got a placement, the question remains as whether the schools involved need new buildings. If they do, how long will that take? Where will the children involved be housed or educated while that is happening? Did the Minister of State h…

It is good to hear that the Minister of State is using section 37A. It is important that all schools take their fair share of caring for children in their communities, particularly in areas where there might be a high number of fee-paying schools. If it is a fee-paying school that is located nearest to a child, the child also needs to be given a place. It is the same with every school. As we move …

I have been contacted by special schools in my constituency that have said that they have not been given their staffing allocations for next year. It is 28 May. It is very late. My understanding is that mainstream schools got their allocations in March and, on that basis, are able to plan for things like classroom allocation and supports. However, special schools do not know at this late stage whe…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Rice, for bringing forward this legislation. The angle the Government has taken in opposing this legislation is that there is a lack of evidence that 0.0 beer has any health implications. This is a misunderstanding of why advertising 0.0 beer is not appropriate near schools, crèches and in sporting facilities. It is the same as when it was banned for full alcohol or wh…

The division is postponed until the next weekly division time.

I thank the Minister of State for taking my questions and facilitating the change. It did not suit both of us at the time so I appreciate him being here. We have discussed dyslexia quite a lot at the education committee over the last while and over the time since the committee started discussing it I have been contacted by so many parents, support teachers and students about dyslexia and the suppo…

I appreciate that the Government is putting a lot of resources into this, and I know the Minister of State is working tirelessly on it. I accept that. However, we can always do things better. It is my job in opposition to always hold the guys on the other side of the House to account, and I like doing that. There are challenges. We do not have enough reading schools. Dyslexia Ireland is saying ex…

I was late for the Minister's speech because I had to be somewhere else. I have read it and I like the fact that reference was made to the four Ds. I am sure some people in this building will remember the three Cs or whatever the other letters were years ago in education. The three Rs-----

That is exactly it. We now have the four Ds. I agree with many of the points the Minister made. We are educating our children and young people leaving secondary school. In terms of where they go on, the starting point is what level people are at when they do the leaving certificate or leaving certificate applied. Many do not know how to open a bank account, change a tyre on a bike or car or do man…

I welcome the roll-out of any public transport across the country. A fully functioning republic needs bus and rail services that are reliable and affordable. To reach our climate targets, we need to be moving a little quicker. However, people are not going to get out of their cars if buses do not arrive. They are not going to get out of their cars if it is dangerous to cycle. They are not going to…

The Minister of State could nearly drive the bus. Would he turn up on time? That would be fantastic.

The difficulty is that since I was elected, I have held eight public meetings and a number of them were solely about public transport. Our constituency is close to the city. The focus for Bus Connects is getting people from the commuter belts into the city. That seems to have failed is when you live close to the city and the system is not functioning fully. The community of Bluebell-Inchicore has…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. The Social Democrats have been vocal about disability rights for a long time. Before the last general election, one of our red-line issues was having a Minister for disability. That was because in this country people with disabilities are failed so badly and we want to protect their rights and deliver what they have identified that they need. The Disabili…

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 27 May 2026.