Jen Cummins

We are not. Please forgive me. It is my first time doing this.

Apologies for that.

The spirit of Christmas and forgiveness.

Deputy Boland's supplementary question will be allowed. Not Deputy Neville's, that is enough. He has gotten me into trouble once already. We will move to Question No. 174 which will be grouped with Question No. 184.

I welcome the women from Graiguenamanagh Women's Shed to the Visitors Gallery. I hope they have a lovely visit. I had better crack on now before I get cancelled.

No.

I will never be asked to chair again.

Now we have two grouped questions again – my favourite. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has two different questions.

I thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing forward this Bill to ban fox hunting. It might seem unlikely that a city TD such as me from Dublin South-Central would have any interest in what is constantly being said affects rural areas and communities. If you bear with me for a minute, I will explain my position. When I was a child, I split my time between suburban Dublin, in Deputy Coppinger's constitue…

I also support the motion. I have received a number of emails from constituents in Dublin South-Central who are absolutely flabbergasted by this mean-spirted decision to charge vulnerable and elderly people for a pack that is life-saving to them. This is the antithesis of how this country should be supporting vulnerable people. The story of Scrooge will never be dead as long as things like this ar…

91. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will report on her Department’s forward planning for special education places in the academic year 2026-27. [70886/25]

I wish to ask about the report on the Department’s forward planning for special education places in 2026-27. When I wrote this question, it was mostly to do with the portal at that time. I am now even more concerned since the announcement in relation to assessment of need by the Minister for children. I am just wondering about those two things. I know I got a letter from the Minister of State earl…

My concern is that when the portal closed on 1 October, parents were no longer able to apply. Was that a way of saying that, for example, 600 parents applied for their children through the portal and we were able to provide those places? The vacant places that the Minister of State talks about, and I have raised this previously, are phantom places because if there are children at home without an a…

The plan is that the Department will allocate places over the next few days. If it then realises that there is further capacity, is the Department going to reopen the portal so that all of those late applications will be able to be considered as well? We are in one process currently, but an announcement has just been made that will affect the school year after next. It is important not to confuse …

How?

They are being turned away. I am sorry to speak over the Minister of State, but they are being turned away.

On Tuesday, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality announced that there is to be a complete overhaul of the assessment-of-need process, which, we can all agree, is absolutely not working. Some 18,000 young children are on the waiting list. That is evidence of how ineffective the system is. The announcement was made with no consultation with education staff and there is little or no det…

201. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to ensure universities have up-to-date and working equipment for the sciences. [66948/25]

What plans are there to ensure universities have up-to-date and working equipment for the sciences? We discussed this issue following Science Week. I would like to know how universities can be fully funded to ensure they have the most up-to-date equipment. We need our researchers to be working with equipment that is fit for purpose and fit for the future, particularly in the sciences.

I am interested to see how that shared portal will work. I understand a lot of this equipment is incredibly expensive but, I assume, very important to have. I would like to hear more about how that will be managed. Are we ensuring our PhD and postdoctoral researchers are being fully supported to be able to work in this area? I refer specifically to those who receive stipends and I am asking wheth…

Will the Minister explain how the sharing part will work? He said he will address student accommodation presently. I will have to step out of the Chamber but I will listen to what he says. All of these things are interlinked. When we are trying to make third level as accessible as possible, it is really important that all aspects are there to support learners but also the universities. It will put…

I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware of the issues with BusConnects in Chapelizod but that is what I want to raise today. It has made up a huge amount of my work over the last number of weeks. People in Chapelizod, Palmerstown and Islandbridge are absolutely at their wits' end with the 80 bus route that came into being in the middle of October. I have held two very large public meetings…

It is very positive that the bus is not going to go up Bridge Street because it can take so long to get up that hill. People are just waiting there and it is a complete and utter waste of time. However, the issue is that there was no public consultation about changing the route to include the 130. Part of the overall difficulty is the time at which consultations for BusConnects were held. Not many…

I will keep trying, though.

I thank my colleague Deputy Jennifer Whitmore for her work on this Bill. Her work in bringing this proposed amendment forward is a step towards ensuring that dogs and puppies are treated correctly. I also thank Dogs Trust and Dog Law Ireland for their work to make sure that dogs are given a chance to be loved and treated properly. As I said yesterday during the briefing in the audiovisual room, ho…