Questions

76. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth the amount spent to attract teachers back to Ireland in each of the years 2023 to 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22506/26]

77. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special classes that are being built from the sanction lists from 2024 and 2025, in tabular form. [22507/26]

78. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth the way in which schools will be included in advocating for their own inclusion in the new DEIS+ designation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22508/26]

79. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department has identified Ballyfermot as an area needing additional preschool or primary school provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22551/26]

80. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth if there are any current or proposed plans for new childcare facilities, Naíonraí, Gaelscoileanna, or multi-denominational primary schools in the Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 area. [22552/26]

81. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current status of the Stage 2A application for additional accommodation by a school (details supplied); the reason for the delay in progressing this project, which has been ongoing for over a year; when a decision will issue on the revised submission recently provided to the Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22555/26]

82. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22563/26]

83. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the way in which the revised assessment of need framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice-exceptional (details supplied) will be appropriately identified within the system; whether her Department has conducted any impact assessment on the way in which the revised model may affect the…

84. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will clarify if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22567/26]

85. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether consideration has been given to the potential for increased reliance on private assessments arising from any restriction in public access to cognitive assessment; the implications this may have for equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22569/26]

86. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the training or guidance being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, are recognised under the revised model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22571/26]

87. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth her Departments plans to review the implementation of the revised assessment of need framework to ensure that no cohort of children is excluded from identification due to the streamlining of assessment processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22573/26]

88. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Education and Youth the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of children under the revised assessment of need framework, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within Irish education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22600/26]

89. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the proposed building extension for a school (details supplied) [22613/26]

90. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason the tender for a long-awaited school project (details supplied) collapsed prior to works commencing in 2025. [22614/26]

91. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth when sign off for previously agreed phases and refurbishments regarding a school building project will be forthcoming (details supplied); the current timeline for the commencement and completion of the project; if commitments are available regarding timelines, given the desperate need for further capacity and upgraded facilities and the lengthy wait o…

92. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the emergency works application submitted by a school (details supplied) originally approved in January 2025 for €750,000; if the tender report submitted to the Emergency Works section in December 2025 reflecting an updated project cost of €1,029,675 has been reviewed by the Department's quantity surveyor; the reason for the delay in is…

93. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth to consider providing funding to schools who qualify for a world championship (details supplied) which takes place abroad; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22640/26]

94. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the criteria used by the National Council for Special Education when determining annual special education teacher allocations; the data sources; the way in which multiple-year reductions are considered in respect of school stability; the average processing times and outcomes of appeals over the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the…

95. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will direct the National Council for Special Education to publish clear decision rationales for special education teacher allocation appeals; to reduce duplication in evidence required from schools; and to introduce an independent review layer for appeals that are initially unsuccessful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22666/26…

96. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will introduce a stability mechanism that prevents schools from incurring recurrent annual losses of special education teacher hours except in exceptional circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22667/26]

97. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide additional administrative support and protected leadership time for teaching principals (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22668/26]

98. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide a leadership and management recognition mechanism for principals to reflect the management of special needs assistants, bus escorts, secretaries, caretakers, and cluster teacher posts in base schools, given the significant workload involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22669/26]

99. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide explicit time allocations and administrative support to base schools for the management of cluster teacher posts, including the associated inter-school coordination, scheduling, and reporting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22670/26]

100. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of schools that experienced reductions in special education teacher hours; the total number of hours reduced; the number of appeals lodged; the number of appeals upheld, by county and by year for the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22671/26]