Parliamentary questions

477. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will increase the capitation grant for schools in the upcoming Budget, in order to ensure that schools have sufficient funding to cover essential running costs such as heating, electricity, cleaning, insurance and maintenance, and to reduce the need for schools to fundraise or request voluntary contributions from parents;…

478. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps her Department is taking to address the shortfall in capitation funding for primary schools, given that many schools are currently unable to meet their basic operational costs without relying on parental contributions and fundraising; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51633/25]

479. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will consider introducing a mechanism to automatically adjust the capitation grant in line with inflation and rising utility costs, to ensure that schools are not forced to divert time and resources away from teaching and learning in order to fundraise for basic necessities; and if she will make a statement on the matter.…

480. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Education and Youth the up-to-date position with the provision of a new school building in County Kildare (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51740/25]

481. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Education and Youth the up-to-date position with the provision of a new school building in County Kildare (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51751/25]

482. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the timeline for the introduction of the revised primary school curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51770/25]

483. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the additional funding being provided to schools to support the implementation of the revised primary school curriculum, by teacher training, classroom resources and administrative supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51771/25]

484. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures her Department is putting in place to address the potential increase in workload for teachers arising from the revised primary curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51772/25]

485. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of teachers and school leaders consulted in the development of the revised primary curriculum; the form such consultations took; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51773/25]

486. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps being taken to ensure that the revised primary curriculum adequately meets the needs of children with special educational needs and those in disadvantaged schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51774/25]

487. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the supports that will be provided to rural and smaller schools to implement the revised primary school curriculum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51775/25]

488. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has conducted an assessment of the risks associated with the rollout of the revised primary curriculum, including teacher capacity and resource gaps; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51776/25]

489. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the evaluation framework that will be used to measure the effectiveness of the revised primary curriculum once introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51777/25]

490. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of children attending special schools in Cork for whom a school transport place has been sanctioned but a tender has not yet been awarded. [51810/25]

491. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of tenders for the provision of school transport to special schools in Cork that were not filled which had been filled last year. [51811/25]

492. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the SNA Workforce Plan; the date on which it will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51808/25]

493. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she is aware of a situation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51878/25]

494. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current and five-year trend in average primary class size and pupil teacher ratio, by local authority area, and by DEIS status; the number of classes with 30 or more pupils; the estimated teacher accommodation and current expenditure required to reduce the national average by one point and two points in 2026, with options to …

495. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current capitation grant rates at primary level (mainstream, special school, and special class top-ups); the aggregate annual outturn for capitation since 2019; her assessment of the adequacy of the €224 standard rate against schools' non-pay running costs; the full-year cost of increasing the standard rate by €75 per pupil i…

496. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of primary schools with three or more special education teacher (SET) posts, by local authority area; if she will introduce dedicated special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) posts at assistant principal level in such schools in 2026; the projected full-year cost, timeline, and CPD framework for SENCO implementati…

497. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth to publish the evaluation findings and lessons learned from the small schools pilot project; the number and location of participating schools; if she will bring forward a plan and costing to expand the model nationally in 2026, including cluster governance templates, additional administration days for teaching principals, ICT sup…

498. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide 2024/2025 teacher supply and vacancy data at primary level, by local authority area (including fixed-term, permanent, and substitution coverage rates); the measures taken to improve recruitment and retention in high-vacancy regions; if she will align any class-size reductions in Budget 2026 with a phased, supply-led ro…

499. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education and Youth to publish the cross-departmental implementation plan for the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act 2025, including; the commencement dates by section; the allocated 2025 and 2026 budgets and staffing; the service access model for survivors in Ireland and abroad; the guidance to the HSE and other delivery …

500. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she is aware of a case (details supplied); and if she will instruct her Department to reduce class sizes and ensure that the school has an appropriate number of teachers. [51961/25]

501. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason an application for emergency works for a school (details supplied) was refused an increase in funding; if additional funding will be allocated to cover the cost of these works given the significant financial strain the works will put on the school and to acknowledge the increase in construction inflation; if the s…