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students in the upcoming budget. One programme and support much welcomed by the parents of children with complex special education needs is the summer programme. I am happy to report this important programme continued to expand, with a 52% increase in school participation since 2022. Over … continued growth and expansion of this programme. For example, the hot school meals programme, which was introduced this year, supports schools running the summer programme. One of the most eagerly anticipated developments in the area of special education is the plan to develop a new education therapy service

area of special education to ensure that every child can reach their full potential; — support additional schools and students to benefit from the Summer Programme 2025; — ensure that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will continue to engage intensively with parents and all educational partners to continue … school year, it is expected that recruitment of therapists for this service will be initiated in Q4 2025; — the continued expansion of the Summer Programme, which has seen a 52 per cent increase in school participation since 2022, with over 1,900 schools taking part

million into ICT in schools. The minor works programme can be availed of for the purposes of works in schools. The summer works programme, which is very popular, ensures works can be done over a short period of time while schools are out on holiday

what will happen is that, in collaboration with RTÉ, opportunities are being created for artists at all levels. Details of all these programmes are available on the Arts Council's website. I encourage everyone to enjoy Culture Night this Friday. In its most recently published music policy, Advancing … purchase of musical instruments; the small-scale local festivals and summer schools scheme designed to support local cultural festivals and summer schools; and Creative Ireland programme funding to support a wide range of creative projects nationally. Notwithstanding the existing supports, I am sure the Deputy is aware

Budget 2026; — the Government has prioritised the reduction of child poverty through the establishment of the dedicated Child Poverty and Well-Being Programme Office, ensuring cross-departmental coordination to address the root causes of poverty affecting children and families; — the increases in child poverty rates, as reported … Government to address child food poverty in particular. Those glitches cannot be allowed to hide a very important programme. We delivered a holiday meals pilot project this summer, which provided meals to 68,000 children in 914 schools over the summer holidays. Free schoolbooks have also been rolled

have to travel. I met some of those people on my visit to Donegal during the summer. It is important to recognise that the Department is reviewing the key programmes and projects in the transport envelope in the context of the national development plan. That capital funding envelope

carried out over the summer, particularly in relation to school transport and special education. There was a marked improvement this year in comparison with previous years. It is important to acknowledge that. However, there continue to be serious issues with school transport. The programme for Government commits

appropriate places. The Government likes to say it is doing everything it can. The last issue I raised with the Taoiseach before the summer recess was this. He told me they were going to work might and main to make sure every child has an appropriate school place … State. I accept that. However, there are different decisions the Government could make. It could double capital funding for the school building programme. It could lift the ridiculous SNA cap and immediately begin a mass SNA recruitment campaign. It could fast-track training and upskilling of special education

will be aware that such a route is planned to be introduced as part of BusConnects, which is the largest-ever investment programme in the bus system in the history of the State, funded by the Government on behalf of our citizens and managed by the NTA. Since … electrification to support the buses, as well as the implementation of multiple phases of new bus services under the network redesign. Earlier this summer, I was delighted to attend the contract signing of the first of the 12 core BusConnects corridors with construction of one to start this

school transport system, which is a huge increase on the 120,000 who previously availed of it. I also welcome that in the programme for Government we have committed to having another 100,000 avail of it by 2030. I understand the difficulty we have in recruiting … practical and a financial perspective. This affects rural families in particular. We need to start dealing with the system earlier in the summer in order that we avoid panic later in the summer and in order to help parents who are struggling to budget and who find

consistent approach to the treatment of planning applications in respect to the land use planning aspects of early learning and childcare provision. The programme for Government commits to reviewing the 2001 childcare facilities guidelines for planning authorities to ensure early learning and childcare spaces are provided … established in 2024 and has met on a number of occasions in 2024 and 2025. In addition, meetings have been held over summer of this year with members of the working group and officials from different local authorities who were nominated by the County and City Management Association

This review spoke to why the limit should remain. However, the Department of education continues to engage on the commitment in the programme for Government to assess the feasibility of removing the inclusion of drivers over 70. This is a work in progress and a matter on which … hope to advance these further in the years ahead. Improvements have also been made to enhancing the customer experience, particularly during peak summer months. These include: a dedicated Bus Éireann call centre for school transport queries; a dedicated email address for Oireachtas Members; and a new case management

Deputy Gogarty several months ago; — better school attendance monitoring; — a penalty points system for stronger action with repeat offenders; — enrolment in education programmes where abuse is found to be motivated by the race, gender, sexual orientation or religious/cultural background; — a faster, ticket-based reporting system for victims … about what is happening, especially when the culprits are under the age of 18. I raised this matter with the Taoiseach before the summer for a lesser time period. I did get some sympathetic responses, but collectively we need to have a sense of urgency to deal with

climate was issued to the Government. Research by Met Éireann and Maynooth University shows that Ireland experienced extraordinarily high temperatures during the summer of 2025 with average night-time temperatures beating all previous records. This is a terrifying finding. We are seeing catastrophic effects of climate change around … cost of repairs. There are no big ideas on climate forthcoming from the Government. We saw the climate targets retained in the programme for Government. That was welcome. However, there was no pathway to achieve them. At the outset of the formation of this Government, there

raised the issue of bus drivers aged over 70. As I said at the outset, a report was compiled in August 2024. The programme for Government contains a commitment to having an interdepartmental review of this. That is being done by the Department of Transport. A report … they have the necessary knowledge themselves. I pay tribute to the work they have done. They set up the call centres during the summer to try to make sure that adequate information is given to parents. I take on board the concerns and criticisms as well

minor glitches; they have a huge impact on families. I thank the Minister of State for working on all our requests over the summer and in the past few weeks on school transport. It has made a difference but not every problem is fixed … buses and, number two, it is unsafe to allow a child to walk to the school. The safe routes to school programme works to a certain degree but for many families the car is the only option. It is the only option I have to send my children

very aggressive marketing we have seen. Others have spoken about the flavours and colours. At a number of the music festivals this summer, including Electric Picnic and All Together Now, nicotine companies were out in full force handing out nicotine pouches. The aggressive marketing tactics by these companies … wish to wean themselves off vaping, we learned that there are no resources. While we have a very well-resourced smoking cessation programme, the HSE effectively told us that it has not been directed or funded by the Department of Health to develop a "stop vaping" service. There

section of my Department actively engages with Bus Éireann, which is rolling this out, to assess and identify where more school transport pilot programmes can be successfully delivered. The Department has asked Bus Éireann to review where additional capacity can be made available for concessionary pupils who paid … continue to roll out enhancements to technology and customer service. Improvements have been made to enhance the customer experience, particularly during peak summer months. Bus Éireann has a dedicated call centre, with a call back and webchat facility available to families. The call centre operated with extending opening

change. Staffing at the International Protection Office has been scaled up from approximately 212 in 2022 to over 600 full-time equivalents this summer, driving more decisions and helping to reduce the backlog, as the Minister outlined earlier. A new immigration customer service portal has 145,000 registered … community well-being, healthcare, elder care, and house building, in particular, so that migration actively helps us clear the most pressing bottlenecks. The programme for Government commitments remain clear: reduce reliance on hotels; develop State-owned capacity; require contributions from applicants where appropriate, in respect of which

already have a record number of people in arrears. It is only in September, and they are still getting bills for the summer months. This is the important issue. The Government has decided to withdraw energy credits and supports in the upcoming budget, yet it had no problem … State to do something about it in the budget. We also need to ensure that windows and doors are included in the retrofitting programme. A great deal of heat is being lost through windows and doors and is not being contained within houses. Many low-income households that

Enterprise, Tourism and Employment when the Marine Tourism Strategy, as committed to in the Programme for Government, will be published; and if he will commit to publishing same before the 2026 summer season to allow the sector to plan accordingly. [49493/25