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courage to support the establishment of a new Government in January 2025, we did so on the basis of an agreed programme for Government, a blueprint for change to be delivered over the course of five years. While in opposition, we as Independent TDs highlighted, among others, issues … poverty but we also knew that to achieve what was required, we needed to work in government. On that basis, we agreed a programme for Government with our coalition partners. Budget 2026 was the first step on that road to addressing some of these issues, a key part

millions of people at risk. We will also continue to put human rights and gender equality at the heart of Ireland's development programme. Last month in New York, I co-hosted an event with the Malala Fund focused on the appalling situation facing women and girls … Afghanistan. Today, I can announce that we are providing €3 million for programmes supporting women and girls in Afghanistan, with specifically €2 million focused on girls' education. Closer to home, we are continuing to invest in peace and reconciliation on this island. We know the importance of civil

Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability, WALK, has been testing two different approaches to a transitions support model. A teacher-led programme has been operating in 41 special schools as part of the comprehensive employment strategy for disabled people. The WALK PEER ability transitions programme currently … post-primary schools in Dublin, Louth, Cork, Cavan and Westmeath and I greatly appreciate the Deputy naming St. Ita's and others. This programme is delivered by careers and employment facilitators who work directly with students in their final two years of school but also support the students

outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the new school building of Gaelcholáiste Reachrann in Dublin 13. This school building project will cater for a long-term projected enrolment of 600 students with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs. It is a project … work included site surveys and an assessment of impact on the existing Grange Community College school. The process confirmed the viability of the project on the Grange Community College site and enabled my Department to approve the project to stage 2A of the design process in February

stakeholders, including all 31 local authorities, utility and infrastructure providers, industry and others to ensure that barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects required to enable housing development are addressed in a co-ordinated way. The Government has made available the highest ever commitment of Exchequer funding … delivered almost 3,000 homes and is working on a pipeline of a further 25,000 homes on over 40 sites, with projects at every stage from design through to construction. All 31 local authorities across the country have been tasked with ensuring that more than enough land

WALK peer model is the cornerstone of the Government's WALK peer ability programme for young people with special educational needs. The programme was developed as a supported transition model in 2013 with the aim of bridging the gap between leaving special school and successfully transitioning to further … people in my constituency; it certainly does not extend to students in Drogheda, who are set to lose the vital WALK peer ability programme due to the Government cutting the funding this December. Inara is a young autistic girl who is thriving in Ballymakenny College in Drogheda with

least four times and are due to publish an interim report shortly. Additional information not given on the floor of the House The programme for Government commits to applying the Dublin city task force model to other cities, towns and regions in need of revitalisation, starting with Cork … part of the national offering. On 23 June, Government approved the preliminary business case, PBC, for the Cork city docklands enabling infrastructure investment programme. The PBC was reviewed by the major projects advisory group and KPMG, as well as the approving authority, which is the Department of Housing

Deputy characterised Government spending does not tally with the reality of the situation. More than €10 billion has been allocated for public transport projects across the country. The overwhelming majority of those projects are on budget, on time and making a real and meaningful difference. The list … projects delivered on time and on budget by this Government includes the national broadband plan, which the Deputy's party actively opposed. Sinn Féin did not want broadband rolled out to rural communities in Donegal and right across the country. We rolled it out. Sinn Féin opposed

context of the redesign of the city centre. The latter includes the development of the bus system and the Limerick BusConnects programme. It is fair to say that good progress has been made in delivering the strategy, including BusConnects Limerick. In 2023, the NTA carried out an extensive … Roxboro bus depot during 2024 and 61 zero-emission buses in active service today. Regarding future phases of BusConnects Limerick, and the BusConnects programmes across the cities more generally, the NTA will publish its detailed national development plan implementation plan later this year, which will

initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter in the first case for the local authority. Any new road projects in respect of which State funding is sought are assessed by our Department on a case-by-case basis. All projects proposed by local … appraisal framework. Given the limited funding available for regional and local road improvement works, it is important for each local authority to prioritise projects within these requirements. In the case of the Kilkenny city north transport project, the Kilkenny ring road, it aims to reduce city centre congestion

following: "notes that in relation to Climate Action: — last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its latest Ireland's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections 2025-2030, which show that we are moving in the right direction and improving our performance compared with the previous year; — for the first … time, the EPA now projects that we are close to meeting our first carbon budget, following a consistent trend of improving projections for that budget over recent years; — the EPA is projecting a decrease in emissions of between 13 per cent and 25 per cent by 2030 (from

high-impact measures with multiple societal and economic benefits. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, launched its latest greenhouse gas emissions projections to 2030, which show that we are moving in the right direction and improving our performance compared with the previous year. For the first time … projects that we are close to meeting our first carbon budget, following a consistent trend of improving projections for that budget over recent years. It is important to remember that in 2018, under existing measures, emissions were projected by the EPA to increase by 4% by 2030 because

education and youth sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. Of that €7.55 billion investment, €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings. In this regard, I published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first … proceed to construction or tender over this year and next year, of which four are in Carlow and two are in Kilkenny. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs. These projects

light on the proposed college of the future on the former Kickham Barracks site in Clonmel and acknowledge the progress of the project in the context of the SOLAS major project process. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the Minister's steadfast support … project as well. As the Minister knows, I wrote to him in March inviting him to come to Clonmel to see the site first hand. He is due to visit the site in the next number of weeks. I look forward to welcoming him to Clonmel. It should

have made significant progress. Through budget 2026, we are investing €600 million in communities across the country, particularly through the rural development investment programme, which will see a total of €192 million invested this year. The various initiatives have been developed in capital programmes in a targeted … this is not coming from the Department but from communities across the country. I was particularly delighted to announce the community centre investment programme, which is not just for rural areas but is very much focused on them. It will open next week. We recently announced a partnership

local representatives on the matter. I am sure the Deputy is aware of that. As the Deputy said, the Carrigtwohill school campus project is the largest single school building project ever undertaken by the Department, to serve some 2,400 pupils. The project was completed … under the Department’s design and build programme. It includes two 24-classroom primary schools for Carrigtwohill Community National School and Scoil Mhuire Naofa and accommodation, including 14 classrooms across the three projects, for children with special education needs. The project also delivered three general purpose areas

river, there is no alternative if there is a contamination or weather event and no backup if equipment failure affects supply. The project will provide Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow with a resilient, safe and secure water supply. It will also provide infrastructure with the capacity for future … communities along the route in Tipperary, Offaly and Westmeath. The current cost estimate is €4.6 billion to €6 billion and construction of the project is scheduled to commence in 2028, with Uisce Éireann aiming to complete the project by 2032, subject to planning and other statutory approvals

provided in the national development plan. The level of investment will ramp up over the lifetime of the Government. The Department has received project proposals from a number of sources since the programme was launched and there are also projects the Department was aware of prior … programme's launch. In total 82 potential projects across the country have been received as of 17 April. These projects are at very different stages of development and it is also important to acknowledge this. Some relate to existing buildings ready to be occupied and ready

have, therefore, great empathy for the case the Deputy raised and for the entire school community. As alluded to, this school building project will deliver a new 16-classroom primary school and additional accommodation for children with special educational needs at Janeville in Carrigaline, County Cork. The project … stakeholders meeting took place on 24 March 2025. The principal, a representative from the patron body, Educate Together, all design team members, the project manager and Department officials were in attendance. The meeting concluded with agreement that the design team would explore further design layout options

pillar of the Government’s broader infrastructure acceleration agenda. The need for a Bill to fast-track a limited number of strategically important projects through approval processes was identified in the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan published last December. This Bill has been drafted and introduced … passed Second Stage only this week. Its primary aim is to allow Government to designate certain projects or programmes as critical. This then requires all public bodies that may have an authorisation function for these projects or programmes to prioritise consideration of them within their approval processes

building was repurposed to make it suitable for special school purposes and to facilitate the opening of the new school. The repurposing project was delivered under the Department’s special educational needs reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which facilitated the school opening as quickly as possible. The programme … involves the use of project management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects. This is a collaborative process between the project manager

today's Bill. The idea proposed here is a simple one, that the Government should be able to point to a certain project and say, "This project is very important for all of our society", and therefore direct its various agencies and Departments to prioritise and work together … particular project over the line. On the face of it this simple idea seems like a sensible one. A citizen watching us today spending several hours debating this Bill might very well ask, "Well, why is this not happening already?". They would certainly be entitled to wonder whether

Minister's colleague, Noel Dempsey, and it will not be built any earlier than 2036. People will have started work when that project was announced and they will have retired before that project will be delivered. The damage the Government is doing to people's lives … hands of BAM. The Minister is getting €200,000 a year in wages and she is not in control of the biggest infrastructure project delivery in Ireland. That is startling. I have read through this Bill. I do not see anything in this Bill at the moment that

Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary Help of Christians Girls National School. I want to focus on the long delay in the rebuild project for these three schools. The schools are just off the Navan Road in Dublin 7, and serve the communities of Ashtown and the Navan … that bringing together three separate schools with three separate management structures is a real challenge, but the schools are so committed to this project that they have done it, and they have come together. However, there are two big problems. First, this project is not on the list

Department of Transport, working with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, want to see the projects that we speak about delivered. Delivery is critical. These projects cannot be managed remotely. There has to be a beefed-up office in Cork delivering … important that we deliver because that is what we will be judged on. The people of Cork deserve to have the projects we are speaking about delivered on time and on budget. As an aside, we should look at how we can use the critical infrastructure Bill

Deputy Micheál Carrigy asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department (including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department (including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large

Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department (including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science whether all NTF-funded programmes now meet the core statutory objectives of close-to-labour-market skills, upskilling those in employment and preparing people for employment, as insisted upon by an organisation (details … supplied); the amount of NTF money reallocated to non-employer-aligned programmes (including PLCs) since 2022; and his plans to discontinue or refund such programmes from the Exchequer. [34746/26

Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department (including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department (including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a list of all capital projects, including sports, cultural and communications infrastructure projects funded under the remit of his Department including under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme and the Large Scale Sport

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total annual amount of Official Development Assistance allocated to sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes from 2019 to date in 2026, broken down by programme category, including maternal health, family planning, HIV and sexually transmitted infection programmes, gender-based violence

Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the funding granted and spent towards coastal erosion and defence works in Waterford, by project, in each of the years 2021 to 2025 and to date in 2026, in tabular form; the details of all ongoing projects; the stage … funding commitments of each; the timeline for completion of all ongoing projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31975/26

Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to provide details of the largest inward investment projects supported by IDA Ireland since 2015, ranked by capital investment value; the name of the company; the estimated capital investment; the projected and actual employment associated with each … project; the level of grant support approved and drawn down in each case, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32199/26

Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide an update in respect of the NDFA’s project Shannon; if she will clarify the extent to which it is funded; and if she will clarify the hierarchy in which projects contained within project

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current status of the proposed accommodation project for a school (details supplied) under the Department's school building programme; and the stage at which the project currently sits within the capital appraisal process. [32263/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth the criteria used to prioritise school building projects for advancement within the capital programme; and how a school (details supplied) project ranks against those criteria. [32266/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether a school (detail supplied) accommodation project is currently included in the Department's published school building pipeline; and if so, the projected delivery timeframe associated with the project. [32271/26

Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the school building project for a school (details supplied); the current stage of the project within her Department’s capital programme, the expected timeline for progression to construction; and if she will make a statement

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether a cost breakdown exists at project or contractor level separating fire safety works from general refurbishment works in the Heather House Community Nursing Unit project; if so, to provide that breakdown; and if not, the reason such cost … categorisation is not maintained for capital projects involving statutory fire compliance requirements. [32660/26

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the projected total cost of €10.69 million for the Heather House Community Nursing Unit project is fixed or subject to revision; and whether any cost overruns or revised projections have been identified to date. [32663/26

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the number of projects in receipt of funding from the LIFE Programme in Dublin; if any Life Programme funding is being used to support coastal protection works in Dublin; and if he will make

asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on the status of the Athenry Public Realm Enhancement Project; the level of engagement his Department has had with Galway County Council in relation to the progression of the project to delivery stage … funding streams available to support its advancement; and the actions he will take to ensure that the project is progressed and prioritised at the earliest possible opportunity. [29984/26

Education and Youth the current status of the revised stage 2A submission for additional accommodation at a school (details supplied); the reason the project has not progressed beyond stage 2A despite being in development for over a year; when a decision will issue on the revised submission lodged … March 2026; whether the project is being considered for inclusion in the next tranche of prioritised school building projects under the National Development Plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25630/26

Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport further to the turning of the sod on the National Velodrome Project at the Sport Ireland Campus, Blanchardstown in November 2025, to provide an update on the progress of construction; the expected completion date; the current estimated … total cost of the project and whether this has changed since approval; the funding profile for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28013/26

Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the project management or project governance framework that is currently required or recommended by Government for the delivery of publicly funded capital projects under the Public Spending Code and the Infrastructure Guidelines; whether

Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the progress made to date in advancing offshore renewable energy projects off the Irish coast, including the number of projects that have received Maritime Area Consents; the status of grid connection arrangements for those projects