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Last week, the much anticipated first tranche of the national development plan’s funding for school building projects was announced. To the devastation of their communities, both Coláiste Pobail Osraí and Kilkenny City Vocational School discovered they had been dropped from the priority list for building projects. Coláiste

Taoiseach is aware, there is a commitment in the programme for Government to protect and renew the regional, local and non-national road network. There has been a welcome increase since 2020 in funding to local authorities on an annual basis. We need a more significant increase … from Cavan and Monaghan, along with me, when they put forward a strong case for a substantial increase in funding for a roadworks programme for 2026, taking into account the fact that 92% of the road network in Cavan does not comprise national roads. There is significant demand

calm because we know we may not be so fortunate next week, next month or next year. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to streamlining and delivering flood relief schemes. The large-scale project for Midleton is extremely overdue at this point

meet with the school community, with Kilkenny and Carlow ETB and the principals as a matter of urgency to discuss this specific project and to try to get it to construction stage as soon as possible? If the project is not advanced by July 2027, the planning permission

appreciate the needs. I will be engaging with the Minister for education to see what we can do in terms of the school programme because quite a number of Deputies across the board have raised school issues today. Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of a one-stop … whole range of other issues. I will progress that with the relevant Ministers. I commend him on his precise scrutiny of the programme for Government and every single aspect of it to keep us on our toes. I will follow up on that one. On Deputy Brendan Smith

survivor, is in a good place to articulate and advocate on behalf of this issue. Covid did intervene in some of the screening programmes, and, yes, the catch-up is not there fully in respect of some of them. There is consideration on the way, even to expanding … cohort that would benefit from various screening programmes. Overall, it is important to say that survival rates have improved significantly over the last two decades for various cancers in this country and that is a positive we have to acknowledge. Deputy Conway-Walsh asked about the pilot basic

that at their core are meaningful and fair. We know that introducing stronger tenancy protections will need more and better enforcement. Therefore, the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, commits to continuing its support for renters. This includes measures to protect renters and landlords from abusive practices … housing market and rental sector. The Government is committed to delivering more homes, to doing it quickly and for more people. The programme for Government aims to ramp up the delivery of homes right across this country, to increase supply further and deliver another 300,000 new homes

reputation are essential to the sector’s continued success. In this context, Bord Bia’s role is absolutely central. Through comprehensive quality assurance programmes and extensive market expertise, Bord Bia provides confidence to international customers and strengthens Ireland’s standing as a reliable supplier of high-quality food … action plan on market diversification is deepening our engagement with existing partners while targeting emerging markets. Throughout 2025, my Department maintained an intensive programme of bilateral engagement, technical negotiations and certification inspections to secure new market openings. Bord Bia has supported this work by sustaining current trade, identifying

farming incident. Farm safety, health and well-being are an absolute priority for the Government. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to continue to prioritise improvements in farm safety, health and well-being. My Department supports the efforts of the Health and Safety Authority … improve health and safety on Irish farms. Last year, I allocated €1.6 million in funding for 36 farm safety, health and well-being projects under an open call. I secured dedicated funding of €3 million for farm safety, health, and well-being initiatives in budget 2026 to build

applicants are required to complete a half-day of farm safety training. That training is included as part of ACRES, the knowledge transfer programme and the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, as well

This may include AI in future work, in line with Government guidelines on its use. Initiatives such as the soil sampling and analysis programme, the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, and the Teagasc Signpost programme are currently helping to provide a more detailed and spatially resolved insights into

having to deal with this awful impact on them, their families and their farms into the future. That is what my new TB programme does. I will monitor this situation. As we say, we do not have a crystal ball as to what the price of beef will … getting an income now that they need to get and that is very important. In terms of managing my budget, the TB programme in 2025 alone cost €121 million

thank the Minister for his response and I know of his personal commitment to the project. As I assured him previously at the Oireachtas committee and at other meetings, when the project gets to tender stage it will be advanced as quickly as possible by Cavan and Monaghan

ordinate those courses and ensure standards across them. We should be looking at introducing a separate stream of funding to pilot a programme for neurodivergent learners, learners with complex needs and learners with rare diseases based on the same model. As all-Ireland education has come up already … none available across the Border. I have spoken with my colleague in the Six Counties, Caoimhe Archibald, and she is enthusiastic about this project, and I am sure she would be interested in collaborating with the Minister's Department on this issue. Dundalk IT and Strandmillis University College

Tánaiste to provide an update on the proposed college of the future for Clonmel. It is a project with which the Tánaiste is very familiar. The proposal is the first of its kind for a fully integrated tertiary campus of further and higher education on the one site … headquarters. In terms of the college of the future, I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to drive this project forward

independent oversight. This is what birth mothers are looking for. I want to talk about the recent report of the Child Law Project. The details of the project are shocking. It is very alarming and very sad. We know we have a crisis in Tusla in terms

Support, the action plan for simplification, sets out how we will reduce administration and simplify regulation in the sector. These are both programme for Government commitments that we are delivering on. The Minister, Deputy Foley, also last week announced a landmark commitment of funding for State-led services … conclusion, I believe this is very important legislation. I believe the Bill will make a key contribution to delivering on the Government’s programme for Government commitments to strengthen Tusla and protect children in the care system. Taking all these measures together, I am conscious of the Bill

coming to the service every year. The service has been able to expand into many different areas, including having a fantastic outdoor pursuits programme under which it brings young people down to Wicklow. For anybody who grows up in the city centre, going somewhere outside where they … already. The service is delighted with that funding - do not get me wrong - but it is going to lose three workers in this project because the long-term impact of having them now is not being considered. This is the problem when youth services and other services around

primarily been caused by lightning events, timber vegetation, as the Deputy mentioned, wildlife and equipment failure on the network. There is a major programme of pole replacement. We have work to do on forestry corridors and timber cutting. Storm Éowyn brought down years of timber that would have … constituency. He has articulated very well the impact they have had on residents. Things are now starting to improve. A major investment programme over the next five-year term will make a difference

being above the poverty line and whether the Government likes it or not, that is a fact. I have counted at least eight programme for Government commitments to addressing the cost of disability, including a new payment and extending free travel to children who receive the domiciliary care … could have been used to increase the income disregard for the disability allowance to €250, increase the funding for the employability and workability programmes to support people with disabilities in the work place, and provide 1,000 extra places on the wage subsidy scheme, restoring the link

representation on that. I will talk to the Ministers in respect of that. More importantly, there will have to be a state aid programme or support programme from the Government to support fishers through this very difficult period. It is not just the pelagic; there are significant reductions

failures of successive housing Ministers and a planning system that is not fit for purpose. In the mid-west, many infrastructure projects have been glacially slow to deliver. In Limerick, we have the Coonagh-Knockalisheen road. It took over many years before work commenced on this project

want to express my dismay over the pausing of the DART+ project. It is a retrograde step for communities in the Minister’s constituency, mine and the greater Dublin area. I want to talk about health infrastructure. The €9.25 billion allocation is simply not adequate when one considers … digitalisation programme, the National Maternity Hospital and the beds that need to be delivered. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has spoken about the need to do something very real in Limerick, yet the money is not available. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael manifestos committed

ladder of funding this year, if at all possible. I wish to mention the Cahersiveen town road and footpaths project. That, too, is a chronic situation for the business community, the community at large and indeed visitors to the area. Cahersiveen is probably the longest town … with traffic on a daily basis. A bypass is urgently needed. Funding has been provided this year and last year to kickstart the project. I ask that it be expedited. Killorglin town has a similar story in that the town is also choked on a daily basis, especially

worst in the history of the State when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure. In practically every infrastructural space, its projects are either grinding to a halt or going way over budget. For ten years, under this Government, Ireland was at the very bottom of European spending … regard. The Navan to Dublin rail line was built in three years in the 1860s by workers using picks and shovels. The new project in that regard is going to take 42 years, from concept to completion, and that will be if no judicial review takes place

Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 453 and 454 of 26 of May 2026, if he can confirm that there is no projected or target annual return on Future Ireland Fund (FIF) and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF). [43317/26

Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for an update on the Blackpool flood relief scheme, including when the project is expected to progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42781/26

Hara asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the south Galway flood relief project; if the timeframe for submission of the scheme for planning remains Q4 2026; if not, to clarify the new timeframe; and if he will

Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether Fáilte Ireland has plans for additional investment in tourism marketing or infrastructure projects linked to the River Shannon, Royal Canal, and Hidden Heartlands attractions in counties Longford and Westmeath. [42309/26

workers whose employment may be adversely affected by artificial intelligence; the funding allocated or planned for AI-related workforce transition, retraining and reskilling programmes; any targets, performance indicators or implementation timelines established in this regard; whether consideration has been given to prioritising workers employed in occupations identified

criteria for a school to be granted an EAL teacher; if the costs of these posts are fully covered by her Department; the projected increase in EAL posts required over the next two years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41438/26

Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the capital project for a school (details supplied). [41461/26

further to previous correspondence (details supplied) if she will provide an update on plans to secure funding for the continuation of the pilot programme beyond December 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41586/26

Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total funding allocated to the July provision programme for 2026; whether this represents a reduction compared to 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41587/26

Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps being taken to ensure that all eligible children can access July provision programmes in 2026, particularly given reported difficulties in securing places or staffing. [41589/26

Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Youth when a project will proceed on a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41626/26

Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth to reopen the online sanctioning portal for the summer programme to allow late applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42009/26

Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding the roll out of the summer programme in Mayo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42036/26

from the school's GP room; the immediate measures her Department will take to address these conditions pending progression of the permanent extension project. [42040/26

asked the Minister for Education and Youth if interim accommodation supports will be sanctioned for a school (details supplied) while the proposed extension project remains under review; and the options under consideration by her Department to alleviate pressure on pupils and staff at the school. [42041/26

Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to reopen the Summer Programme applications due to the short notice of the deadline; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42104/26

coinciding with Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, publicising Key to the EU, an innovative and engaging education programme on active European citizenship at primary level, fully funded and highly acknowledged and praised at European level, which offers free classroom resources for teachers with

Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason a highly-regarded European programme (details supplied) cannot get her Departments support. [42157/26

Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide details of supports or funding available for a 2026 youth summer programme in Cork (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42232/26

Youth the level of funding allocated for school building upgrades and extensions in Longford and Westmeath over the past three years; and the projects currently awaiting approval [42300/26

Education and Youth provide an overview of the work currently being carried out by her Department's GaelAonad division as well as completed projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42578/26

Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Education and Youth the schools running the summer programme for children with additional needs in Kildare each year from 2023 onwards; the number of Kildare children who benefitted from same; and if she will make a statement on the matter

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the progress of the extension project at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42777/26

application; the reasons the timelines were delayed; to provide an explanation as to the reason the home-based portal closed before schools received programme confirmation; the measures her Department will put in place to ensure families are not left without support; and if she will make a statement

Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding the additional accommodation project application lodged by a school (details supplied); to detail the level of engagement which has taken place with school on accommodation needs since December 2025; and if she will make