Fair play to the Senator. He got to announce that instead of me. That is some going. The news is welcome. Farmers want to play their part in reducing emissions. The bulk of the input into an anaerobic digester is coming from farming and we are getting renewable gas and electricity to power thousands of homes, so I have always felt that those emissions reductions should be attributed to the agricultural sector. That is not the case at the moment but it is something I would love to see. We need to ramp it up. We have…

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this issue. The way he describes Mountainside Montessori school sounds incredible. It sounds inclusive and open and is exactly the type of model we should have for our Montessori schools. There is clearly an urgency because September is looming and there needs to be a solution in place. I am not sure if my answer will provide much satisfaction in terms of the use of the prefabs, but I will bring it back to the Minister to try to find some solution. This matter allows me an opportu…

I again thank the Senator. I know he does not live in the constituency, but to be fair, he always represents his councillors and representatives in that area. He is doing so again today. My priority and concern are with the parents and the children who are all set up to avail of the Montessori school service in September. They must be anxious not knowing where they are going to be homed in future. In that spirit, I will certainly go back to talk to the Department and the Minister to see if there can at least be som…

I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this issue. He has painted a pretty bleak picture of the conditions at Coolmine school, which, as he stated, is quite a large school of 1,000 pupils. It is very concerning and disappointing in this day and age, when we have seen the level of investment in education and in capital works in particular, that a secondary school is experiencing that level of leakage. I can see Deputy O'Gorman is going through his copy of my response. Unfortunately, I do not have an official confirmati…

Yes, I will press this. There is also an opportunity for schools to apply for the climate action summer works scheme, although perhaps it does not apply to Coolmine. The emergency works scheme is obviously the right one. I take the Deputy's point about buckets. All we have to do is look at the number of buckets that are gathering water at the moment to discover that there are leaks there. The leak detection test may highlight the exact seriousness of the problem and how much work is involved. It is not good enough …

I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, who has the privilege of taking over the issue of school transport, which he is absolutely delighted about. He is very reasonable and I know that he will give this consideration. On the Minister of State's behalf, I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Éireann has advised that children residing…

I spoke in jest about the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, taking on the brief of school transport. He is very experienced in this. He has been around the block, was a backbencher for a while and battled in similar situations to the one the Deputy has presented. He understands the need for that but there are parameters and guidelines he has to work within. The requirement is for ten eligible students. One could present a case for 100 concessionary students. It is about whether that would suffice for establishing…

I thank the Deputy. Her description of the special school in Bray mirrors my experience of visiting special schools in Cork and elsewhere. I have seen the improvements in these children's education, ability to cope and mental health. What they are able to do is incredible, especially when they have access to additional therapies. That is another part of what we are trying to do. I take that point but my understanding is the intention of the redesignation is not to narrow the scope but to broaden it in terms of who …

I thank the Deputy for raising the question and for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department of Education and Youth continues to engage intensely with the NCSE on forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitted for their educational need. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Where a …

The Deputy raised some specifics regarding the generator, phone outages, etc. I will endeavour to get the Department to come back to her on those points. The written response I have is quite lengthy. I hope it will set out the plan and answer the Deputy's questions. I hope she has time to get to it. With regard to the national development plan, in early April the Government agreed to commence the review process. Following this, my Department wrote to Departments to advise on the Government's approach to improving o…

As Deputy Farrell rightly points out, I was just getting into the relevant section on Storm Éowyn so I will come back to that. As I was saying, the major cause of service outages in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn was the result of cascading impacts mainly emanating from the lack of electricity supply to power the network communication networks. Communication networks themselves suffered more limited direct damage. Loss of power was the key issue to cause loss of communication services in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann resolves that the Criminal Law (Prohibition of the Disclosure of Counselling Records) Bill 2025, be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for consideration by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to consider and bring forward provisions relating to Counselling Records.". I know Deputy Coppinger is disappointed that this is the approach the Government has taken. I will expla…

I thank Deputy Coppinger once again for raising this important issue and all Members of the House who contributed to the discussion. I assure Deputies that I have listened very carefully to their contributions and will convey their views to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. Violence against women is an epidemic in our society. We are all aware of the chilling statistics. One in every two women has experienced sexual violence, according to the 2022 sexual violence study by the CSO. These crimes are pervasive and und…

I echo the Minister of State's sentiments. The Opposition has been calling for a debate on housing for a while and has accused the Government of avoiding and not having the debate. When we eventually have it, one Opposition Member graces the benches. Well done, Deputy Ó Broin. There is no one here from the Social Democrats or the Labour Party. That is disappointing. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to address the House on housing matters. As highlighted by the Minister of State, the Government'…

I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I welcome the schoolchildren in the Gallery. I am not sure where they are from but they are welcome to the Seanad Chamber. I hope they are enjoying the day. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the very serious matter Senator Duffy has raised. The tenant in situ scheme has benefited people in Mayo and the Senator has represented many constituents in that regard. It has been a very good solution in terms of people avoiding homelessness. We are continuing the scheme but, o…

I thank Senator Duffy. The Department obviously cannot get into the nitty-gritty of individual cases but from what he has described, the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme is the option in situations like these. Where someone is not in receipt of HAP or is not approved for social housing, the regular tenant in situ scheme does not allow for the local authority to purchase that house but the option is there for approved housing bodies. It is a less popular and less well-known scheme but where someone fits outside tha…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this important issue. He is in an unusual position in that he is a TD who represents two different counties in a new constituency. I wish him the best of luck and congratulate him on his election. The Deputy highlighted an issue with regard to discrepancies between different counties. These schemes are constantly under review and we will certainly consider amending them, if necessary, perhaps at a municipal district level. If a degree of flexibility is needed, I will ask the Depar…

It is a matter for each local authority to determine what level of support is appropriate for each HAP tenancy within its area, including whether and to what extent the application of a discretionary increase above rent limits is warranted. In doing so, it is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that tenancies are sustainable. They are advised not to provide HAP support to tenancies where the household would not be in a position to meet the rental cost sought. I am very conscious of the pressures in …

I thank Senators Boyhan and Ahearn for their kind words of condolence on the death of my sister. They are very much appreciated. In fairness to Senator Ahearn, he has always been an advocate for councillors' needs across Ireland. We know how challenging it is being a councillor. Many councillors are now full time because of the seriousness of the work and the amount of work they have to do. Therefore, making allowances for security measures can be quite challenging in terms of the existing supports. Clearly there i…

I get the need for urgency. The fact that the Senator has raised the matter will further emphasise the urgency. I have been assured that in recent days officials from both Departments have been in touch on progressing this matter. Yes, it can and should be done quickly, and it is very important that it is. I stress that the option to avail of €2,500 is still open to councillors. If they do so, it does not preclude them from availing of further funds if the grant amount is increased under the new proposals. I cannot…