I ask the Minister to update the House on the Defence Forces personnel numbers for 2026, 2025 and 2024. What steps are being taken to increase those numbers and to strengthen the Defence Forces?

I do not agree. I will be interested to see the figures, which I understand the Minister will provide. According to the latest information we have, which is from the end of 2025, the target for the Naval Service, for example, was 1,094 personnel and the target for level of ambition 2 for 2028 was 1,794 personnel, whereas the number in situ in late 2025 was roughly 784. That means we needed more than 1,000 additional members to be recruited by 2028. Is that going to happen? What are the latest figures the Minister h…

The Minister has acknowledged that recruitment is a challenge and will be a challenge until 2028. I hope she will acknowledge that retention is also an issue. Defence Force members in County Meath, the Minister's constituency and mine, raise with me the issues of breaches of the working time directive and recognition, respect and fair pay for our Defence Forces and for the overtime they do. Does the Minister recognise that is a contributing factor in terms of the recruitment and the retention of Defence Force membe…

In appropriate places. They are in the wrong places.

Is the clearing house just looking at projects currently in the planning system or is it looking at upcoming projects in the south coast DMAP area? Is it looking at future DMAPs? How is it approaching its work and what barriers are there? How is the clearing house resourced in the context of staff? Does it have enough people who have enough time available to them? Does it have an international focus? Is it rebuilding confidence of the international supply chain in Ireland as a place to invest? A lot of internationa…

I want to ask the Minister the number of children in Dunshaughlin, County Meath, on waiting lists and still without an offer of a junior infants place for September 2026, the measures she will take to provide additional places, including with respect to language and ethos preferences, the date on which she will meet with Meath East TDs and local principals to discuss possible options, and if she will make a statement on the matter.

I take from the Minister's response that it is her understanding that the extra class at Dunshaughlin Community National School will accommodate all the additional children who were on waiting lists. It is my clear understanding that this is not the case. There are children who are still without an offer and children who are not on waiting lists and there are certainly children - in the region of 30 - who do not have an offer of the Irish-medium school place that they want. In the first instance, I understand there…

I will speak frankly here. This is an incredibly frustrating process. I have to say that today feels like more of the same. We are in a situation in Dunshaughlin where, taking into account the additional places at the community national school, there will still be children from Dunshaughlin without an offer of a school place. That is where we are going to be at the end of today and into tomorrow. There are a large number of children who want Irish-medium education and they are being denied that opportunity. There i…

Has the Minister's attention been brought to the long and complex planning history of a school building project in Dunboyne, County Meath?

There are other questions on the Order Paper today about the same issue. A question being asked in every corner of Ireland is how are schools selected for prioritisation and how, in all that is reasonable, were other schools left behind. With the state of deterioration, dilapidation and condition of the school, that it is intended for this school to provide additional special education places and improved accommodation for a growing population and that it has essentially been at tendering stage on two occasions bef…

The Minister will appreciate two significant considerations. One is the lapsing of the planning permission and having to go back. I met Meath County Council about this. There is a new county development plan. Significant work will have to be redone in terms of submissions and there is concern that will delay the project further. I appreciate what the Minister said about pre-works and so on, but can she give any assurance about that question? Will the lapsing of the planning permission delay the project further or c…

We cannot separate these increases in cost. To that repeated line about the review of school transport fees, there are already fees. It is not the case that there were not fees. The issue is that they are being increased significantly, by up to 100% in some cases. The Minister might say they are modest increases or a reintroduction of leaving certificate and junior certificate fees that were there before, but she cannot strip this away from the cost-of-living crisis. Parents are dealing with uniforms, transition ye…

I think I speak on behalf of every TD in the Chamber in saying that come the middle of August, we will be in contact with the Department about children who have not got access to the school transport system. The Minister can take that as read - unfortunately. I want to ask the Minister about a related point. My contention is that all of this happens in the same households on which there are demands to provide for the cost of sending children to school. On the one hand, I welcome the free books scheme. The Governmen…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue for discussion. Every child is innocent and should have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential but the education system and the State are failing Traveller children. We have statistics showing that only 27% of young Travellers complete post-primary education compared to 97% of the wider population and less than 1% of Travellers go on to third level education. This issue is particularly topical in the context of a report from UCC entitled Trave…

This is really important. I welcome a number of recent announcements by the Government related to DEIS plus and the DEIS plan. I will contest every inch of it but the principle of the transformational power of education and a specific focus on educational inequality is hugely important. Within that, there needs to be a particular focus on the Traveller population because the figures are absolutely shocking. I referred to the completion rate for the leaving certificate, but if we consider those on reduced hours or t…

I welcome this Bill. Sinn Féin supports it and I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing it forward and outlining how personal it is to him. No child or member of staff should die or come to serious harm in a school because those around them did not have the training, equipment or permission to act. Every day, parents across Ireland drop their children to school trusting that they will be safe but the hard truth, backed by evidence, is that too many of our schools are not fully prepared for a medical emergency. In 2024 a r…

We have an incredible opportunity here for energy security and independence because of our massive wind resource, offshore wind in particular. We have the opportunity to democratise our energy system, give people cheaper bills and, more importantly, give them ownership of the energy system. We have the opportunity to deliver warmer homes, retrofitted homes, a public transport system that is accessible and affordable and, most importantly, the building of sustainable communities. That is what we can do and what we n…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the State is systematically failing children with additional educational needs, their families, and the professionals who support them; — there is a chronic and worsening shortage of appropriate school places, denying children access and forcing other children to travel excessively long distances, often outside their own communities; — special schools for children with Mild General Learning Disabilities (MGLD) are being redesignated in practice and by stealth; — early i…

Hear, hear.

I thank those who contributed to the debate. The Government is not opposing the motion but this is only welcome if it actually acts on the proposals contained in it. The reason we brought forward this motion is because of a failure to predict and respond to the demand for special education. There are ample examples of Government failure. This year, it was a case of establish a portal, close a portal and lock people out of the system. There was a supplementary budget, a supplementary to the supplementary budget and …