I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 5th February, 2025, or in the Order of the Dáil of 28th April, 2026, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer following those next set down to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence, without any change to the allocation of Priority Questions: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister for Rur…

I am grateful to the Deputies who contributed to this important annual debate. We take time in the busy Dáil schedule every year ahead of Europe Day, on 9 May, to reflect on contemporary historical and future issues facing the European Union and the wider European project. I will address three points in the Chamber today. I will go into a little bit of detail about our upcoming Presidency of the rotating Council of the European Union, respond to some of the points made by some of the Deputies, and reflect on where …

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to provide members with an update on recent international developments. This is perhaps the vaguest description of a debate in the Seanad, certainly in my ten years in the Oireachtas, but it is perhaps also the most pertinent because not a morning passes when we do not look at our mobile phones in dread and fear of what has happened or been posted on social media. As a result, we are all aware that we continue to face an unprecedented and unpredictable geopolitical context. The …

I am very grateful to Senator Nelson Murray for raising this vitally important issue and its impact on health services across our country. I know only too well, particularly in Navan hospital, how important these roles are. The Minister for Health has asked me to convey that to her because it is recognised that future health services require new approaches. It is essential that patient safety is prioritised in the implementation of any healthcare role. Due to a lack of clarity as to the scope of practice and govern…

These reforms are to ensure that our health workforce keeps pace with future population and demographic changes. The reforms are necessary to build future workforce capacity. As of mid-2025, 38 physician assistants were employed in HSE-funded services in Ireland. The role did not have standardised roles and responsibilities, however. With regard to training, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, as the Senator outlined, offers a two-year physician associate master’s qualification. Graduates spend two years stud…

It is not opposed.

I am very grateful to Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this very pertinent issue in relation to Owenabue Educate Together National School in Carrigaline, County Cork. The Deputy is right that he could be reading this about at least seven different schools in my constituency. I 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…

That is a perfectly valid request. I advise having a deputation meeting and writing a formal letter to the Department of education on foot of this Topical Issue debate. The Deputy has been in this House longer than I have, and he and I know that Topical Issue debates are only a step in the process by which constituency TDs provide good advocacy. I will not insult the Deputy by giving out the departmental lines that this is obviously a process, there is continuing prioritisation and that prioritisation will move for…

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this pertinent issue, which is one that resonates with many of us in the House in many regards. I am replying on behalf of the Minister. It is the policy of the Department of Education and Youth, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes, along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary. The Department has invested considerably in ensuring that all recognised mai…

I appreciate the Deputy's supplementary question and, where relevant, will bring it forward to the relevant line Minister. He raised a few key issues that are absolutely understandable, but go to the nub of the complexity of providing special education that is sometimes blanket and misses certain aspects of a child's development in education or what their need or want is. It is hard to put that into a straight column. The Department will continue to engage intensively with the NCSE on forward planning for new speci…

I thank Deputy O'Hara for raising this important issue and join him in celebrating the 30th anniversary of Gort Community School's foundation. As the Deputy will be aware, the school was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme. The project will provide 19 general classrooms, seven SET rooms, two meeting rooms, one deputy principal's office, three classroom SEN bases, one art room, one home economics room, one graphics room, three science laboratorie…

Once again, I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to provide, on behalf of the Minister for education, an update to the House regarding the accommodation at Gort Community School. The Department is committed to ensuring appropriate accommodation is available for all school pupils and will, in the wider context outlined, ensure that each school project on the school building programme is subject to the due diligence required under the Government's infrastructure guidelines. Since 2020 the Department has p…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. This week there has been a lot of focus, correctly, on the areas raised by Deputy O'Rourke. Delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach his or her full potential is a key priority for the Government and the Minister. In that regard, supporting the education of Travellers and Roma children is one of the key objectives of the Government. Currently action to a…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I want to underline, without any degree of uncertainty, that the Government, just like everyone else in the House, is absolutely committed to increasing the number of Traveller and Roma children who complete primary and secondary education. The vision of the Traveller and Roma education strategy is that we want a high-quality, inclusive education system that is open and welcoming to all, irrespective of background or ability and that meaningfully engages learner…

I am very grateful to my dear friend, Deputy Burke, for raising this matter, as is the relevant Minister. Public libraries are at the heart of all our communities. The Deputy and I were in the Chamber when our former colleague, Paschal Donohoe, made that very clear appeal as part of his closing salvo to this House. Public libraries are multi-purpose social, cultural and educational spaces for the whole community to enjoy. There are 330 public libraries nationwide providing an excellent service throughout the countr…

While I agree with the Deputy it was a shame that the Mayfield library could not be considered in the most recent tranche, I do think the Department's response and the developments from a planning point of view and more widely in the local community in that part of County Cork illustrate the need and merit for the library to be considered in the next round. I have no doubt the next time a funding round becomes available, a strong submission will be made by Cork City Council. The Deputy may rest assured that I will …

I am grateful to the Deputy for raising this issue, one that I have absolute familiarity with having previously been a Minister of State in the Department with responsibility for retail during a period when we had 16.9% grocery inflation on the back of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which massively increased food and energy prices across western Europe. Global inflation will see grocery prices increase. At the time, we would have seen grocery stores reduce their prices on about 700 products in the interim but the…

To be honest, I do not necessarily accept that. Perhaps this is a communications issue. As the Deputy said, the structures are there. The CCPC enforces competition and consumer protection law, and the CSO independently collects and publishes official price data through the consumer price index. This means two bodies are doing the key things the Deputy is asking for. The CCPC is not the price monitoring or price regulating body; it just enforces the law. The CSO is the price monitoring body. The Deputy is right, equ…

I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising this issue. I think Richmond Village is a brilliant name. There should be more of them, needless to say.

More pertinently and directly to the Deputy's point, on behalf of the Minister, we all know why the LDA was set up and the ambition it has. The Deputy is right that it is really ramping up. We can see that in sod turnings, on one hand, such as in Richmond Village, and in site clearings, such as at the former Central Mental Hospital, or Dundrum Central as we know it, but also, crucially, in people moving into homes, as we see in Shanganagh and Shankill. In terms of affordable purchase homes, LDA-sourced or -built af…