I back my two constituency colleagues and thank them for sharing time with me. The north county is exploding in its demographics and school supply is lagging behind there as it is. St. Patrick's Junior School in Skerries needs to retain the 11th teacher for a number of reasons. The second class is going to go from 22 to 33 students if we lose the 11th teacher. I worked in a secondary school, so I know at first hand the impact increasing the number in a class by that size has on the attention students are going to g…

Enrolment is a tricky at this level, namely, going from school into secondary school and going from early years into primary school, when parents must apply to numerous schools to get one place. I do not have the answer as to how we make the system better for mainstream schools at primary level but I do think it is something we can knock our heads together on and make a better system. I know from experience that the classroom environment functions better with fewer numbers. I know the Minister of State knows that a…

I want to raise an urgent and deeply concerning issue regarding the opening of a new special school in Balbriggan and the 18 children who have been allocated places there. Parents were given the news to a fanfare of local government and Oireachtas Members tripping over themselves back in April to be the first ones to announce on social media that the school would open in the 2026-27 academic year. Because applications had been made, places were allocated and families made decisions based on the information they wer…

I thank the Minister of State. Unlike some others here, I acknowledge more funding has been put into special schools and education this year. Budget 2026 has expanded service provision within the sector. However, I also know we are coming from such a low baseline that we have a lot to make up for. I know Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing his best - I have no argument there - but we saw the documentary this week with Alison Field having to go through 19 different special schools to find a place for her so…

These fare hikes are outrageous. At a time when people are facing a severe cost-of-living crisis, what is the Government doing? It is making it more expensive for people to get to and from work. I received a message from a constituent last week saying that she had to borrow €3 from her boss to get home because she was not paid until the next day. That is the reality workers are facing in this country. How does the Government respond? It makes the daily commute even more expensive. I get the train every day. We pack…

I will address the rise in antisocial behaviour in Dublin Fingal West. I do not do so lightly. It is a fantastic part of the country with a great sense of community spirit, which we are all rightly proud of. However, we cannot ignore what is happening. A lack of visible Garda resources is allowing some people to take advantage. We all saw the serious incident at Skerries Harbour during the summer. There is open drug dealing in our towns and some teenagers are recording vicious attacks and putting the videos on soci…

This motion could not have come at a better time. Last week, a constituent was on to me. She told me that her child had finished school on Tuesday, 30 June and the next day the first payment request from the school had landed in her inbox. That is not the end of it. Between now and August, parents will receive email after email or app notification after app notification reminding them to pay. Sometimes, these reminders come twice a week. Then, throughout the school year, every time the parents open the school app, …

There is an issue that has come to me in Dublin Fingal West, although it affects the country at large. I refer to the spiralling cost of summer camps and the financial burden it is placing on households earning lower to middle incomes. One parent told me that they were paying €160 a week for three hours over four days. If a family has two or three children, that cost may put these opportunities completely out of reach. I raised this last week as a Topical Issue but the response focused on childcare and the national…

Yes, but on a means-tested basis.

Budget 2027 needs to support the growth of Ireland's horticulture sector through targeted investment in growers and targeted supports to attract new growers and encourage generational renewal. Investment in start-up grants, financial assistance with access to land, investment in education and training to upskill our workforce, investment in mentoring, and capital supports will help remove barriers to entry to the sector. Supporting new entrants is critical to maintaining domestic food production, driving innovation…

Horticulture is under enormous pressure. We are facing some of the most serious challenges we have seen in years, including increased input costs, energy costs and labour costs. We are still importing fruit and vegetables that we could grow ourselves. I live in north County Dublin, the market garden capital of Ireland. We produce approximately 47% of Ireland's field vegetables. We need to keep supporting the sector. We cannot allow it to shrink further. There are huge opportunities in horticulture; we just need to …

I welcome phase 2 of the pilot. We have a problem in that the average age of growers is probably over 60. We need targeted supports to encourage new entrants and generational renewal in the sector. Horticultural is a viable career but we need to expand the horticultural apprentice scheme and invest in our youth. Finally, the Minister of State and I will agree that we all need to buy more Irish produce. We need to strengthen the policy on identifying Irish produce. We need better regulation of labelling. If we do th…

I raise an issue brought to me by my constituents in Dublin Fingal West, primarily in north County Dublin, namely, the rising costs of summer camps and the impact this is having on middle and lower income families. For example, the cost of one four-day summer camp is running at €150 per child. For families with two or three children, this quickly becomes impossible to manage. Many parents are juggling household bills, food costs, the cost-of-living crisis and everyday expenses. For those relying on social welfare o…

I thank the Minister of State. It is good to see the Department is aware of the issue. The NCS is a good scheme but it is generally for childcare, and I am asking more specifically about summer camps. I am not sure if the NCS is usable in summer camps, though I am open to correction on that. We are looking for targeted supports. Like the NCS, we support school meals, childcare and school transport because we recognise the barriers families face. Why should summer activities be any different? I am not suggesting eve…

I thank Deputy Quaide and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. I also want to acknowledge the Before We Die campaign in my own constituency of Dublin Fingal West and the Remember Us group from Balbriggan, which continues to campaign with such determination. I have met families in my constituency and listened to their very personal stories and I thank them for sharing them. Those conversations have stayed with me. I have heard the fear and anxiety of parents in their 70s and 80s who have …

I will start with a comparison. There is perhaps no clearer illustration of the value of European membership than the experience of our nearest neighbour, as mentioned by the Taoiseach in a different speech yesterday. A decade has passed since Brexit. Of course, that decision was for the British people, and we respect their democratic choice. It is equally important, however, to recognise the lessons that have been learned. The warnings of economic disruption, barriers to trade and increased costs were dismissed by…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. In the Labour Party, we support this legislation because it recognises something that many of us recognise from our constituencies. Our post offices are not simply businesses; they are part of the social fabric that knits our communities together. They are places we can trust. In many towns and villages, they are one of the few remaining public services, providing far more than somewhere to post a letter or collect a parcel. The additional funding provided for in the…

The EU Presidency gives Ireland the opportunity to set the agenda, lead discussions and influence decisions that will be felt across Europe, including Ireland, in the coming years. We should use that opportunity ambitiously. Over the next six months, there will be hundreds of meetings and countless headlines, but for the families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis here and with issues like accessing childcare, none of this will matter unless we can deliver results that work for them. The Government has ident…

We both know that Europe works by consensus and that there is only so much we can do to facilitate as an honest broker. While competitiveness is incredibly important, with the capital markets union and the 28th regime coming forward, workers' rights were not mentioned once yesterday at the event in Dublin Castle. This gives us an opportunity to bring the Irish people with us rather than this Presidency just being felt within the bubble of Leinster House. I am not sure if people outside these walls understand its im…

If we wait around long enough in here, two opportunities can come in a day - much like the 33 bus, which I am going to again raise in regard to its reliability. I acknowledge that the Minister's priority is to make the route more reliable rather than increasing the service this year. I also recognise that recruitment challenges and traffic congestion have contributed to cancellations across the 33 fleet. However, these are not new problems, and this is not the first time I have raised these concerns. I continue to …