Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I offer my congratulations to the Cathaoirleach. I look forward to working with him and all the members of the committee. Education and schools are major issues in my constituency of Dublin West. I look forward to discussing these issues from local and national perspectives. My main aim is for us to have an education system where all children belong. This means tackling the existing barriers, whether these are socioeconomic, language-based, such as access to English as an additional language, EAL, teachers, or they relate to children with additional needs. This is the biggest issue we are here to discuss. It would be worthwhile to bring the Minister of State with special responsibility for special education into the committee. A task force has been set up in Dublin 15 and I hope we would have an opportunity to discuss its lessons and recommendations. Ultimately, I hope we will be able to work together on a forward-planning system for the delivery of special school places and resources for children in our communities. I am very much about the practical solutions and I hope we can get into the weeds of the problem so that we can come up with these solutions.

I do hope this will be a committee focused on education and youth.