Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to set out some of my priorities as Minister for Education and Youth and to share time with my colleagues. My objective is to deliver a world-class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child is supported to achieve their full potential. An education system that wraps around all children and young people in every community is essential if we are to achieve that. I want the outcome of my time as Minister to be greater equity and excellence in education for all children and young people in Ireland. We cannot have one without the other.

Today I will focus on specific ambitions that break down barriers and support children and young people. As I said, I want to ensure we have a world-class education system that is inclusive, equitable and empowering for all. Every learner deserves the opportunity to thrive. Our focus is on high standards, inclusive practices and strong supports to ensure no one is left behind. Breaking down those barriers, whether social, economic or educational, is essential to helping all learners succeed. Education should open doors, build confidence and prepare every learner for life, not just for exams. I want to prioritise actions to tackle educational disadvantage. This means ensuring the necessary resources are in place to support and retain children and young people in school and to ensure they complete their leaving certificate and can be supported to achieve their full potential.

The Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, programme, which aims to address concentrated educational disadvantage, has seen the gap in retention rates between DEIS and non-DEIS schools halved, from 16.8% to 8.4%, since the programme began. Shortly after becoming Minister, I announced I would develop and publish a new DEIS plan in 2025 to try to close that gap further. A key part of the plan will be to close the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introduce more innovative solutions to tackle disadvantage while supporting and expanding the positive work being done.

I will also develop a new DEIS Plus scheme to put greater focus on those schools with the highest levels of educational disadvantage where we know there are children with huge levels of trauma who need additional support. I have established a design advisory group with principals, home school community liaison and school completion programme co-ordinators who work with children from areas of high intergenerational disadvantage every day. This student-centred design approach will identify the resources needed to ensure the DEIS Plus scheme meets the needs of children and young people at acute risk of educational disadvantage. I have met principals in particular, and it is clear that what we need in some primary schools might be different from that in post-primary, but it is about the lived experience and about speaking to those at the heart of this who understand what children need.

The transfer of youth into the Department of education is a really positive step. It gives us a chance, particularly when we are talking about supporting children who are at risk of educational disadvantage, to better align what we call the formal education system with the informal, such as youth groups and organisations that are doing fantastic work, so that they are working with our schools to support children during schools hours, in the evenings, at weekends, during summer time and at other times of break.

This Government has recognised that the cost of preparing children for school can also be a barrier to the participation of children and young people in education. I am delighted to say that from the start of the 2025-26 school year, for the first time ever, all children and young people enrolled in primary, special and post-primary schools under the free education scheme will be provided with schoolbooks and core classroom resources. I acknowledge my colleague and the former Minister, Deputy Foley, in this regard.

School transport is a much-valued scheme to families. It ensures children living in rural and remote areas but also in built-up areas and those disadvantaged by distance are provided with a safe and reliable service to their nearest school of eligibility. More than 173,000 pupils benefit from the scheme each day, making it a core component of equitable school access nationwide. The programme for Government commits to expanding the scheme, and this is something on which I will be working closely with Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, in the years ahead.

We know from data that Traveller and Roma children have poorer educational outcomes than those of the general population. Additional funding was secured to increase the number of community link workers and as part of the Traveller and Roma strategy, we will work in several schools and focus on fostering greater engagement with Traveller and Roma families to improve communication, promote positive relationships and support the learning of Traveller and Roma children. Again, we have a focus group and working group that comes together to look at the strategy, how it is working or not working and what else we need to do. This brings together my Department, the Departments of children and social protection and many others as well.

In my first Dáil contribution as Minister for education, I highlighted the significant increase in absenteeism in our schools, particularly post Covid. The recent Tusla attendance report shows that in the 2022-23 school year, more than 110,000 primary and 65,000 post-primary students missed 20 or more days of school. This data is hugely alarming. Regular attendance in school is essential, not just for academic achievement but also for well-being, social development and life-long outcomes. This week, I announced a comprehensive suite of targeted but universal actions to improve school attendance.

Among these is a revision of the Education (Welfare) Act to strengthen statutory supports for children but in particular, to bring children under six attending primary school within its scope to ensure earlier intervention. I am hearing back very clearly from principals and teachers in the school completion programme that children in junior infants are missing significant numbers of days at school. This pattern often continues with them, so we must ensure these interventions take place for children in school who are four or five years old. There must also be continued investment in the educational welfare service, including an expansion of educational welfare officer, EWO, capacity and acknowledging the fantastic work they do in working with other teams.

There also has to be continued investment in the school completion programme and we have to make sure we have better planning between this and the range of other supports available through the non-formal education sector in youth. Recently, I met students who told me that the only reason they are still in school and doing their leaving certificate is the work of the school completion officers and the support they have received. It is important that they are supported.

We will roll out Anseo, a new evidence-based framework piloted in four schools, to 60 additional schools to help schools analyse and respond to attendance data. This will help schools to access and identify their own information and to see if there are changes that could be made. I was given an example the other day of a school that is not in the pilot programme but that took on board the approach being taken there. The school instructed all the teachers to call children by their first names three times in the first hour. This acknowledgement, letting the children know they knew they were present, resulted in school attendance going up. It is about looking at the simple things that can be done in schools, looking at the demographic and the children in the school and everything around them and seeing what can be done. I am excited to see how this can be rolled out in order that more schools can take part. We want to work across government and, more broadly, bring it back to basics. In September, there will be a multimedia campaign to promote school attendance. This will make it clear to parents, in particular, but to everybody involved why it is important to attend school.

As Deputies may know, the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported in mainstream schools. In fact, about 97% of our students attend in mainstream schools. I thank all the school principals and teachers, special education teachers and SNAs, who work so hard every day to support all of our students. Nevertheless, there continues to be a strong and growing need to provide further special classes and special school places for children with more complex needs.

In mainstream schools by September 2025, there will be more than 3,700 special classes supporting more than 21,000 children. This is a doubling of the classes in the last five years and we intend, at post-primary level in particular, that large schools will grow to four special classes each. In 2025, we focused on those primary schools with eight classrooms or more with no special class and we have secured agreement from many of those to open classes this year - in fact, 399 of the 400 to date. I acknowledge and thank those schools that have worked with us and are now going through the enrolment process. We hope that this can be concluded as quickly as possible. Above all, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I are working to ensure that everything we are doing now can be brought forward in order that we can identify at the earliest stage possible in the preceding year who the children are, what their needs are, how that need should be met, how we can engage with the schools and ensure that the enrolment process opens at the same time as that for everybody else. This will ensure that when students are applying, if they are applying at the same time as their siblings or if there is a junior or post-primary application going in, early in the year in January, when everybody else learns where they are going to school, children with additional needs will find that out as well. Working with the NCSE we are making good progress on this.

We also need to ensure that children who need access to therapies get them. I have brought a memo to Cabinet setting out how we are going to provide speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, initially in our special schools before expanding that to special education classrooms and, ultimately, our wider school community. Of course, we are starting with the special schools. I hope we are in a position to start this later this academic year.

We also need to continue to support teachers, considering that we are facing a more complex and challenging environment. It is essential that all future graduates have a mandatory special education placement as part of their initial teacher education. I have asked the Teaching Council to begin work on taking the necessary steps on that immediately, with a view to the change coming into effect from September 2026. I will also ensure that the design of high-quality modules in special education to support teachers on their professional learning journey is also prioritised. While we need to look to the future, almost 79,000 teachers have registered with the Teaching Council. We need to make sure that every teacher and person working with our students is supported and can receive that level of training.

Ensuring we have a curriculum that fully supports children and young people to achieve their potential and that equips our students to thrive and succeed must be our north star. The curriculum at all levels is designed to reflect and support all learners regardless of background, ability, or gender. The primary curriculum framework places a strong focus on inclusion and diversity. It aims to ensure every child feels they belong and are respected and safe so they can engage fully in learning and thrive. lt recognises each child’s unique background, identity and strengths and is designed to support what is best for every individual child. Under this framework, foreign languages will be introduced at primary level on a phased basis from September 2025.

Following on from the successful changes introduced to the junior cycle, at post-primary level there has been considerable progress across the senior cycle redevelopment programme. Some examples, lest there be a perception that the changes are only happening in September, include the numbers enrolled in the leaving certificate vocational programme link modules across fifth and sixth year in the current school year having increased from 30,000 to 50,000. The numbers of students participating in transition year has passed 60,000 for the first time, which is 14,000 more than was the case five to six years ago. This expansion is a testament to efforts by schools to make more places available. It is important that we try to ensure every child has access to transition year, in particular those who have special or additional needs or those who are at risk of educational disadvantage.

In 2024, for the first time, the State Examinations Commission provided an integrated set of results to leaving certificate applied students who also took leaving certificate established mathematics or a modern foreign language. This school year has also seen the first modules from the new senior cycle level 1 and level 2 learning programmes introduced in schools. This is to support children with additional needs. Importantly, the State Examinations Commission will certify these programmes in 2026, meaning that when students taking them are expected to graduate, they will do so with their peers in leaving certificate programmes.

These measures illustrate how the senior cycle redevelopment programme is playing a positive role in students reaching their full potential. My Department, working with teachers, staff and students, will build on this annually over the next five years as we implement the various tranches and strands of the programme. In a world being transformed by Al and the digital revolution and where jobs and roles are changing, we need to equip children with the skills they need to succeed and thrive in a changing world. That is exactly what the leaving certificate reform is intended to do.

We cannot do this without our wonderful teachers. Approximately 78,000 qualified teachers are now employed in Ireland, with more than 35,000 in post-primary schools. This is the largest number of teachers ever in the history of the State. The number of allocated teaching posts and the number of registered teachers have increased year on year, as has the number of student teachers graduating, and more and more people are applying through the CAO. It is really positive to see that this is continuing to increase.

On my appointment, I committed to taking further action to address teacher supply issues because we know that in certain parts of the country and also for certain subjects, there are still significant challenges, notwithstanding the fact that we have more teachers than ever before. I recently announced that I would put in place an agreement to ensure that teachers will receive a permanent contract much sooner than is the case under the current arrangements. Following the Droichead process, new teachers who have taught for one year and successfully interviewed for a vacant post the following year will immediately be offered a permanent contract at the start of that year. This will come into effect from next year. While I say "new teachers", it will apply to anyone who has completed that one year. I hope that being able to gain a permanent contract a year earlier will help teachers in applying for mortgages and placing their careers on a more stable footing much sooner than before. I have heard strong support for this from teachers.

I was also happy to introduce a proposal from the Teaching Council to enable eligible teachers who have qualified outside of Ireland to apply for registration and complete their induction requirement here. This is a commonsense solution and an important step in encouraging more teachers to work and start their careers here in Ireland. I am looking at further measures to improve teacher supply and will announce them in the coming months.

We have a number of different strategies, including the literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy. The objective of the STEM education policy statement is to ensure all learners, regardless of gender or background, have access to high-quality STEM learning. There is a particular focus on encouraging female participation in STEM. The Department is developing a suitable approach of policy and practice for students who are exceptionally able or gifted. It is important that we support all students. This is just a snapshot of strategies that demonstrate how inclusive education is at the core of the Department's mission.

We cannot talk about education without talking about students' well being, their health and making sure they are supported in school. The programme for Government outlines a commitment to ensure that children are safer and healthier and that our schools are safe places. We will continue to implement the Cineáltas action plan on bullying and the first action plan to support that. Schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices in different aspects of their lives. This is why the reformed social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum is so important. It has been introduced at junior cycle, will be introduced permanently at senior cycle and will be revised for primary schools as well. It is important that our students are engaged with, spoken to and listened to about the issues that are affecting their lives, that it is done in an age-appropriate way and that this is embedded in the curriculum.

In the programme for Government, we have given a clear commitment to hold a convention on education bringing together all the education stakeholders. This was done 30 years ago and many of the actions that came from that laid the foundations for the agencies and structures in the school system, and they have stood the test of time. As Minister for education, I want to make sure that by bringing together all of our partners, I can set out a vision for our education system in the years ahead.

I am very aware that in order for schools to function, it is not just about teachers and the buildings. We also need to make sure they have the resources.

While we have increased the capitation funding in recent years, we want to go further and do more to make sure the day-to-day running of schools is not such a chore for school principals. We will continue to invest in ICT and make sure we provide the annual grants, as per the commitment, for minor works, summer works and works focused on climate targets, while also assisting with the day-to-day running of schools. I welcome the opportunity to speak to everybody here today and look forward to hearing their comments.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to share time with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to discuss how the Government is tackling educational disadvantage. I also welcome her openness about challenges that remain to be tackled as we work to ensure no child is left behind on their educational journey.

Last month, the Minister and I visited St. Philip the Apostle Junior National School in Mountview, to mark the extension of the hot school meals programme to another 713 schools, meaning more than 550,000 children across the country now benefit. Nearly 1 million students now have access to free schoolbooks. These universal supports are invaluable. However, there are many schools where more targeted supports are needed, including in areas such as Tyrrelstown and Powerstown where schools are not currently included in the DEIS programme. I hope revisions to DEIS will consider eligibility criteria. I welcome the Minister's intention to establish a new DEIS Plus scheme to support schools with the highest concentration of educational disadvantage to improve educational outcomes, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

The teaching of English as an additional language, EAL, is of significant value in communities I represent. I appreciate the investment and pressure on demand in recent years, particularly supporting Ukrainian children in schools. Future allocation policy must continue to evolve to reflect actual need. It is currently based on pupils who have arrived in Ireland in the last two years, those with less than three years EAL support, or who register less than a B1 in an English proficiency test. The experience of schools is that we could better recognise the number of children born in Ireland who may not have English as their first language, and children who require ongoing support. Expanding EAL support will help more children access education fully and confidently. Some 90% of students in St Luke's National School in Tyrrelstown speak a language other than English but they have received just one EAL teacher for every 146 children. Powerstown Educate Together National School has children from 64 countries speaking 57 languages, yet this school has no allocated EAL teacher.

It is important to commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, in working with me and parents to establish a task force for children with additional needs in Dublin 15, and supporting local principals through the common applications trial. These actions will make a difference. Nationally, 399 special classes have been sanctioned for the 2025 school year. This level of investment is welcome, but we know that every year brings a deeply stressful period for families trying to secure an appropriate school place. That uncertainty must be avoided. The only way to break this annual cycle is through forward planning and systemic change in that regard. We need a five-year strategic approach to ensure special school and class places are delivered on time and aligned with the projected 5% of students requiring special education supports.

I firmly believe that if we have a policy of opening special classes it should include reading classes for children with severe dyslexia. I welcome the Minister of State's acknowledgement that expanding reading classes would be a positive step. While 15,000 special education teachers are supporting students in mainstream schools, children with dyslexia still need more targeted interventions.

I acknowledge the amazing work of teachers. We face a national challenge in recruiting and retaining teachers in special education settings. I believe teachers deserve an allowance that recognises both the choice they make to work in a rewarding but demanding environment, and the additional training required, particularly in special schools where they need to deliver three curricula - primary, junior cycle and senior cycle. Supporting teachers also means supporting principals. There are principals and deputy principals in special schools all over the country whose salary is based on the NCSE allocation of eight teachers, not the full team they manage. At Danu Community Special School the actual staffing team includes 60 people - teachers, SNAs, bus escorts, a caretaker, a secretary and a part-time cleaner. Every member of staff in a special school is the responsibility of the leadership team, and these leaders deserve more support.

Much progress has been made. Naming the outstanding challenges is the first step to tackling those challenges and achieving even more progress.

Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister very much for the statement she has just read, which is very comprehensive and sets out an ambitious programme of work. I deeply appreciated her coming to visit my constituency of Galway East. She did a great honour to the teaching staff, parents and organisers of the €16,000 fundraiser that developed the sensory room in Barnaderg National School. The fact that the Minister arranged to visit the school and officially open the facility demonstrates her empathy and compassion. She did not just visit Barnaderg, she also visited Briarfield National School. A visit by the Minister, the person who is managing the Department of education, has a compelling impact on a school.

That is a lovely story, but then we get calls from other schools. I refer to Dunmore National School, which I and others visited. A total of 232 pupils attend the school. In many ways it is a large school. The school is very challenged in that it has overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of basic infrastructure such as internal toilets and the absence of proper facilities for special educational needs. We must do better in 2025. The situation there must be addressed. The effort to create a positive learning environment in such circumstances is commendable but it should not be necessary.

The next school I will mention is down the road from Dunmore in the town of Tuam, Trinity Primary School. The Minister might be familiar with it because we have engaged with her to a considerable extent in recent weeks. It is a DEIS band 1 school with 800 pupils. The school is an amalgamation of three campuses with the promise that a new school would be developed in the future. The project is being advanced but it can be deeply frustrating financially for the principal and staff to try to manage the three campuses from a staffing point of view and with all the associated bills that go with managing a school. Teaching is stressful enough without having to be worried also about finances. I accept that is all part of it.

Those issues are not isolated ones, as they reflect the broader need to ensure that our ambitions for excellence in education are matched by investment urgency and a follow-through on commitments. I know the Minister shares the goal of equity of opportunity in education. I raise these examples today in that shared spirit. The Minister has my support for her work going forward. No child, teacher or school should be left behind. I commend the Minister on her relentless energy, commitment and dedication to the education sector in the early months of her ministerial tenure and the visits she has made to schools, which is hugely appreciated.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the statements on education. Education is the great equaliser: it has the power to break down barriers, lift communities and, most importantly, to give every child the opportunity to reach their full potential. However, for too long, our education system has been held back by chronic underfunding, inequality and a lack of ambition or vision for schools.

Sinn Féin believes in a world class education system that leaves no child behind. That means investing properly in schools, teachers and, most importantly, in the future of children. The first step in delivering real change in our education system is proper and adequate funding.

For years, schools have been forced to fundraise for the most basic things. Now, their capitation grant does not even cover heating, electricity and insurance costs. The current school capitation grant stands at €200 per pupil at primary school, the same rate that was paid to schools in 2009. The Government planned to increase this to €224 this September but the INTO has called on the Government to increase the capitation fund by 20%. The Government's failure to do so shows its lack of concern for the many schools that are struggling to literally keep their doors open.

Within the past two years, there has been a huge increase in the number of schools referred to the FSSU due to financial struggles. Schools need stability and certainty. I am conscious the Minister spoke for 16 minutes and only referred to the issue of school funding in the last 20 seconds. As an essential first step, the Minister must increase funding for schools and introduce a grant calendar so schools can budget. Grants should be paid early in the year. The ICT and minor works grants are inexplicably delayed. The Minister should please tell us when they will be paid and that it will be soon. Schools are at breaking point. The latest response to me on this issue yesterday used the phrase “in due course”. That is simply not good enough.

Regarding special education, every child has the right to an education that meets their values and their needs. In special education, children are locked out of education based solely on the fact they have special educational needs. That is shameful. The Ministers say they have sanctioned enough places for children for September; in fact, they say they have sanctioned more than enough. The question, of course, is whether these places actually exist and are appropriate. Parents faced with scores of rejection letters and forced to sleep outside the Department and outside this building would beg to differ, I am sure. Recent figures released to me show there are 1,275 children on short school days, an increase of 20%, and 821 of those children have special educational needs. Many of those are on short school days because of the lack of supports at school. It is no fault of the teachers or the school communities. A further 177 children are getting home tuition while awaiting an appropriate placement. I urge the Minister to heed the concerns raised by the INTO, among others. She should ensure that full funding for the equipping of special classrooms and ancillary sensory and play spaces is made available early.

It is not just about physical space and equipment. Special classes across the State are significantly understaffed. Teachers, in many cases unqualified, are stretched thin and there are not enough SNAs. The Minister will deny it but there has been a policy change in relation to SNA allocations. SNAs are being rationed - there is no other word for it - in a way they have not been before. It is not enough to have primary care needs but children must have “significant” primary care needs. That is a change. I can give numerous examples in my constituency, such as St. Patrick's National School in Stamullen and Scoil Náisiúnta Cholmcille in Skryne. The list goes on. Arbitrary caps must be immediately abandoned. The Minister must invest in SNAs, increase their number and support them in their role. There is a commitment to amend the circular on leave of absence following assault. This must happen as a matter of priority.

On the issue of educational disadvantage, the DEIS programme has been a lifeline for schools in disadvantaged areas but it needs expansion, not stagnation. A 2024 OECD report on DEIS schools highlights a number of issues relating to the educational disadvantage schemes. Findings from research conducted by the TUI and TASC found that 10% of school teachers in DEIS schools rated classroom facilities as very poor, compared with 2.8% of teachers in non-DEIS schools. To provide any sort of decent education to our children, the Minister must provide decent funding and resources. Funding for DEIS schools must urgently be increased to ensure schools have staff, proper resources and the programmes needed to close the inequality gap. We will see the new DEIS plan soon and, hopefully, it will be welcome. We have heard welcome commitments with regard to DEIS plus but targeted supports to children most in need are vital. There are clear indications that significant problems need to be addressed.

Of 154 educational welfare officer posts, 23 are currently vacant, according to figures released to me in recent days. In the interest of time, my colleagues will cover the issue of Gaeloideachas. Tá siad in ann níos mó a dhéanamh ansin freisin.

On the issue of class sizes, Ireland has some of the largest class sizes in Europe. Over 51,000 primary school pupils were in classes of 30 children or more last year. Meanwhile, the INTO is calling for the pupil-teacher ratio to be reduced to 19:1, a call that we fully support. Successive Governments, a number of which the Minister has been a part of, have failed to deliver not on the INTO's commitments but on their own commitments to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio.

With regard to teacher recruitment and retention, teachers are the backbone of schools. The strain on teacher supply is heavily related to the housing crisis that this Government has created. Housing prices are out of reach and unaffordable to many people in need. There are a number of key measures that the Minister needs to take to support and address the recruitment and retention crisis. We need to look at the time-bound provision, for example, to allow people to conduct their Droichead year after training abroad. That has been delayed, inexplicably. Pay parity is an issue. The cost and duration of the PME is an issue. I welcome the commitment with regard to permanent contracts but will they be full-hour contracts? We need a guarantee in this regard. In excess of 13,500 unqualified teachers were needed, because of the recruitment and retention crisis, to stand before children in classes across the State. The teacher recruitment and retention crisis is such that, at secondary level, schools are forced to drop subjects, and the TUI had significant information in this regard. It is a very significant issue that needs to be addressed.

While we all recognise that the leaving certificate is changing, I fundamentally disagree with the Minister's approach to leaving certificate reform. I believe the Minister has made a mistake in ramming through the reforms without the proper resources. It is shameful that we are using potential pay increases as a bargaining chip in this regard. We need to manage the process of leaving certificate reform and there is a major risk with the approach this Minister is taking. Students and teachers need support, not more pressure. I firmly believe the approach the Minister is taking is the wrong one. Let the teachers decide in their own ballot. I have real concerns that the approach being taken will heap advantage on advantage and disadvantage on disadvantage, undermine the strength of the leaving certificate and cause harm to our graduates. There is a lot of work to be done.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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As a teacher for 20 years and an SET múinteoir for ten, I have seen at first hand the power of education to break down barriers for children. From my own experience of growing up in Ireland's education system, I know how one good teacher can change a child's life, nurturing confidence, curiosity and a sense of belonging. This is especially true for those without much support at home. I thank the teachers of Ireland, many of whom go above and beyond, often at a significant personal cost, to ensure that every child has a chance to realise their potential.

It is thanks to their dedication that there is any truth to the idea that education is a great leveller. Nonetheless, our teachers are woefully undervalued. Too many are stuck in part-time or temporary roles, with job insecurity and a two-tier pay scale still in place. It is unsustainable and, as a result, many of our talented teachers are leaving the profession and going abroad. There are roughly 8,000 of our best and brightest young teachers in the Gulf countries, no doubt because of the cost of living crisis, which has evidently not gone away despite Government claims to the contrary.

We also know the right environment is crucial to a child's learning and development. Right now, schools across the State are chronically underfunded, capitation grants have not kept pace with inflation and schools are struggling to cover basics, such as heating and electricity. That is not a world-class system.

Ba mhaith liom a lua freisin go bhfuil sé de cheart ag gach páiste oideachas a fháil trí mheán na Gaeilge, ceart nach bhfuil á chomhlíonadh faoi láthair. I mo Dháilcheantar féin, i gCill Dara Theas, tá an baol ann go mbeidh ar Naíonra Uí Shionnaigh dúnadh an bhliain seo chugainn de bharr easpa maoinithe. Tá an t-éileamh do luathoideachas lánGhaeilge ag fás ach níl an naíonra incháilithe don scéim rialtais. Éilím go dtabharfaí aird ar an gcás faoi leith seo agus go gcinnteofar go bhfuil an tseirbhís ríthábhachtach seo in ann leanúint ar aghaidh. I have brought up Naíonra Uí Shionnaigh here before. I have written to Minister, Deputy Foley's Department. I am really pleading with the Minister for help in saving Naíonra Uí Shionnaigh. That is 33 places Kildare South cannot afford to lose but the right to an education trí mheán na Gaeilge is also so important.

As I stand here, it is ironic that we are speaking about a world-class education system when the truth is that, come September, children still will not have a school place or will be placed in an inappropriate school setting that does not meet their needs.

Yesterday, I spoke with a principal in a primary school in Newbridge. He has been pleading with the Department for years to sanction a special class but he is rightfully insisting on a grant for a properly furnished appropriate space and he has been refused time and time again. They need future-proof facilities, not a quick-fix solution which will drain resources down the line.

Thousands more are waiting for therapies that are essential to their learning. Just today, the Ombudsman for Children published a report confirming cases of children still being subjected to repressive and traumatic practices of seclusion in our schools. I welcome the move to ban this and I urge the Government to ensure the ban is properly enforced.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gealladh sa Chéad Dáil in 1919 san fhorógra daonlathach gur "cóir agus gleus is gádh dhóibh chun teagaisc agus taithighe ceart do thabhairt dóibh i gcóir na hoibre a bheidh le deunamh aca mar chomhaltaí den tSaorstát Gaedhealach". An gheallúint a bhí tugtha ná go mbeadh teagasc agus cur chuige ceart maidir leis an oideachas agus traenáil ar fáil do chuile saoránach. Sinn Féin's vision is for those words to be treated like they matter. The reality, though, is that they do not seem to matter and the Government even breaks its own laws in relation to children in this State.

Frankly, it is insulting that we have these type of statements without legislation. We need legislation to give effect to the demands, the desire and the right of students and children to have a proper education. In my own area, in Dublin South-Central, St. Ultan's Primary School is way above some of the other schools in the area and needs to be set as an example, but that is the yardstick. Every other school should be a St. Ultan's. There are no ifs or buts about it. When you look at the fact that the Department had to be brought kicking and screaming to develop Our Lady of Hope School and Scoil Eoin across the road, which is struggling, and given that nearly every other school in the constituency lacks resources, you can see why we need resources. When any child has an additional need, there should be additional resources. It should be a given. We should not have a system which facilitates students not taking Irish in secondary school. That is an absolute scandal that is growing, day in and day out.

We should have already a Gaelscoil in Dublin 10. We should have a Gaelscoil in Dublin 12, and yet there is prevarication or no engagement with the Department. Hopefully, when the submission is made for the new site in Ballyfermot, the Minister will embrace it. Hopefully, we will see shortly a Gaelscoil in Dublin 10.

In relation to the secondary school where there is a primary school in Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8, the demand is that the Minister will meet and engage with that community as quickly as possible to ensure that the school, when it opens next year, has all the facilities and the wherewithal to become a proper Gaelcholáiste.

There is a lot more that needs to be done. I welcome the debate but it is no good unless there is action and legislation to give effect to that.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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First, I welcome to the Gallery today Diarmaid Dulohery from Blarney, Louise Ahern, Pat Egan and my brother, Mark Kenny. This is the first time most of them have been in Leinster House and I wish them a fantastic day. I welcome this debate. It is seriously important but with this debate, I would appreciate that we would take these issues on board and work with them.

I will begin in relation to leaving certificate reform. As the Minister will be aware, this is something that I have a great passion about because I taught in two secondary schools and my subject of business is part of tranche 1, which will be part of the reform come this September. I appreciate that this is an enormous change in the senior cycle curriculum. However, I have my reservations about it. They have to be appreciated because I share these reservations with the majority of secondary school teachers and parents across the country. I genuinely believe it is a rushed reform. It has been thought out for a number of years but what we are doing right now is almost providing incentives for teachers to take it on board, with this 5% pay increase and getting a contract after one year in the school. It will favour children from more affluent families as well.

I have stated on the floor of the House previously that, as we are all well aware, we have vocational schools across the country that have 100-year-old infrastructure in place. I know there has been funding allocated towards science laboratories, in particular, but it is not covering the cost. That is what I am hearing from science teachers. The Irish Science Teachers Association requested a meeting with the Minister and that has not taken place. I would appreciate if that would take place because they have serious concerns and they are the ones on the ground in our laboratories teaching in our schools. I would appreciate if that contact could be made. It is also important to recognise that in the majority of the private schools across the country we have employed laboratory technicians and we do not have them in the public schools. As I said, the infrastructure that is in place is not adequate to deal with these changes.

The last time health and safety guidelines were introduced for leaving certificate science was 1996. We are proceeding with the redevelopment of science, biology, chemistry and physics without any updated health and safety guidelines in the science laboratories. The last ones were before I was even born.

We have serious issues in relation to special educational needs. I do not doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan's bona fides on this. The Minister of State is a man of integrity. I recognise the work both he and the Minister have done. I recognise that 399 new special classes have been opened but I fear that we are still almost trying to catch up with the disaster that has been in the education system for the past ten to 15 years. I still am dealing with parents on a daily basis who cannot get access to what they would consider an appropriate school place. I welcome that school places are opening but we need to talk about appropriate school places. They are essential. If we do not open appropriate school places, we will have children travelling long distances throughout their county to get to school.

I will focus, in particular, on my own constituency of Cork North-Central. I absolutely welcome that a special school will be opening in Carrignavar but we need to work on the logistics of it far quicker than we are working on them right now because we cannot allow children who have special educational needs to be travelling to Fermoy to go to school. We need to get the ball rolling now, get this over the line and get Carrignavar opened again. Of particular relevance in this regard - it spans across the Ministry for housing as well - is the wastewater treatment plant there. If we are opening a school there, the wastewater treatment plant will play a significant role. I appreciate that Carrignavar is being sanctioned a special school.

DEIS plus was recognised in the Minister's contribution today but I still do not see any budget or concrete timeframe on the introduction of DEIS plus. I was privileged to teach in a poor socioeconomic area in Cork city where there are serious barriers to education for a lot of children who are brought up in families which might not value education as much as other families throughout the country.

I was privileged to get the opportunity to teach those students and to play an important role in their lives. However, there are still serious barriers to education for many people. We still have voluntary contributions in most of our voluntary schools across the country. Paying for uniforms is still an enormous cost for parents. I welcome the roll-out of the hot meals school programme. I have seen it at first hand. It operated in the school I taught in. I welcome that. It is appropriate and fitting. However, we need to look at the further costs imposed on parents. I ask for a concrete timeframe for DEIS plus and a concrete budget in respect of the public expenditure that is going to be involved.

I spoke about access to third level in a committee meeting yesterday and I spoke to the Minister, Deputy Lawless, about it on the floor of the Dáil the other day. This needs to be focused on. I appreciate the fact that the leaving certificate applied programme and the LCVP are being taken up by far more students. That is absolutely to be welcomed. I did the LCVP myself. It is a fantastic subject and really does set you up. The preparation of your CV and other parts of that curriculum are absolutely essential. We should also try to get students into apprenticeships. We must provide them with those opportunities.

I will also specifically focus on the staff within our schools. I have brought up the role of the special educational needs co-ordinator with the Minister in the Dáil previously. This role is an assistant principal 1 post. As I have seen throughout all of my time both as a student and as a teacher, the role of special educational needs co-ordinator must be a stand-alone position. We are putting people who have been promoted to an AP1 post into this position despite the fact that they may have had no training in the role. The role of special educational needs co-ordinator must be a stand-alone position.

I will also speak about special needs assistants, SNAs. I previously asked about an SNA freeze. I was told this did not happen and that no directive was sent out. The principal of a school in Mallow who contacted me was told over the phone that this was what had happened. A school principal has also told my colleague, Deputy Ahern, who represents Dublin South-West, over the phone that this was what they had been told by the SENO. There was obviously nothing in writing. I am not saying anything. Perhaps it is not true but I ask the Minister to once again clarify the role of special needs assistants and to provide sanction for more of them. We have the highest number of them in our system ever. That is absolutely true but the modern classroom is changing so significantly that we need far more. Sanctioning such posts is an absolute priority.

I will speak about secretaries. My grandmother has been a secretary in a primary school for the last 30 years. She is 70 years old and will retire without a pension. That is a fact. We need to take a serious look at pension parity for all staff, including caretakers, secretaries and all ancillary staff throughout the country.

We also need to look at incentives to undertake the professional master of education programme. I was lucky enough to have done a bachelor's degree in education and so did not have to pay the €6,000 or €7,000 each year for the two years of a professional master of education programme. We need incentives. We must also look at how to attract teachers who have left Ireland back to our country. Perhaps we should look at their place on our incremental scale. As I have asked previously, would it be possible to put people who have spent four years teaching in England on point 4 of the incremental scale when they come back?

To mention a personal point of view that we have also raised in a Private Members' motion, it is absolutely necessary that teachers have the opportunity to upskill in seizure first aid in school. That is a personal thing for me. I would appreciate it if the Minister's Department could look at providing free seizure first aid training for all staff, including SNAs, caretakers, teachers and school management.

The issue of the capitation grant per student is constantly being raised with me. Schools are being referred to the FSSU. They just do not have enough money. The Minister has assisted me with particular cases and I really appreciate that but it is absolutely necessary to look at the capitation grant per student.

We called for a national assembly on education in our 2024 manifesto. I would appreciate it if all stakeholders could be involved once the Department calls a national assembly. I appreciate that the Minister's is a very extensive role. I will continue to work with her but we have serious challenges to outcome.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We have been asked to deliver statements on delivering a world-class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve his or her full potential. Since the foundation of the State, we have seen improvements in our education system. Opportunities that may not have been available to our grandparents in the twenties and thirties were available to our parents. Certain opportunities may not have been available to our grandfathers or grandmothers. As a State, we have improved the system through different steps along the way. My dad has never spoken too fondly of Fianna Fáil but one person he has always spoken fondly of is Donogh O'Malley, who introduced free education at second level. Steps like that in the late sixties brought us to the point we are continuing on from today.

In the last 30 years, since I went to school, I have seen significant changes. I may have been fortunate in having been unaware of some of them as an individual. I went to school in a classroom where all my friends could kick a ball, read easily and learn Irish. There were no difficulties. That is because there was separation in our schools. The kids who were a bit different and who had a different level of needs were not in the same classroom as me. That has changed for my children. There are mixed and diverse abilities in their schools. The most important thing is that those children who used to be separated are now in combined classes. Their families and parents get to see them mix in the way they always should have. Those are the changes we have seen in our State over the last 20 or 30 years. That has been a great thing for us.

It is obvious that improvements are consistently needed. I have raised these with the Minister and she and the previous Minister have made significant changes but there is plenty more work to do. This is consistently brought up. It was brought up during the week with Cara. Many other issues align with that. We spoke about how the numbers keep increasing. From an education perspective, we need more spaces.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh spoke about the importance of having more Gaelscoileanna. That is a facility the State should deliver. We have been really positive about Gaelscoileanna. We have seen improvements as regards Irish being spoken but we need to deliver those facilities. It would be very difficult for the State to deliver all of those facilities in one go but we can endeavour to do it piece by piece.

I will come back to my county of Kildare. I see Deputy Ní Raghallaigh across the way. We know the burdens we have in Kildare. We know the burdens presented by a rapidly growing population and the depth of difficulties they impose on the population. Access to the schools people want to go to might not always be available. People might not be able to go to school in their communities. Our Government should be endeavouring to ensure that children can attend classes in their own communities and it is doing so. That is what the Minister is doing and that is what we continue to impress upon her. In individual cases, we may not be able to figure out a solution straight away but it is incumbent on us to resolve those issues.

I have worked with individual schools in my area that want to deliver those first-class facilities. Schools like Scoil Mochua in Celbridge are looking for extra space for special education classes. That school is willing. The principal and the board of management are keen and we are looking to find a solution but there is a difficulty with land authorities. It is those sorts of blockages that are stopping us from getting that first-class facility in that specific area.

With regard to Maynooth, a Gaelscoil is required for north-east Kildare. We have had difficulties. We need extra hours for the school and teachers to get the kids to come in to ensure the school grows in the way it should and that a facility will ultimately be delivered.

These are items on which I wish to represent the people of north Kildare. I could go on about a multitude of other issues we come across in individual situations. We all have our own stories to tell. My wife is a primary school teacher so I hear about the difficulties and challenges teachers face and about the bureaucracy they sometimes face. However, what all of them, including my wife, ultimately talk about is the work the teachers themselves do, their commitment, their work and the care they show for the children. We even see it here in Leinster House every day. We see the kids coming in. They visit this place because they look up to it and see on the news that this is where important decisions are made. It is great that I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of those children and those who educate them because, without the world-class education system we are referencing today, we will not be able to deliver what they need.

We can talk all we want about economics and about being best in class but it starts in the schools and starts at home. We as the Government will continue to work to ensure that we can be best in class worldwide in any education system and be proud of it.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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First let me recognise all of the good work that has been undertaken by the Department of education and various Ministers, and the huge changes that have taken place in the delivery of school projects and school courses, in accommodating students, and the developments in the third level sector. Today we are talking about a word-class education system. I will focus on a few things that are relevant to my constituency but they feed into the title of this debate. The Jonah Special School, Roll No. 20380B in Slieverue, which caters for students with autism and ADHD, was promised a new building. It was told it was getting it and that the money was allocated and yet it is still in the same building waiting for delivery of a state-of-the-art school. It is accommodating the most vulnerable students in our society. I want to know why that is not going ahead now.

I want to ask about a teaching post in Ballyragget National School Roll No. 20506U. It went through the system. The fact that it was denied a teacher will result in it having at least 30-plus pupils in a classroom, causing serious accommodation issues. Yet, because it did not fit into the pigeon hole it did not get through the appeals system and it will now be denied that extra teacher.

I turn to the Presentation Secondary School, which is a magnificent building that was constructed alongside the original school, which is now almost complete. I want to see an AstroTurf pitch provided for it because it gave up its sporting facility. It would be wrong to allow the construction to be completed without that provision. This again goes back to the title of this debate today, which is for a world-class education system. We have to give our students the very best.

St. John's senior and junior national schools in Kilkenny will amalgamate. This will cause a lot of difficulties because it is two different sites and a new school will have to be constructed. I want to see the principal position being retained in the junior school. The principal is retiring and a recruitment process is in place but there is an absolute need to have a principal in the senior school, which is a distance away from what is known as "the lake school". I would like the principal to be sanctioned in that lake school and be appointed. Then let us get to the various phases of the amalgamation, including the physical amalgamation in one building.

The St. John of God National School in Windgap applied in late December 2023 for repairs to the roof. It is still waiting for approval to carry out those works. These are issues that need to be dealt with.

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, arranged for the school bus operator to come in. I have always said, and I am going to say it again, that it is time we put this contract out to tender. It has told us it is now €90 million in deficit. I would like to know what is happening in that company. Why, within EU procurement rules, is the Department not being forced to go out to tender on that service? Students are being left at bus stops and at their schools. There are issues around the provision of a transport system from Gowran, Mullinavat, Ballyhale and Kilmacow. This has gone on for years and it has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the parents whose children attend those schools.

The last issue I will refer to is the fact that parents who have a child with autism or ADHD cannot get a place in the system. They are as important as any other student in the system. There are kids in Kilkenny who cannot get a place. Their parents are out hunting for a place. I ask that the Minister and the Minister of State would address this issue. It is not good enough. We had it on Tuesday when discussing the assessment situation. It is time to address the issue and have officials on the ground proactively working with the families.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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Ensuring that every child can achieve their full potential is the ethos that should drive everything we do in terms of education. Economic background, social class, or financial resources should not be impediments to the success of any child in our education system. They say it takes a village to raise a child but it is also true that it takes the full community to educate a child. In mid-April I attended a research report launch for The Sky is the Limit at Corpus Christi National School in the north side of Limerick city. Those who spoke at the launch included teachers, past pupils and support workers from the community. It is a fantastic school. The report shows just how important it is for every school and for every child to have the full support of the wider community. Those engaged with the school embrace the quote, "It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men". This line stuck with me. It encapsulates for me the importance of education and of allowing children to reach their full potential. I would suggest that if possible The Sky is the Limit project could be rolled out in other areas.

Across the city to the south side of Limerick, we have the Le Chéile National School. I appeal to the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, to reach out to the Le Chéile National School. I have raised this in the Dáil on a number of occasions. For a variety of reasons, it has been missed out on all the supports, services and everything. This is a school in the second most deprived area in the State and it probably has the highest number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diagnoses.

I want to move on to the issue of school secretaries. These are often the first person a child or a parent will meet on a school day. School caretakers keep the school buildings ready for use. Both roles are crucial to the smooth running of schools. We in Sinn Féin stand with these workers and their union Fórsa in their parity campaign. Their demands are fair and just.

Giving every child the opportunity to reach their full potential must begin with ensuring that we have enough teachers. The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and the Teachers' Union of Ireland found that 64% of schools have unfilled vacancies, with 20% of schools forced to drop subjects due to the lack of teachers. Last year, an INTO survey of primary and secondary schools revealed almost 1,000 teaching vacancies across the State. With these shortages we had 13,500 unqualified teachers teaching in schools to backfill our teacher shortage. Why do we have such a shortage of educators? The salaries, especially for new teachers, have led many to emigrate as they cannot see how they can build a life in this State with the ongoing and unmanaged housing crisis coupled with the cost-of-living crisis. There are steps the Minister could take to manage the shortfall in educators.

One of most exciting and daunting times in a child's life and educational journey is the transition for primary to secondary school. In Limerick, we have a unique common application system. The system requires sixth class students to list their schools in order of preference. The system is in place for the correct reasons: to avoid the class-based system and selection systems that can arise within the city and has done for generations but which unfortunately does not work for all students. In recent years multitudes of children have received 11 rejection letters from schools. In 2023 there were 20 students in this situation. Can you imagine how deflating it is and how much it would dent a child's confidence to receive 11 rejection letters from the only 11 schools that are available? It is a challenge for parents how to explain to their child why he or she does not have a place yet all their friends do.

I encourage the Minister to review the system and adjust it as necessary so that other Limerick children and their families do not have this stress. There is work to be done in delivering the world-class education system we aspire to.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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We do have a world-class education system, broadly speaking, in Ireland but our system is failing many of our young children and young people, and particularly those facing disadvantage and trauma. I have so much to say but I want to be very specific in my speech today. It is about those young people, the ones we do not capture all the time. When I am talking about education disadvantage and young people facing trauma, I want to be very clear that this failure does not lie with the child, the young person or their families and communities. We, as legislators, and policymakers need to ensure that every single one of them is supported in the best way we can. I urge the Government to take this on board.

There are deep inequalities in our schools. The best way to see that is to visit any school in a disadvantaged area and then go to a private school and see the differences in resources, supports, outcomes and expectations. It is staggering. That is not equality; it is systematic injustice.

I spent almost three decades working in youth work and education, as well as in teacher education and the school completion programme. I thank the Minister for mentioning school completion so many times in her speech today. I know that my colleagues will be absolutely delighted about that. I have seen first-hand the failures for these young people. I have also listened to those young people. In my doctoral research, I sat with young people who had left mainstream school early, before the leaving certificate. They had gone back to alternative education, which I will come to in a while. Those young people are not statistics; they are teenagers who are traumatised. They are navigating poverty, bereavement, the loss of a parent to prison or death and perhaps they grew up in care or homelessness and with violence and systemic neglect. This system that we have does not fit, and is not built for, those students. We have to do something about that.

We need to protect these young people and provide for them in our education system. A young person who is experiencing adverse childhood experience, ACE, does not drop out - that desperate phrase - but is pushed out, not always by intention but certainly by design. They are labelled disruptive, difficult or lazy when they are, in fact, surviving unthinkable adversity. A young person once told me, "Nobody asked me why I was angry. They just gave me detentions." This is the Ireland we are responsible for, an Ireland in which a child in trauma is more likely to be punished than supported. We talk often in this Chamber about the importance of education, but education that ignores trauma is not education; it is endurance. It asks children to carry grief, fear and instability on their backs as well as their bags, to sit in school - through double maths, perhaps - and perform as if nothing has happened. That is not resilience. I hate saying that children are resilient. It is not that. That is survival and it is morally indefensible.

The science and evidence are there. Adverse childhood experiences directly impact the child's cognitive, emotional and physical development and increase the risk of early school-leaving, mental illness, substance misuse and chronic disease later in life. The more trauma a child experiences, the more his or her ability to learn and participate in school is compromised. We must approach education in a policy that operates to support and protect them. What I find frustrating is the fact that we see pilot projects here and there, some of which are brilliant, but they are underfunded, under-resourced and often cut short. I get frustrated when I see the Department rolling out strategy documents with well-meaning language and everything, but when it comes to implementation and real system-wide change, the strategies are often found wanting because there are no resources behind them. The other point I wish to make is that there is no coherent strategy for trauma-informed education. Teachers are not being systematically trained in how to understand or support children in distress.

The school completion programme, a programme that really works, is forced to scrape together resources each year. It is never sure of funding and does not have enough to reach things. The DEIS schools provide vital support. The Minister and Minister of State know this; I am preaching to the converted. I am delighted to see that there will be a roll-out of how DEIS can be improved, as it really needs to be. There are young people outside the DEIS model, however, who are just lost. We need to bring them in and make sure that they are protected.

Alternative education is still treated as a last resort or dumping ground by some people but, for the young people with whom I worked, when they returned to education in an alternative education setting such as Youthreach, a community training centre or iScoil, they were seen for the first time. They were heard and understood. That is when they started to believe in themselves and think that they might have a future. That should not be the exception; it should be standard. What is the plan for any child who loses a parent and is expected to sit through a history test, for example? What can we say to a teenager who is suspended for lashing out, when what they really need is a trauma-informed space and appropriate supports to help him or her? What can we do about the invisible system that only sees behaviour, not the person? Inaction is not neutral; it is a choice. It is a political choice that leaves children behind, entrenches inequality and prioritises budgets over lives. We in the Social Democrats choose that no child should be left behind. We must be brave enough to imagine what the education system Ireland can be for young people most at risk to ensure that they have an equal start, constant support and a bright future.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank my colleague for sharing her time with me, especially when she has such valuable insight to give and so much to say on the issue.

I wish to raise the issue of the school transport scheme. A key part of the education system that we provide is the ability for our children to get there, particularly those who are living in rural communities. This facilitates parents who might need to work and children living distant from the public bus route. It is a very important component of the service that the Department provides. I know the Minister is new in this role but, unfortunately, what we have seen to date is a year-on-year failure to provide a sufficient bus service for children who need it under the school transport scheme. There are issues across the country, but my county of Wicklow seems to be one of the worst impacted every year when there are difficulties. Oftentimes, literally the night before the students are due to go back to school at the end of August, parents are told there is no bus for them. Two years ago there was a situation whereby some of those students did not get their bus for six, seven or eight months after that point, despite having paid and having secured their tickets. One parent actually had to give up her job because she had to drive her child to school. The impact this had on families was enormous. Will the Minister make sure for the upcoming term that there is sufficient capacity in the system and that we have enough bus drivers and contractors on board? I know there was a review and recommendations were made, but we have not seen them rolled out yet. At the very basic level, we need to make sure there are enough buses, because it causes untold difficulties for students and families when those buses do not show up on time.

There needs to be a speedy resolution to the next-nearest school issue. There are an awful lot of issues with that, whether just by virtue of the fact that a child cannot get a place in their next school, but parental choice also needs to be reflected in that. Indeed, the distances will be reviewed as well, but primarily we need to make sure that there are enough buses.

I wish to raise a few specific issues relating to Wicklow, the first of which I raised yesterday with the Taoiseach. I do not know whether he has had a chance to mention it to the Minister yet, but there is a number of students in Greystones in sixth class who still do not have a place for the end of August. One of these children actually had to stay back last year. The child repeated sixth class because there was no secondary school place for last year. This is the child's second time getting caught up in the demand issue in Greystones. There are also problems in Newtownmountkennedy and around Wicklow town. What I asked yesterday was whether the Minister would send a liaison to talk to the parents. I have a number of names I can provide. The liaison should also be sent to the schools because they are caught in the enrolment process. The child may be No. 100 on the list. There is no way a school will be able to get through that and that administrative issue is the problem. We also need to look at a new school for Newtownmountkennedy because this is playing into part of this issue.

I want to talk very briefly about a fantastic school called New Court School in Bray. It is a special needs school. I was at the launch of its sensory garden a couple of weeks ago. The school had to fundraise for the sensory garden. It has no money and is now going on to another fundraising campaign to fundraise for swings. It is a special school and it has nothing there. The parents and the community do not have the energy to be fundraising for this. I will contact the Minister about this. I would love it if the Minister could give the school and schools like it additional funding to help with those kinds of measures because they are so fundamental to the children who are there. Additionally, the school communities are not the same as many other school communities; they are much smaller and do not have the capacity to raise money in the same manner. I will raise that with the Minister separately.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for being in the House today. I am hugely proud of the education system in Ireland, partly due to the fact that there are a lot of educators in my extended family and there is a lot of experience with the educational system.

I welcome that there seems to be a move in the education system away from a pure focus on class sizes towards investing in specialist resources, therapies and teams and concentrating these resources on those students and pupils who need them most. This is greatly welcome from my perspective.

I wish to touch on a few points. The first is DEIS plus. It was good to see the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, out on the northside today. He was very welcome. As he said himself, you cannot beat boots on the ground and going out and seeing what is happening rather than necessarily being in here. This is certainly applicable from my perspective. We visited three schools. I could make those three but I missed the fourth. It was great to have the Minister of State out with us. We touched on DEIS plus in one school. St. Joseph's National School in Bonnybrook in Coolock is one where the teachers work extremely hard with students and parents in what are sometimes very challenging circumstances. DEIS plus is a real opportunity for change and for upping the dial for those schools. It is in the programme for Government and I am delighted to see it there. It will likely have to be piloted. Coolock has had a lot of bad press recently and has featured in the media a lot. Coolock is a great location. There are great families and communities there. I ask that we look at piloting the DEIS plus scheme for those four or five schools that work together in Coolock and Darndale to see if we can make a real difference in the long term for them.

I also wish to mention Marino Institute of Education, MIE, down the other end of the constituency. It is a fantastic institution that has been turning out world-class teachers for a long time. They are teaching not just in Ireland but abroad as well. It is a bit of a hidden and quiet success story in the Irish education system because the institution does not toot its own trumpet the whole time. It just gets on with the job and does its work. MIE needs a long-term home within the Higher Education Authority. I encourage the Minister and the Minister of State to consider that over time we could work together to develop a long-term strategy for where that home for MIE would be so it will be possible for that fantastic institute to continue to turn out those great teachers who educate our young.

The last item I am going to raise is Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. It is located between Stapolin and St. Joseph's National School where we were this morning. It is a fantastic Gaelscoil delivering great education to students as Gaeilge. It has been seeking and waiting for year upon year - some 25 years plus now - for the buildings it really needs and deserves. I know it is a priority because we have discussed it several times. When the time comes, I ask again that the Minister of State will come out and visit the school. I hope we will finally be able to make a decision and give that school the priority it needs so those buildings are built and we can get on with it. Go raibh maith agat.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The running of a school community is no easy task. We are fortunate in Ireland to have incredibly talented, committed and highly educated teaching and management staff who are passionate in their roles as educators. They do so too often in challenging circumstances not of their own making. These are challenging circumstances of the Government's making because successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments have chronically underfunded our schools. The INTO has called for a 20% increase in schools funding and a review of school finances. I recently reviewed the finances with one local school principal. It was apparent that there is a dire need. I was asked to pose the question as to why the ICT grant has not been paid yet this year and where that school's minor works grant is. Once ring-fenced funding is taken into account, each school is left on a shoestring budget of perhaps €20,000 to €30,000 to run the school for the year. How are schools to function on this level of funding? I ask the new Minister of State to examine and seriously consider progressing legislation co-sponsored by my constituency colleague, Deputy Matt Carthy, during the last Dáil that would mandate adequate funding for our schools. We must invest in reducing our class sizes. Over 51,000 primary school children were in classes of more than 30 last year. Overcrowding in classrooms reduces the quality of education, places an undue burden on educators and is, of course, a contributing factor in the recruitment and retention crisis.

The shortage in special schools and special classes is shameful. I acknowledge and welcome the pending opening of the interim special school in Monaghan and that we have 18 additional places we did not have before, but we need to see rapid progression on the opening of a permanent school. We also need rapid progression on the delivery of additional special classes. I hear too often from school principals that they feel they have done the work at their end. They have the space and have done the administration, and view the reason for the delays in getting classes up and running as lying within the Department of the Minister of State.

I also acknowledge the work of our school secretaries, school caretakers, SNAs, bus escorts and bus drivers. They are essential to the functioning of our schools. I appeal to the Minister of State specifically in terms of the secretaries and caretakers. This has been going on too long. Please deliver pay parity to them.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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The title of this session is statements on a world-class education system. We must begin by saying we do get very good outcomes in many ways given Ireland is near the end or in the lower part of the OECD in terms of education spending, which is about 8% below the average. However, we would be wrong to think we have a world-class education system. We have an education system that is quite ableist, driven by results and focused on serving the needs of industry. There are, for example, the extra points introduced for maths, the whole points race and so on. We must put these provisos on the record.

We have a major crisis in what is called "special education". I do not particularly like that term because this is about education for every person, including anyone who is neurodivergent, autistic or disabled. It is really about inclusive education rather than about something special. We all know, though, that in the past anybody who fitted into those categories and did not conform was just omitted from the system at an early age as an early school leaver. I am sure the Minister of State has been at all the debates that have taken place here all week, so I will not rehash them. We need investment so we can recruit the staff, build the required buildings and, obviously, provide training. From having taught myself, I know it is a very particular area in which those working need specialist training.

In my area, we have the Danu 12. These 12 children were promised a place in the Danu special school but are now either sitting at home, staying in preschool or staying in unsuitable schools because the Minister of State's Department has not provided the modular building the school was promised. I know the Minister of State visited last week and listened to the issues in this regard. That is great and is appreciated. One of the issues, to which I will return later, is teacher recruitment and retention, which is a key problem. It is even more problematic for special education because it is just much more difficult. Is the Minister of State going to take any measures at all to address this issue? An example would be special allowances. There is a special allowance to teach in the Gaeltacht and one to teach on an island. There used to be loads of special allowances, even for comprehensive schools. The Government is not willing to look at this aspect and this is a real problem. I will come back to this point later.

We also have a situation in Ireland where parents have to campaign for schools. This does not happen in most other developed countries. I represent a very multicultural area. I regularly go to meetings and people from other countries just cannot get over the fact it is necessary to launch a campaign to get a school in Ireland. Obviously, it is even more necessary for special schools. We have this whole issue of temporary buildings.

Schools should be planned properly and tied in with development. We also have a problem with demographics with the Department of education continually in denial that when we build houses we will need schools and it just seems to be a real problem.

For example, the previous Minister said Ériu Community College did not need its own school and it is proposed to move that school 9 km away. It is a vast growing area. Tyrrelstown is also a fast-growing area. I will send details of 11 affected families to the Minister and she may be able to sort it out. There is no bus from Tyrrelstown to Onger where they have to go to school because they could not get into the local school. Bus Éireann has denied them school transport. Go Ahead has a bus but it does not operate in that area. What are they to do? Should they get one of the drones that plague the area?

We also have the ongoing saga of Castleknock Community College which will soon have 1,500 students. It is not the norm in Ireland to have a kind of high-school set-up. It does not have the pitches, facilities, etc., to deal with that. We also have ageing schools such as Coolmine Community School which was one of the first community schools in the country I believe. It has appealed to the Minister to access the emergency fund to repair the school roof. It has buckets on the floor. What sort of a system is that for about 1,000 students in the area? I ask the Minister to look into that. We need proper schools. We had a budget surplus for many years. Many students in St. Dominic's Community College cannot get into the transition year apparently because the funding for the school decreased which another real problem.

I also want to mention school type. We have seen many reports lately from TDs in the background saying it is nearly woke now to not want your child forcibly immersed into a religion. We need non-segregated schools, particularly in younger urban areas. In Ashtown on the Navan Road there is a massive demand from parents to have a multi-gendered multidenominational school; there is none in that area at all.

I want to discuss staff. Obviously, the education system thrives when it has committed staff. School secretaries balloted yesterday for strike action because of improper pensions and basically being treated very badly, as many women workers in this country are. It always seems to be women workers who are denied pension parity and are given precarity. We need to end precarity in education for SNAs and also for teachers.

I know the Minister has announced something recently. The teacher shortage is not really mentioned in the programme for Government at all. I am beginning to wonder if the Government is denying that there is such a thing. I can absolutely guarantee that there is, particularly in urban areas where rents are very high. In January the INTO estimated that there would be 2,767 primary school teacher posts unfilled, a third of all posts. In March The Irish Timesreferred to an unpublished Department of Education and Youth report which showed 400 unfilled second level posts and also an additional 800 posts where teachers were not qualified in those subjects. We all know we can turn our hand to a lot of things but teachers are just not as good if they do have not the love and the interest in that subject.

The Minister should look to Australia and the UK where they are taking massive measures to recruit teachers and to keep them. I know of Irish students who have gone to do their teacher training in the UK because they are getting paid the equivalent of the average industrial wage. They get paid even more if they are teaching a subject where teachers are in short supply. They are attracting young people to go and why would young people not go if they are getting paid the equivalent of a wage? Australia has introduced hard-to-fill allowances so if a school cannot fill a position, it can allocate an extra $20,000, for example. Those are the kinds of initiatives other governments are taking and there has not been a jot out of the Government here. We all know that unless it does that, it will not be able to solve the special schools crisis.

I will finish on leaving certificate reform. As an English teacher, I know it is wrong to make the leaving certificate 40% non-exam and allow students use AI. I know people can use AI but facilitating that is absolutely unbelievable. It will lower the standards in education completely. The Minister needs to listen to teachers on this. She needs to engage and not just set her face against that. Most of academia around the world is grappling with AI and trying to find ways to deal with it. We are in the very early stages. The Government seems to be saying, "Ah, sure look. We're done with that. Leave them off." However, many colleges and universities are coming back to exams rather than facilitating non-exam assessment because of AI.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I hope Members might indulge me before I call Deputy Ward. I welcome in the Gallery a group of golf ladies from Cushenstown, New Ross, County Wexford.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I take the opportunity to wish the best to both Ministers in their roles. There is not a TD on any side the House who does not wish them success because education is hugely important to our children. I want to raise a few local issues. Rathcoole Educate Together National School is currently in a temporary location in Citywest while it waits for a permanent building. It was told this would be a two-year temporary arrangement, but it has now been there for four years. It has now been told it will have to move to a new temporary location in the Newcastle area for the start of the new school term. This location will increase travel time for parents. A school bus has been provided by Department of education from Rathcoole to the current site in Citywest. The Department has indicated it will no longer provide school transport to the new temporary location. The reason for this is that there is another Educate Together school of the same denomination closer to it. In theory this is correct but the reality is that this is a temporary location in Newcastle and the school should be located in Rathcoole. This is a direct consequence of the delay in building a new Educate Together school in Rathcoole. Parents and pupils are paying the price for Fianna Fáil's and Fine Gael's ineptitude in school provision. I ask the Minister to get the Department to continue to provide a bus for the pupils as a temporary arrangement until the new Rathcoole Educate Together school is built. I will send her a note after this debate.

I also want to talk about my old school, St. Kevin's Community College in Clondalkin. When I first attended the school 37 years ago, it was in temporary accommodation in Lucan. We were using prefabs then which were 15 years old. Now, 37 years later, the school is in a new location on the Fonthill Road. Despite the provision of some accommodation over the years, the school is still using same prefabs that I first used 37 years ago. I know I have aged over the last 37 years, but imagine how much the prefabs have aged in those 37 years. They are over 50 years of age now. It is not fair on pupils or staff. The prefabs are damp and floors are literally unsafe. I walked across them and I could feel the floors moving underneath my feet.

Both the school and I are getting the runaround from the Department. We are getting contradictory responses back from the Department on why these have not been replaced. I was so concerned that I contacted the Health and Safety Authority in March about the floors after I walked across them and I have yet to receive a substantive response.

In 2025 we have a school still using prefabs that are 50 years of age. These prefabs are not the modern build temporary accommodation. These are prefabs that probably had a ten-year shelf life. They were probably five years past their use when I first used them 37 years ago. I ask the Minister to do everything in her power to try to get these prefabs replaced. I will send her a note after this debate.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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As the very proud daughter, niece, granddaughter and friend of primary, secondary and tertiary educators, I very much welcome this opportunity for statements today. I will not repeat what I have heard from other contributors. The book Poor by Dr. Kathriona O'Sullivan of Maynooth University points to the importance of education as a freedom, as a gateway and as being life changing. The importance of the one special teacher and the influence they can have on a young child or even a teenager and the later path in life that they may take is never to be underestimated.

It was most welcome to hear from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, about the engagement with the different teaching unions over recent weeks and the spirit of collegiality. The support of the teaching professionals is absolutely essential to ensure our young people will have that person of significance and that encouragement.

One area that overlaps with my background in health is emotional and sensory well-being as well as the academic side of our endeavour to be world leaders in education. On that emotional and sensory well-being piece - the Minister of State has heard me mention this at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism - it is so important to support and enable every child to learn. Fantastic pilot projects and local initiatives are being played out and implemented, and I am aware of data having been gathered over the last five years and possibly even as far back as eight years. There is the process of story massage, drama therapy and art therapy that we are aware of, and there are the important nurture rooms in the school environment for any child who feels a little out of sorts, maybe even including a child who is classified as dysregulated from time to time. Those resources are as important as the members of the teaching community and the bricks and mortar that huge efforts are being made to deliver. One school that is within the city boundary, which might be a useful reference for a visit as an example of best practice, is St. James's in Dublin 8, both the primary and secondary. Melissa - whose surname escapes me but I can get the details for the Minister of State's office - and her colleagues are actually walking the walk and gathering the data. The children are benefiting immensely and that progression of the child from primary school to junior to senior cycle is self-evident. The school is only a short journey from this House. That might provide some food for thought for an expanded education journey.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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On Sunday, I was with students, staff and parents of Danu Community Special School in the Millennium Park because we have an annual walk, and I got chatting to them about some of the issues that are happening. Today, I was in St. Michael's special school in Chapelizod and there was more of a grilling from the students than any journalist would be proud of. It was a really important opportunity to hear from the students and parents.

I want to bring the Minister of State's attention to the anomalies and inequities for students and staff in special schools. We have 113 special schools and this is going to be relevant to pretty much every single one of those. They are faced with the challenge of staff recruitment. I will give the example of Danu Community Special School, which opened in September 2019. Only one SNA, one secretary and one principal remain. Staff turnover has been more than 95% since 2019. With the current teacher crisis, this is twofold for the school due to it being a Dublin school and a special school. The recruitment and retention of teachers who teach in special schools and special settings is in significant crisis. The school needs seven teachers for September 2025 out of an allocation of nine. That is what they are looking for for September, and that is along with all the other schools that are looking for teachers. There are a number of recommendations. They have sent or are planning to send this letter to the Minister of State, so I urge him to please get back to them in that regard.

The school is seeking a number of things, a couple of which Deputy Coppinger mentioned, such as an allowance and Montessori being allowed onto the teaching councils. They have a couple of solutions. The other issue they are talking about is a wraparound service with the Blanchardstown children's disability network team, CDNT, which they have at the moment. As was mentioned earlier, however, they are getting 12 new students. Thirty-eight of the students have a wraparound service with the CDNT. The school has not been given an assurance that the 12 new students who are hoping to start when these new Portakabins are provided in September will be included in that. They have been told they will not be included. It is inconceivable that 38 students would have a wraparound service and 12 new students would not. That absolutely needs to be addressed and those supports need to be given to them.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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The principal has 60 staff members-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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-----and yet the school is paid for only eight teachers. They do not get paid for all those other staff they are looking after.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I am going to send this email on to the Minister of State because there are really important solutions related to this as well. I really hope he considers them.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. I now call on the Minister of State to make his concluding remarks. He has ten minutes.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank colleagues right across the House for their contributions, not just during the discussion this afternoon on making Ireland's education system a world-class system and making sure every child can reach his or her full potential. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue and I thank Deputies for their contributions on it. I also thank thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for the huge amount of work and co-operation over recent months with regard to the many issues we face in the Department of education. I am delighted to be working with the Minister on these issues.

As Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, my priority is to support all children with additional educational needs to reach their full potential. I have been working with families, children, schools and school communities in this regard over many years. I understand only too well the challenges that are faced by many families throughout the country. Since my appointment to this role in January, I have travelled almost the length and breadth of the country. I have been in many counties visiting a range of schools, whether mainstream schools with special classes or special schools. I thank the school communities for the work they do. I thank them sincerely for welcoming us but as well as that, for putting the issues they face daily out for us, as some Members have said. I see the work the school leadership, teachers, SNAs and all in the school community do to make sure we have a vibrant education system. There is no doubt about it that the school communities are working extremely hard. The commitment that they have to education within their school and within the wider community is evident in every classroom we go into or when we meet them. Much discussion has been had regarding disadvantaged education and how important education is for those who are disadvantaged. The education system is the great enabler. Tributes were paid to the enormous initiatives in education going back over the decades, nearly since the foundation of the State, as being one of the great enablers.

We have been talking to representatives from some of the schools over the last while. Some of the schools are in really disadvantaged communities, and the kids have such a love of their school communities. One of the presentations that was made on the wall in one of the schools we visited today was that the kids would love to see longer school days and would like to spend longer in school. That is completely unusual. It is certainly alien to me from when I was in school; the faster I could get out the door, the better. That is the point we have to take from that. One person from the school leadership spoke to us about how children will come up to them for a hug. We really have to go under that. We have to understand the importance of our days in school and what school communities are providing for in really disadvantaged areas. In any discussion we have on education, it is important to remember that we have many challenges but we have great participants. We have great people in the school leadership and teaching staff including the SNAs, caretakers, secretaries and all in the school communities. The work they are doing is second to none.

A number of issues that still need to be resolved were raised across the floor. In many debates since my appointment, I have told the Dáil that I will work with might and main to ensure long-term improvements are made to special education provision over the coming years. I am as committed as the ink is in the programme for Government to making sure those changes take place.

The majority of children and young people with special educational needs are supported in mainstream education with their peers thanks to the substantial investment in special education over recent years. Over 20 years ago, I chaired the education committee in the Houses of the Oireachtas. At that time, we discussed provision in mainstream education. We have embraced that over the past two decades. A large number of students are in mainstream education.

However, we have to make sure that those children for whom mainstream education is not suitable have proper resources in terms of special classes. In the coming school year, there will be over 400 extra special classes. They are being worked through at the moment and sanction has been given to 399. One comes under section 37A. At the moment, it appears that we will have capacity within those 400 classes, but if necessary we will exceed that. We will have to work through to make sure there are teachers, SNAs and school buildings. There is huge engagement with the Department of education and the NCSE nationwide on this provision.

The numbers show we will have to open further classes in the 2026-27 school year. A number of special schools have opened and will open across the country. Some are in temporary locations, in Monaghan, Cork and elsewhere. I visited Belmayne today for the opening of a special school. The facilities are fantastic in the Educate Together school. Those classes are opening to make sure we have places for children with additional needs and children who need support in a special school.

Deputy Kenny referred to Carrignavar. We are working extremely hard and are very confident that we will be able to address any matters arising there. We are very satisfied that we will be able to deal with them and that the facility will open in temporary accommodation this September. It will move to permanent accommodation during the school year. We need to work to ensure that happens.

The NCSE workforce has increased by over 50% since 2020, with the recruitment of 160 additional staff. This has allowed the NCSE to complete over 1,700 school visits this year, which will be vital in establishing special school provisions. That is important because, as we have more SENOs in the field who are out among communities liaising with families and school authorities, we need to build trust between them. That will be a vital piece of the infrastructure as we go forward.

The Government recently took a decision on the development of a national therapy service to ensure that the therapists are employed by the NCSE and work in special schools, in the first instance, and special classes. Therapists are hugely important. For children with complex needs special schools, families are struggling to do the best they can for those children and to meet their needs not just during the school day but 24-7. We are putting the burden on parents to go to therapists after school, but it is important that we have therapists in schools and we are working to make sure that happens. That is an important ingredient. Where we have therapists in schools, the whole school community learns from them and the work feeds into best practice and what can be done to de-escalate issues.

In a number of schools we have visited over recent months, there are anomalies in that excellent teachers who have trained in a different jurisdiction have difficulty being recognised by the Teaching Council. We are committed to rectifying that. We need to make sure that the people who are providing a massive service in school communities can be retained in the roles they have. That is an issue that has arisen frequently because many people have qualifications from outside of the State.

Education is important for everybody. People talk about ableism and everything else. We have to make sure that we have the best system in place because we understand the importance of early intervention for children. We need to make sure we have the best possible education system integrated into existing services.

I thank all of those in the House for their contributions and look forward to working with Deputies, along with my colleague the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to ensure we can improve the system of education and that we have timely places for children. We do not want families going into May, June or July not being sure of a school place. Next year, we will bring back the dates to ensure we have consistency and information for families earlier in the school year.