Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Children with additional needs are being failed by the State. Some 7,860 children will need special class or school places for this September but the Government has planned for only 5,500 places. That leaves at least 2,300 children without appropriate places and takes no account of possibly hundreds more. These are not statistics; these are children being failed by the State. Parents have been left in limbo weeks out from summer and are unsure if their children will have school places. Some parents have received as many as 14 rejection letters. They are doing everything asked of them and still getting no answers. This is an abject failure of political will.

Will the Government act to guarantee sufficient places, special needs assistants and supports for every child come September? Can it guarantee that the additional funding announced last week is new money and will provide an appropriate place for every child?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, 7,860 children who have applied for special placements in our schools. That is more than twice the number who did so ahead of the current school year. Please acknowledge that. It is because of the earlier date being forward. Six thousand are already enrolled in schools-----

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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In appropriate places. They are in the wrong places.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and a further 1,400 are preschool-age children. To be very clear, the Government is absolutely committed to meeting the needs of every one of those children. The €646 million approved by the Government is additional to the Estimate that was agreed at budget time. This money is largely to cater for the additionality that has arisen as a result of the change in the system that we brought in with the early date in October.

The investment in special education has been enormous, and rightly so. In the context of all that talk about failure, we have doubled and trebled the numbers across any metric to do with special education.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Since the beginning of this year, more than 30 prospective international students have come forward to detail how they were effectively scammed. After having their visa applications refused, they were denied refunds by the English language schools here that they had paid for places they cannot now take up. They have no protection, even though they paid upfront in good faith and followed the process. Some have lost out on thousands of euro in fees and have been left to chase refunds from providers based in different countries. The Irish Council for International Students and my Labour colleague Senator Laura Harmon, who has been working on this, have pointed out that the protective framework, TrustEd Ireland, is toothless. Will the Government act to regulate the English language school sector here in order to ensure that prospective students will be protected rather than being left to foot bills that they should not be liable to pay?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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My understanding is that a new regulation has been introduced by the Minister in respect of this in recent months. It is shocking that this would occur. I presume the matter has been referred to the Garda in terms of any fraudulent activity here, because it is absolutely unacceptable that would occur to any student. The Minister has acted on that, but I am sure he would be willing to engage with the Deputy’s representatives in order to provide an update on where we are on it and to take on board any constructive suggestions.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I thank the Taoiseach.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Is mian liom ceist a chur ar an Taoiseach faoi thaighde an Bhainc Ceannais. Research from the Central Bank published today shows that one in three adults has experienced fraud or scams. At the same time, social media companies earned an estimated €32 million last year from scam advertisements aimed at people in Ireland. These social media giants are turning a blind eye in order that they can profit off the misery of their customers. One couple from north Dublin were preparing for their dream wedding. They booked what they believed was a legitimate villa advertised on Facebook. They paid €2,800 for accommodation that did not exist. These scams are being operated on an industrial scale.

3 o’clock

Why are these social media companies allowed to make millions in advertising fees from these false, fraudulent advertisements? What will the Government do about it?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Online fraud is an enormous issue and has been for quite some time. There are regulatory frameworks governing this and obligations governing the companies as well. There is an issue with some of the revenue models of some of the companies in respect of advertising that defames people, for example. There is revenue in that and there is also revenue in the shocking case the Deputy outlined with a young couple being defrauded to the tune of €2,000 in respect of a villa. At both European and national levels, we will keep the legislation under review to make sure this is stamped out.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I want to ask about corporate capture of the Government, enabling landlords to build shed-sits with no planning permission, to rent them out with no legal protections, to evict tenants at any time with no right of appeal, no reason and no basis to go to the RTB. Where did this dystopian idea come from? A corporate think-tank set up by the billionaire Collison brothers. Plugging the idea two years ago, Progress Ireland boasted that there could be 350,000 such shed-sits, and it said they could be built based on whether rents were high enough to justify building one. This always had landlords' greasy fingers all over it but the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, claimed that it would only be for family members. He still has a video up on Facebook saying it would give younger people and older people the option to live independently of the family home while retaining support of the family network. He told RTÉ he did not see it as a rental measure. Will the Taoiseach go along with this creation of a second class of renters or will he stop this corporate capture?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy loves creating a narrative about every initiative of Government. It is nothing to do with Progress Ireland or anything like that but it is to do with supply. I will be straight-up.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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It is its idea.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not its idea.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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It is its idea.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputies all over this House were advocating for this long before Progress Ireland was ever established. There have been cases in rural Ireland where people have had difficulties with extensions and buildings in their back gardens, fields, or whatever they were attached to, including farmhouses and so on. There is a balance here. The Deputy has opposed every single measure to do with supply of housing that we have introduced. You name it. It includes any of the housing Acts, and everything else. I do not know what Deputy Murphy's agenda is, ultimately. I am not saying this is perfect but it is needed. It can be for family members and will be useful for family members but family members will not be staying forever in a unit out in the back. They will want to move on as well. These are not sheds, by the way.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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Today, we will receive a report in the audiovisual room from Ireland's US driver licence exchange campaign on an unnecessary barrier faced by the Irish diaspora and returning citizens. I raised this issue many times. In November 2025, I asked the Tánaiste to liaise with the Minister for Transport to direct the RSA and the National Driver Licence Service to recognise previous Irish driving licences without an outdated ten-year time limit. This is a simple, administrative change. It poses no risk to road safety and will immediately support Irish people seeking to return home. This can be done with the stroke of a pen. The Tánaiste acknowledged that this issue is a genuine barrier and linked it to the forthcoming national diaspora strategy. Since then, members of the diaspora have done the work the Government should have done. Their report shows that a pragmatic, risk-based system already used in other EU states is both possible and lawful. My question is straightforward. When will the Government act? Will the Taoiseach instruct the Minister for Transport to remove the barrier without further delay?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is working on this, and is making progress. We recently signed an agreement with Moldova for truck drivers to be able to come and work here automatically. It is needed for the diaspora. There is no question about that. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is making progress on it.

Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been contacted by a number of women in County Offaly who are experiencing significant delays in accessing screening through BreastCheck. I am informed that mobile screening is not due in Offaly for at least six months, meaning that some women are now waiting well beyond the recommended two year interval for a mammogram. This is causing real anxiety and raises serious concerns about equitable access to cancer screening services in the midlands. Will the Taoiseach raise this matter with the Minister for Health and the HSE and seek urgent action to ensure timely BreastCheck screening is restored in County Offaly?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will raise the issue with the Minister for Health. There may be other aspects to this as well. We do not want any anxiety in any location around this. I will talk to the Minister in respect of it.

William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise the issue of GP shortages in County Laois. The population of Laois has risen sharply over the past decade but primary care services have not kept pace. I acknowledge the tremendous work of local GPs. They are the backbone of community healthcare. However, the reality is the HSE can assign a GP to a medical card and GP visit card holder, but there are no GPs in the Portlaoise area with capacity and private patients are being left without access to a full-time GP. This is not sustainable for a growing county like Laois. What supports are being put in place to ensure that newly qualified GPs can establish in general practice, especially in counties in which need is acute? The Taoiseach knows that we in County Laois have a quota of houses to build over the next seven years, and rightly so. In Portlaoise alone, that number is 5,000 houses. I ask the Taoiseach to come up with some plan.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. General practice is one of the cornerstones of our health service. Forty-three percent of the population now has access to free GP care and Government investment has significantly increased. We spend in excess of €1 billion annually on general practice to support patients. There is a strategic review of general practice under way. The Minister for higher education has increased the places for medicine training to have more output and throughput of GPs through the colleges. We will await the strategic review. We increased funding substantially in terms of the 2019 GP agreement and a further €130 million investment under the 2023 GP agreement. We are making it more attractive. On training and recruitment in particular, there were 350 places in 2024 and 2025. That was an increase of two thirds since 2020. Getting those numbers through the colleges is going to be key.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I raise with the Taoiseach the case of Carrabane National School in east Galway. This school is on the priority list for development, and we welcome that, but the prefabs at the school are falling apart. The tenders were received for this building in January 2024. We are now in April 2026 and the Department of education has not yet made a decision on whether it will proceed. Will the Taoiseach please engage with the Department of education to unblock whatever blockages are there and see that this school is built? The people of Carrabane and the surrounding area have waited long enough and they are crying out to see this school built once and for all. I will support the Taoiseach in any way I can to see it delivered but the Minister for education needs to make a decision. She needs to work with the principal officers to make a decision. The tender reports were received in January 2024 and it is now April 2026. We need to see action.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Carrabane National School. If the tenders were issued in January 2024, it is difficult to comprehend why it did not get the green light soon after that. I certainly will engage with the Department of education on this and more broadly in terms of capital allocation to education. We have invested a lot in school buildings in the last number of years but it is vital to the quality of the learning environment for the children concerned. I will take up the matter.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you. I call Deputy Pa Daly. I apologise for missing him earlier.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle, and thank you for the opportunity to raise the issue of the former ecclesiastical site of Rattoo in Ballyduff, north Kerry. It is a national monument and 1,000 years old, and it is the best-preserved round tower in the whole country. It once hosted an abbey, a church, a hospital and even a school of music. It is of immense historical and local significance and huge tourism potential but it has been closed for 15 years while works are being carried out by the national monuments depot works. Most of those works have been completed. Can the Taoiseach give us a date when it will open again, either by taking away the scaffolding or by opening up the gate? Tourists cannot visit.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Is that the Office of Public Works, OPW?

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Yes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, in respect of this fascinating location and site. It is very historic, so obviously we would like to have it reopened, but I will have to get the timeline for the Deputy.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise with the Taoiseach the imminent sale of a substantial parcel of land in the Wicklow Mountains, including the summit of Lugnaquilla, due to be auctioned off this Friday. The 1,527-acre holding represents a massive opportunity for the State to secure what is essentially a priceless piece of our natural heritage. I do not think land of such environmental, cultural and recreational value should be sold off to the highest bidder, including international interests. It is an opportunity for the State to purchase this land. The land borders the Wicklow Mountains National Park and offers a real opportunity to expand the park and take that land into public ownership. At a time when we have a biodiversity crisis and are under obligations under the EU nature restoration law, not investing in additional public lands such as this would put us under additional financial strain and potentially lead to penalties from the EU.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to reply.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I have written to the Minister in relation to the sale of this land on Friday. Will the Taoiseach examine this with a view to the State purchasing it?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach to respond now.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It has obviously gone on the open market. I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, who has responsibility for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, but these are issues it pursues. We do not normally talk about land sales but obviously it is out there. I will see what its position on it is.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Local government is the beating heart of democracy. In July of last year, when replying to a question of mine, the Taoiseach confirmed that the abolition of town councils was a big mistake and that he was a great believer in restoring town councils. He said that many town councils had great visionary district councils in the past. In November of last year, the Taoiseach confirmed that it was an issue that was close to his heart, that he opposed the abolition of town and borough councils and that as a democrat, he believed in fundamental layers of democracy. Has the local government task force reported? Has the report been seen by the Minister? Will the report be published? Has the report gone to Cabinet? Will the Taoiseach confirm that, in line with his previous statements, borough and town councils will be re-established?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I applaud the Deputy's very precise and accurate recollection of what I said last year in respect of the-----

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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It is on the record.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely, and I repeat and endorse everything I said. As I said at the time, the review has not been brought to Cabinet but it is complete. I would not hold my breath and have some disappointment with the review in terms of its lack of focus on urban councils. There is a focus on municipal area districts. We will examine it and bring it to the House for debate. I believe we need to look at some urban areas to begin the restoration of urban councils. That is a view I have but the system has a different view. We are elected to do what we believe is right. I think it was a mistake to abolish councils for a number of reasons. One reason was that they gave a cohesion and sense of community to given towns and allowed them to create a vision for the town. They also allowed people who wanted to make a contribution to their locality at a certain electoral level to do so.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach. The time is up. Deputy Kelly is next.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Deputy Robert O'Donoghue and I had a meeting with vets over the past period of time with a view to progressing the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill, which was actually brought in by former Fianna Fáil Deputy, Jackie Cahill, and my former constituency colleague. We will have a crisis in veterinary services across Ireland if we do not do something because veterinary practices are being bought up by corporate entities. This is happening continuously. As a result, we are having loss of service, restricted times for services and prices dramatically increasing and we will have animal welfare issues. This is an urban issue as well as a rural issue. It will be across the board. In Britain, they are trying to reverse allowing corporate entities to have veterinary practices. Instead, there should be a veterinary practitioner in charge and in ownership of all of these practices. I understand that every political entity in this House supports this Bill. It is coming back before the agriculture committee. Will the Taoiseach ensure its quick progressions through these Houses so we can protect veterinary services in the country?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach to respond.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We will examine it. Again, obviously, the market has to operate as well. I am just making a general point. We will certainly examine the legislation, constructively and in an engaging way, and we will see if we can-----

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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Your own party supports it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, I know. All right. I cannot arbitrate here in one minute.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy Farrelly is next.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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It is time for Tusla to undergo a complete and independent review. I have heard from too many social workers in Tusla who are worried about the reforms recently undertaken. We have heard from too many judges who are frustrated at a lack of action regarding court orders and, most recently, we have heard from too many young people who have shared their harrowing experiences of involvement in State care. Does the Taoiseach have full and unreserved confidence in Tusla because I do not? We must be able to trust Tusla's culture, governance and operations. That is why I am asking the Taoiseach, not to listen to me but to the young people who shared their experiences last week. Will the Taoiseach initiate an independent review of Tusla so we can have full confidence in our national Child and Family Agency?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, we need to continue to work with Tusla. It is all great calling for independent reviews, inquiries and everything. That just paralyses organisations. That is the other side of that coin. We have to deal with children now who need care today, tomorrow or the day after. A balance needs to be struck in terms of how we deal with this. There are very serious issues here and all is not well in certain aspects, particularly in terms of special care and particular individuals who need very specialist care. However, if we keep putting every organisation endlessly under a microscope, then where is the space to actually get things done, improve the organisation and build up confidence? There are thousands and thousands of cases. There were 106,000 child protection and welfare referrals. That is enormous. That is an increase of 10% on 2024, and is driven by domestic violence, homelessness, addiction, criminal activity, sexual exploitation and mental health challenges. I think of a lot of the people who work in Tusla too because they are at the coalface of very challenging situations. I fully respect the Deputy's perspective and why he is concerned.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach's time is up. Deputy Gogarty is next.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The easiest thing we can do is call for reviews and have everybody investigating everybody else with everyone too afraid of their shadow to get things done.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy Gogarty is next, Taoiseach, please.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is the other side of this.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I would like to visit the issue of people being able to build modular homes in their gardens and subdivide them because it is a hugely important issue. It is definitely not a panacea for the housing crisis but it will help in certain situations. For example, yesterday I had a gentleman on to me worried that the legislation will not cover an area where the person who has a big enough house and wants to live on the garden and rent out the house. There are a lot of older people who want to live in the ground floor of their houses and then let someone else move into the upstairs of the house because they do not want to leave an area. They are close to their local churches, shops, etc. Where I grew up in the 1980s there were ten shops within a mile from where I lived. Now there is just one. That shows the population has declined. People have grown up and left the area. In line with national density regulations, we need to improve the density in areas to have a critical mass for services. Will the Taoiseach prioritise this Bill, so it passes through all Stages by the summer?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, we can. My understanding is that it is done by regulation but we can. There will be some legislative changes needed. I agree 100% with what the Deputy said. In fact you can now subdivide a house as well under this planning statement. Equally, you can do what the Deputy said in terms of people creating a unit for themselves and renting out the house. There is no question that in many of the older housing estates, the density has gotten very low. Whereas when we grew up, there was five or six people per family - in some cases, there was eight or nine people per family - but all of that has changed dramatically. There is further thinking to be done on how we maximise the capacity of the existing housing stock in our society. I think there is a bit of an iceberg here that we are at the tip of. In my view, we have not really properly explored it. The rent a room scheme does help in regard in terms of incentivising the use of buildings where there might be just one person in a three-bedroom house and so on.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Yes, for families but not investor-landlords.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, it is open to families.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputies will have to engage further on this issue. Deputy Carrigy is next.

Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the good work in the area of dementia supports. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has done a huge amount of work over the years, as has the Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

At the weekend, I happened to be watching the London marathon and saw a young guy by the name of Jordan Adams running it with a fridge on his back to signify the weight that he carries, given that he has a gene that means he will develop frontotemporal dementia, FTD, which will shorten his life. His mother was of Irish heritage and 11 members of their family have died from this. Having started in Antrim, he and his brother are running a marathon in all 32 counties in Ireland.

This is particularly personal to me. My mother Eilish passed away from dementia during Covid and I have seen what that did to her and to us as a family in trying to deal with it. I have also seen the support we were given when we went looking for it, particularly from the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, to help us through that. I would ask people across the country, and Members, to look up where the marathon is taking place in their county and support these men who are looking to highlight dementia. On Thursday, 28 May, they will finish in Merrion Square. I ask that Members please be there to support them.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Carrigy for raising what is a very important issue and for sharing his personal experience with us about the impact of dementia on family and on individuals. I commend the runners for their initiative to create awareness. The Deputy correctly credited the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who does fantastic work, particularly in the area of day care centres. There are 60 such centres now across the country. I remember how five or six years ago we had very few. We now have 60. We need to continue to work on this and we need to continue to do more. The advisers are very important. We need to invest more in research to understand it better and to develop greater therapeutics that can stall and delay dementia. There is a lot happening in that world. That is why investment in research, investment in care and investment in supports, above all for families and individuals who have dementia, is critical.