Results 1-20 of 1,398 for speaker:Emer Currie

Review of Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004: Statements (1 Jul 2025)

Emer Currie: I held a public meeting about the EPSEN Act in 2023 as part of the review. Like anything involving parents with children who have additional needs, it was an eye-opening experience. I thank all the parents who have reached out to me over the years. The most important question we need to ask is whether children are given equal access to education by the system which supports their...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: I welcome the witnesses. I very much value the work they do in promoting the rights and welfare of children. Their role is essential. The interventions they make on issues are important. I am new to this committee, but I want to ask an opening question about their journey over the past 20 years. How have the issues changed or not changed over the past 20 years? They have referenced...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: Given the breadth of what the ombudsman does, can I ask about resources?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: Does Dr. Muldoon think there is better awareness of children's rights now?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: The ombudsman's office has empowered and is empowering parents and children. It is holding organisations to account. He has said that education is the biggest issue that comes up. How much of a distraction is the annual scramble for school places for children with additional needs when we need to focus on an inclusive education system? Does the ombudsman have any views on planning for...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: It is rejection.

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: It is lovely to see the Minister again. I have four questions and I hope I manage to get through them all. The first one, which will be no surprise to the Minister, is in relation to a five-year forward plan for the delivery of special education classes and places in special schools. We are in a yearly cycle of delivering places for children with additional needs. Work is under way to...

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: That is an essential and practical reform that the Minister could implement. The deadline that we are introducing is 1 October and I spoke yesterday about the need for a communications campaign to tell parents that they will be asked to notify the NCSE by that date. Is the communications campaign factored into the Department's budget?

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: That is good to hear. I worked in advertising and marketing for 15 years. This requires a widespread public information campaign, not just through the NCSE. When parents are securing places for their children in primary school, they may not be familiar with the role of the NCSE. A general public information campaign should be supported. My next question echoes what I raised with the...

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: And allowances.

Select Committee on Education and Youth: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister for listening last week and taking that on board. My next question relates to youth funding. It is startling to see that 1% of the entire budget is for youth. The Minister referenced an increase of more than 9%, to €90 million. In 2023, The Wheel told us youth funding was down 16% compared with 2008, a shortfall of €15 million that has never been made...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Data (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: 306. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to report on her Department's engagement with the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Youth, regarding the development of State-led childcare facilities in tandem with the school building programme; the number of meetings that have taken place; the dates when these meetings took place; the main findings...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Meetings (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: 307. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the inception meeting held on 9 June 2025 concerning the review of the 2001 planning guidelines for local authorities on early learning and childcare settings; to summarise the key findings discussed; to outline when the next meeting is scheduled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35147/25]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Meetings (26 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: 308. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the number of times the working group between her Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Education and Youth has met from 2024 to date in 2025; the dates when these meetings took place; when the next meeting will take place; to outline the number of times the working...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: Since the Minister took office, he has placed a significant focus on increased Garda visibility in Dublin city centre, part of which he represents as a constituency TD. His prioritisation of the city centre seems to be working, and I say "well done" on that, but there is the rest of the country and what about the rest of Dublin? It is not the first time I have raised this issue....

Committee on Education and Youth: Education for Children with Special Educational Needs: Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State and the officials. They are very welcome. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement so far with the schools in Dublin 15 and Dublin West. I hope he will come again soon. Last year, Dublin 15, or Dublin West, was recognised as the hardest place in the country for a child with additional needs to get a school place. This year, how many children in...

Committee on Education and Youth: Education for Children with Special Educational Needs: Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: My sense of it is that it is not as many as last year, but it is still a significant number. Today is an important day because many schools broke for the holidays. All the talk over the summer will be, “Where are you going to big school?” For those families, their life is on hold over the summer. It is a difficult time. I am dealing with parents who have done everything...

Committee on Education and Youth: Education for Children with Special Educational Needs: Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: The Minister of State mentioned the new process and timings for next year. Will there be a big communications campaign regarding 1 October, when parents are to have notified the NCSE that they will require a place? October is the time when people only start to apply for schools.

Committee on Education and Youth: Education for Children with Special Educational Needs: Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Bodies (25 Jun 2025)

Emer Currie: 62. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to set-out his Department's engagement and collaboration with an organisation (details supplied), including participation in advisory bodies and committees, and on trade missions; his views on how the work of the organisation could be further supported by Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34582/25]