Results 401-420 of 1,070,023 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' speaker:Tom Kitt

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: Since we last spoke at the committee, significant progress has been made. Every week, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I, meet with the NCSE to make sure that more places are being offered. Just under 3,300, as I said previously, were notified before the February deadline. The number after that, to be honest, is changing. Every week, more children are coming to the attention of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Jul 2025)

Darren O'Rourke: I am frustrated on my behalf, as a public representative, and on behalf of parents who are waiting to places for their children. They feel like they are being gaslit because the figures are not being spelled out. They do not know where they stand in terms of the system. It feels like a co-ordinated omertà in the context of the failure to release those figures. There are a number of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Jul 2025)

Helen McEntee: I utterly reject the suggestion that parents are being gaslit. There has never been as much engagement with parents through the NSCE to support them. I accept that a small number of children still do not have their places. We are working on that. We will work all summer to make sure they have their places allocated to them. Parents and schools are being engaged with throughout all of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (17 Jul 2025)

Question No. 79 taken with Written Answers.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

School Transport

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

Darren O'Rourke: 80. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who applied and paid on time who were refused places on school transport in September 2024; the specific changes that will be made to the school transport system in the 2025-26 school year, in comparison with 2024-25, to ensure that all children who want to avail of the scheme are accommodated; and if she will make a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

Darren O'Rourke: Will the Minister indicate the number of children who applied and paid on time who were refused places on school transport in September 2024? Will she outline the specific changes that will be made to the school transport for the 2025-26 school year, in comparison with 2024-25, to ensure that all children who want to avail of the scheme will be accommodated?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. In the current school year, more than 173,000 children have been transported daily in approximately 8,200 vehicles across 10,600 routes to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In relation to the number of children who applied and paid...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

Darren O'Rourke: The Minister of State confirmed that 2,242 children were denied places last year. Many thousands more are forced to deal with Bus Éireann and the Department scrambling at the eleventh hour. There were 40,500 calls and 21,600 webchats with Bus Éireann last year in respect of the system. The system needs to be improved. There was a review. The fact is, however, that the Minister...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (17 Jul 2025)

Michael Moynihan: School transport is hugely important for every schoolgoing child at primary and post-primary level. When the school transport scheme was introduced, it was for families who may have been without transport. Now, it is because of working families. We need to make sure they avail of it and that there are enough buses for it. There is an ambitious programme as part of School Transport...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Coastal Protection (17 Jul 2025)

John McGuinness: By the time the Minister of State has finished that tour of Kerry and gets to Kilkenny, he will be exhausted.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Coastal Protection (17 Jul 2025)

Kevin Moran: I will ask my line manager if he will organise a helicopter because I have had so many requests today that I will be flying.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

National Development Plan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Brendan Smith: 19. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will ensure that the new national development plan sets an enhanced level of ambition for collaborative cross-Border public investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39837/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Brendan Smith: The different cross-Border programmes have been important since they were first initiated by then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, in the mid-1990s. There were the PEACE I and PEACE II programmes and INTERREG programmes. As the Minister, Deputy Chambers, will be aware, the PEACEPLUS programme is very important for all the Border counties, north and south of the Border. I am particularly anxious...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Jack Chambers: The programme for Government reaffirmed its commitment to the shared island fund and committed to increasing the resources available to the fund by a further €1 billion up to 2035. The shared island initiative is co-ordinated by a dedicated unit within the Department of the Taoiseach, with a focus on fostering co-operation and collaboration across the island of Ireland, aiming to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Brendan Smith: I thank the Minister sincerely for his reply and the particular interest he always has in cross-Border projects. It is heartening that the shared island initiative has been warmly welcomed by people of all political traditions. Different projects I have been involved in, if they have been cross-Border projects, have been funded by the shared island fund, such as the UNESCO Cuilcagh...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Jack Chambers: I share the Deputy's ambition and focus on this critical investment to help to build peaceful and thriving communities. The fund helps to deliver economic regeneration and transformation across our island and empowers and invests in young people, embedding partnership and collaboration. The PEACEPLUS programme and the shared island fund have driven progress across many areas and we are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (17 Jul 2025)

Brendan Smith: I warmly welcome the Minister's comments and his confirmation of his Department's co-operation with the Special EU Programme Body. In all my dealings with it over the years, Ms McIntyre and her colleagues have ensured that the best value is given to the taxpayer for the major investment that has occurred and that particularly disadvantaged communities benefit from that investment.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions (17 Jul 2025)