Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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We now move to statements on delivering a world-class education system which breaks down barriers and ensures that every child can achieve his or her full potential. I welcome the Minister for Education and Youth back to the House. She will speak for ten minutes, as will group spokespersons, with all other Senators speaking for five minutes. I will call on the Minister to reply when all Senators have made their contributions.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am delighted to be in the Seanad for the second time this week and am grateful now for the opportunity to set out some of my priorities as Minister for Education and Youth. My objective, which I assume is the same for everybody, is to deliver a world-class education system which breaks down barriers and above all ensures every child can achieve his or her full potential. An education system which wraps around all children and young people in every community is essential if we are to achieve the goal that they are supported to fulfil their potential. 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.

I want to focus on specific ambitions that break down barriers and support children and young people. 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 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 exams.

I will prioritise actions to tackle educational disadvantage. This means ensuring that the necessary resources are in place to support and retain children and young people in school to completion of leaving certificate and the junior certificate, where we know there are specific challenges, in order that they can reach their full potential.

The Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, programme has seen the gap in retention rates between DEIS and non-DEIS schools halved to 8.4% in recent years. Closing performance gaps further is a key part of the new 2025 DEIS plan I announced at the beginning of the term. Work is under way in respect of the development of a new plan that will be published later this year. I am also working with my team and all stakeholders to develop a new DEIS Plus scheme to put a much greater focus on those schools that have the highest levels of educational disadvantage, particularly targeting and supporting those children who are most at risk. I refer to instances where there is intergenerational trauma or where children have trauma in their lives for various complex reasons.

I am delighted to be able 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 in the free education scheme will be provided with schoolbooks and core classroom resources. School transport is a much-valued scheme to families, and it ensures that children living in rural and remote areas are not disadvantaged by distance by providing 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 contains a commitment to expand the school transport service to include 100,000 additional students by 2030. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I are working hard to implement the terms of the school transport review to reduce distance criteria, expand eligibility and make sure every child is supported to get to school.

We know from data trends that Traveller and Roma children have poorer educational outcomes than their counterparts in the general population. I mentioned the junior cycle earlier. Following recent engagement with representatives from these communities, it is clear that we need to focus not just on the leaving certificate but also on the junior certificate. In that regard, extra funding has been secured to increase the number of community link workers and, as part of the Traveller and Roma strategy, we will work to improve communication, promote positive relationships and to support the learning of Traveller and Roma children.

Regular attendance in school is essential, not just for academic achievement but also for well-being, social development and long-term life outcomes. The recent Tusla attendance report shows that in the 2022-23 school year, over 110,000 primary and 65,000 post-primary students missed 20 or more days of school. Everyone will agree that those numbers are alarming.To address this, I recently announced a comprehensive suite of targeted and universal actions to improve school attendance. This includes investment in the educational welfare services and the school completion programme. I acknowledge and commend the work of the home-school liaison co-ordinators and the school completion programme. Important changes need to happen in the age limits because, at the moment, they cannot support children under six. Alarmingly, from visiting schools recently with Senator Scahill, we know there are children as young as four and five years of age who are missing 40,50 or 60 days of school outside the weekends, holidays or any other period. It is important that, when children are in school, we support children at as early a stage as possible. If children attend school, they continue that trend later in life as well.

The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream schools with their peers. Approximately 96% or 97% of our students are supported in mainstream education. I thank principals, teachers, including special education teachers, and SNAs for the huge amount of work they do and support they provide day in, day out in our mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. By September, the number of special classes will have doubled in the past five years; there will be more than 3,700 special classes supporting 21,000 children. We need to ensure we continue to support schools and teachers in a context where teachers are facing even more complex and challenging environments. I have asked the Teaching Council to begin work on ensuring all future graduates have a mandatory special education placement as part of their initial teacher education.

It is most important that we have places for children every year and that we do so on time. The work was done last year to prepare for next year in identifying and understanding children's needs, engaging with the relevant schools and making sure both matched. This year, we are asking for parents of children with additional needs and schools or teachers to notify the NCSE by 1 October about whether children will need a place so that we can, by the end of this year, already identify where schools need to open new classrooms to provide places for those children and we are not still unclear about where some children are going this time next year. We have to get better. We are getting better, but we need to bring forward our times every year so that every child is treated equally.

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 emphasis on inclusion and diversity. It aims to ensure all children feel they belong, are respected and safe so that they can engage fully in learning and thrive. It recognises each child’s unique background, identity and strengths and is designed to support what is best for each individual child. Under this framework, foreign languages will be introduced at primary level on a phased basis from September 2025.

The work around the changes to primary school is happening. It is on my desk at the moment for me to look at and see how we can move forward to implement it. I look forward to working with teachers, principals and the whole school community in making these important changes.

Turning to the senior cycle, the number of students enrolled in the leaving certificate vocational programme link modules across fifth and sixth years has increased from 30,000 to 50,000. That is a significant increase in a few short years. The number of students participating in transition year passed 60,000 for the first time. That is 14,000 more than five to six years ago. This is due to changes that have already taken place around the senior cycle reform. In 2024, 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 in 2024 for the first time. This school year, we saw the first modules from the new senior cycle level 1 and level 2 programmes introduced in schools. This is particularly important because it is for students who have specific and additional educational needs. It makes sure they go through their own exams and are presented with results in the same way as their peers.

These measures illustrate how the senior cycle redevelopment programme is already playing a key role in students reaching their full potential. We will build on this annually over the next five years, with the start of tranche 1 being introduced in September.

I will turn now to teacher supply. We cannot do this without our wonderful teachers, including special education teachers and SNAs. We are showing it is still an attractive profession for young people. First preference data from the CAO shows an increase in post-primary first preferences of 5%. This builds on similar gains in recent years. It is a testament to the very high esteem in which the teaching profession is held.

The number of allocated teaching posts and the number of registered teachers have increased significantly in recent years. There has been a 20% increase in the number of student teachers graduating between 2018 and 2023 and a 30% rise in teachers registered with the Teaching Council in recent years. There are now 78,000 qualified teachers employed in Ireland with more than 35,000 in post-primary schools, the largest number in the history of the State. However, I understand there are still challenges in certain areas, especially in post-primary education and for certain subjects. While I made a number of announcements in recent months, in particular that teachers could get a permanent position after one year as opposed to two years, I am currently working on other measures we can take to make sure it is simple for teachers to do their jobs and to be registered when they have worked abroad. I am also making sure we support those who teach subjects where we know there are challenges at post-primary level or in the Gaeltacht areas, Gaelcholáistí and Gaelscoileanna. I am examining further measures for all of these.

I will turn to well-being, including the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and Bí Cineálta, which was introduced by my predecessor, the Minster, Deputy Foley. We will continue to implement the actions contained in Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying. Like many colleagues, I have been raising flags in schools where they were putting in place their Bí Cineálta overall strategies. This is essentially a strategy that focuses on how we can support one another, look out for one another, prevent bullying in our schools and be kind. It is as it says on the tin. It is an important strategy, being implemented and taught in our schools from the earliest possible stage. We teach understanding, acceptance and inclusion from the early stages.

It is important that we plan for the future. Thirty years ago, a convention on education was held by one of my many predecessors. It set out the direction in which education would go for the following 30 years and how we would develop many of the agencies and building blocks that created the education system we now have. Later this year, I will announce a new education convention, which will bring together all stakeholders and look at what education needs to be like in the next five, ten and, importantly, 20 years. It takes time for all of these changes to take place. I look forward to working with colleagues in that regard.

It would be hard not to mention the fact we need to continue to invest in the education system, not just in the teachers, curriculum and young people, but in the building blocks and infrastructure. I have a capital budget of €1.6 billion this year and I am currently working with the Minister for public expenditure to, I hope, increase it for the lifetime of the next NDP, which will be from 2026 to 2030. On top of that, I reaffirm my commitment and that of the Government to continuing to increase the capitation grant so that the day-to-day supports are provided for schools. I will make sure we have minor works, summer works and emergency works, are planning ahead as best we can for the future and are investing in those building blocks for young people.

I thank the House for the invitation and look forward to hearing colleagues' contributions.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for outlining the issues we are addressing on education.

Before I call the next speaker, I welcome to the Public Gallery the Holywell Trust group from Donegal and Derry, led by Mr. Gerard Dunne and Ms Sarah Duddy. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I thank them for being here. I hope they enjoy the day. I am sorry about the weather. I hope it will be better when they get back home to Donegal and Derry.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for coming to the Seanad. This is an important issue and I am proud to speak about something that matters deeply to all of us, namely, ensuring that all children get a chance to learn, grow and reach their full potential. That is what our education system is all about. Ireland is working hard to build a world-class education system, not just for some children, but for all children no matter where they come from or what challenges they face. This system is built on a strong foundation, supported by dedicated professionals, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge all those working in our education system who play a part in ensuring a standard of education is delivered and the potential of our youth is fulfilled.

I listened to the Minister's words and a lot of things from her speech tick the boxes I have written down. I welcome the professional development and empowerment for teaching staff. I am glad to hear the Minister is committed to recognising the evolving needs of our world, bridging skills gaps and enhancing curriculums for our teachers. The Minister confirmed that three new upskilling programmes for post-primary teachers would commence this September, offering free and flexible two-year courses in computer science, French, and politics and society. Upon graduation, teachers will be empowered to teach these subjects at a higher level.

I will also highlight some key areas. The Minister mentioned the delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, programme. Schools in disadvantaged areas get support to help children succeed. This programme has shown considerable success in improving the outcomes of students from disadvantaged areas. Key achievements include increased retention rates, higher levels of school completion and enhanced access to higher education.The programme has also contributed to school planning and teaching practices. As the Minister said, we need to continue to invest in that programme and to further develop it.

A cornerstone of the Government’s commitment is special education. Supporting children with additional needs is not just a priority but an absolute imperative for Fine Gael, and for the upcoming school year the Minister has sanctioned an incredible 399 special education classes. These classes are strategically placed in areas with identified needs and, crucially, the Minister has sanctioned them much earlier this year. This proactive approach gives schools ample time to prepare, open enrolment and ensure classrooms are fully ready for September. The Minister is working with the National Council for Special Education on this so schools can expedite the process. As she said, from September there will be 3,900 additional places in special education. Similar to the DEIS programme, we need to build on that and continue to invest in that.

Beyond teachers, our unsung heroes are probably our special needs assistants. Thousands of students in both mainstream and special education settings benefit every day from SNAs’ invaluable skills, dedication and knowledge. Recognising their pivotal role, the Minister has confirmed a new SNA redeployment scheme is now under way and for the very first time SNAs in posts that may no longer be required, perhaps due to falling enrolment numbers, reduced care needs or changing demographics, will be redeployed to schools with vacant posts. This is a vital step in increasing job security for SNAs, encouraging new talent to enter this essential workforce and ensuring our children and schools continue to benefit from their immense wealth of experience.

I heard the Tánaiste speaking recently about how we are about to embark on the transformative initiative of introducing national therapy services in education. It is an ambitious plan that will see therapists working directly in schools across the country and will begin with speech and language therapy and occupational therapy being provided in some special education schools later in the next academic year, with a further roll-out in September 2026. By providing these crucial therapies directly within the school system, we are ensuring the children who require the most intense support can access the services they need precisely where and when they need them. This seamless integration of therapy into the educational environment will be a game-changer for many families.

I also commend what has happened with the hot school meals. Almost 500,000 primary school pupils across 2,850 schools nationwide are now receiving a hot, nutritious meal every day. I mentioned to the Minister recently that I would like us to look at procurement to open up the potential for smaller, more rural caterers to deliver these meals to the schools. If the tendering thresholds can be brought up in line with Europe, we may be able to deliver better quality meals to more rural schools while also serving rural businesses as well.

We should be very proud of the world-class education system we have but we should not be getting complacent either. Regarding educational disadvantage, which the Minister mentioned, I wish to highlight the work of iScoil, as it is an organisation we can look at working more closely with to ensure every child can achieve their full potential. iScoil is just one organisation but it is a not-for-profit delivering online learning services that offer a pathway to learning, accreditation and progression for young people between the ages of 13 and 16 who, for a range of reasons, cannot attend mainstream school. As we are talking about an education system that delivers for all, we need to start looking at the really small grouping that is not currently being served. iScoil is a national service that works with some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach young people in the State and provides a safe learning environment where young people can re-engage with education, achieve recognised QQI certification and access further education, training and employment.

I, along with my fellow Fine Gael Senators, believe we need to do more in providing life skills to our students in secondary education. We have had discussions on the delivery of driver theory within secondary education and Safe Pass courses. We are looking at a programme like that because we talk about young people nowadays not having job opportunities during the summer or when they go off to third level education. If we can provide the skills within second level education, we can empower them to do what we all had the opportunity to do years ago, that is, work on building sites and drive to and from work. The Irish School of Excellence down in Clare delivers training to 30,000 transition year students annually across 727 schools. That is something that needs to be looked at seriously in conjunction with the RSA to ensure it could be rolled out as a module within transition year and supported nationally. On Safe Pass, I spoke about an initiative recently in this Chamber. It is the brainchild of a lady from Roscommon called Selina Galvin and supported by JF Hanley Limited. Transition year students were allowed complete industry standard health and safety training free or charge with a view to encouraging interest in the construction sector. The pilot scheme is being jointly sponsored by JF Hanley Limited and Shannon Valley Limited, which are both Roscommon-based companies. Selina said the idea was to remove cost barriers and provide a pathway for students to explore the industry with real, recognised certification. The equivalent of Safe Pass in the UK is the Construction Skills Register card, training for which is delivered online. Looking at something like that would be another way of removing barriers.

Delivering a world-class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve their full potential is a continuous journey. Through strengthening our teacher supports, prioritising special education, valuing our SNAs, integrating vital therapy services, ensuring nourishing meals and providing free school books, we are systematically building a more inclusive, equitable and excellent educational landscape for all children in Ireland. These initiatives are not just policies but investments in our children, in our communities and in the bright future of our nation. As the Minister said, we cannot just sit still. We need to keep building on the successes and the positive numbers coming out of her Department. I hope that, through the national development plan, she will be supported with the building blocks she needs to deliver on that regionally.

Joe Conway (Independent)
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Is údar aoibhnis é dom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. Gabhaim buíochas léi as teacht chuig an Teach inniu agus as an ráiteas a thug sí ag tús na díospóireachta seo.

Some years ago, when I was a student teacher in St. Patrick College in Drumcondra, out of complete serendipity I came across a journal article. I cannot remember the headline, but it was something like "Defeating the subculture of poverty". I read through it and, of all the articles I read in my time in the college, it made the most impression on me. It talked about this snarling, capturing, vicious circle of poverty that entraps a lot of children, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. It was generated by their parents being in the same amount of entrapment, and probably their grandparents too. Towards the end, the article asked what the cure for this was. It was blindingly obvious. It said the only way to defeat the subculture of poverty is through education. As a society, with Breaking the Cycle and all the initiatives we have made in schools over the past generation or two, we have gone a long way down the road of breaking the cycle of poverty, but there is a lot more that can be done.

The Minister spoke initially about attendance at schools and the worrying figures for the year 2022-2023. If the Cathaoirleach will allow me to digress, I will tell a little story that underscores the difficulties with school attendance. The late bishop of Waterford, Michael Russell, was doing one of his pastoral visits to a school in Waterford city. He used to drive a black Ford Orion.He parked up and was locking it up in the car park and heading into the school to coincide with the teachers' 11 o'clock break. As he walked up the avenue, the window of the principal's office, which was at the front of school, flew open and this ten-year-old child emerged out of the window in a rather dishevelled state and began to run down the avenue in the direction of the bishop, making his bolt for freedom. The pupil, I mean, not the bishop. As the pupil was going towards the school gate, he stopped to give a word of advice of the bishop and said, "Do not go in there, Father, they are all mad in there." That story sort of illustrates how many children consider what goes on in school as completely foreign and irrelevant to them. That is the job of us teachers, namely, to make school relevant to children who are so disaffected by what goes on in schools.

I left the classroom 20 years ago this year. In the intervening time before I was elected to the House on 31 January, I spent nearly 20 years working with the colleges of education invigilating students on their teacher practice. It also gave me, gach ár lá, the chance to go into schools, see classrooms in operation and assess not just the students, but the whole system, in a very informal way. What I can say about what has happened since 2005, when I left the classroom, is that it is a completely changed game, be it in terms of technology, the curriculum or the level of inclusivity that makes demands of teachers. The fundamental difference I see in classrooms when I go into them is the level of inclusion of many new nationalities. If there is one thing the current cohort of teachers can be really proud of, it is the work they have done in the past generation to include people from Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe and all over. One of the greatest sources of joy for me is to see a student teacher engaging with these children and to see a child from Africa, or whose parents are from Africa, belting out some Gaeilge as well as one of the children whose parents and grandparents were born here. That is a wonderful achievement of inclusivity, not just in the curriculum, but in the level of acceptance and warmth the children show to one another as a result of the inclusive nature of schools and the inclusive work teachers mirror and model for these students.

To be oblique, I mentioned Gaeilge. Just across the way is Senator Curley, who is a Gaeilge teacher as well. There is a worrying thing about Gaeilge in primary schools. If we look at language teaching in France, Italy, Germany or wherever, they have some teaching of foreign languages in primary schools. We take in children in junior infants who are aged four or five and they are in the primary school system for eight years. The teachers are belting out the Gaeilge for four or four and a half hours per week, although there is talk about cutting this down at the moment. The fact of the matter is, if you do that for eight years and the cigire - the inspector - comes in during the last week of the child's career in the school and asks the pupil in the front seat, "Conas atá tú inniu?", that child will look at the inspector as if he or she had been shot. One is left wondering. We invest so much time in teaching Gaeilge, and have done since the beginning of the State, and it is just not cutting it.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Joe Conway (Independent)
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When I look at what is there in the teaching force - it is no fault of theirs - in many primary schools, I see teachers who are trying to deliver the national language, athbheochan na Gaeilge a chur ar aghaidh, and teach Gaeilge but, go feidhmiúil, tá siad neamhliteartha, they are effectively illiterate in the language. It is shocking but that is where we are at. We will never make an impression on the Irish language if we have people going into the teaching force who got a grade C in the leaving certificate in Gaeilge, which was probably as a result of a grinds school, but do not have a clue about how to speak or deliver the language. They are trying their best and they are being supported in the colleges, but we have to look at what we are doing in primary schools with Gaeilge. The Minister needs to think about having a specialist Gaeilge teacher in every school in the country because the general level of Gaeilge support that is given to children is not there and we might as well be blowing it out of the window. If we do not get to grips with this, we will not have a Gaeilge to support in the ordinary national schools.

A mhalairt sin, it is much different when it comes to the Gaelscoileanna. We used to talk about how Irish was a low-status, low-utility language. As a result of the Gaelscoileanna, my kids and the generation that are coming on now, however, it is beginning to be a high-status, high-utility language. A lot of that is down to the model being used in the Gaelscoileanna, where the teaching of Gaeilge has a realistic model. We have to begin to raise the standards in the ordinary national schools. Otherwise, we will have the demise of our national tongue. That is the simple fact of it.

I am almost out of time and I want to say something about the teaching force. Every one of us, be we Senators, the Minister for education, the Cathaoirleach or anyone else, loves to be told when we are doing a good job. The Minister is doing a good job, as did her predecessors, but she will not be able to do the job she wants to do if she is not investing in the Irish education system, particularly in primary education. Ireland is the third richest country in the world, according to World Bank figures, but we are still way below the OECD average when it comes to investment in primary education. I attended a briefing by the INTO yesterday and it made requests such as increasing the primary capitation grant by €75 per pupil. That is not a very big request. Another request was to reduce the average class size. That is the kernel of success. There will be a demographic dividend in the next few years, so use that to cut the numbers. It will happen naturally provided that the Minister does not renege on it. There was a request to build on the success of the small schools pilot project. There is a lot of disadvantage in small schools around the country, but it is not recognised. When we usually talk about schools that are under pressure, they are in cities and, specifically, in inner cities but rural Ireland is in difficulty as well. The INTO also asked that we introduce a special educational needs co-ordinator so that the transition in different sections can be more easily managed.

Well done to the Minister and the wider Government. I respect what she is doing and the efforts of her predecessors. We have a great teaching force and potentially a great system but there are some areas that are creaking. I have addressed one of them, namely, the Irish language. If we get real about this, we could save it, but not by continuing to do the same thing as we have been for the past generation.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat. I call Senator Tully. I am sorry; I took the wrong order.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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It is fine; Senator Tully may go ahead.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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I was not expecting to be next.

As a former teacher, I am delighted to speak on this issue. I was a teacher for nearly 30 years and most of that time was spent in Breifne College in Cavan town. I am proud of my teaching career, our education system and the good work teachers, SNAs and the whole school staff, including secretaries and caretakers, put into making our schools not only good places to learn the academic subjects, but also to develop young peoples' social skills, which is almost as important as the former.

To make it a world-class system, though, a number of steps must be taken. While there has been considerable investment and good work has been done over the past number of years and we can easily see that improvement, there are still some issues that need to be addressed.As the previous speaker mentioned, our investment in education is still considerably below the OECD average. According to a report last year, which I acknowledge was based on 2021 figures, the average investment was 5.7% of GDP across the OECD area. Our figure was only 2.8% at that time. We were last out of 34 countries, and we are seen as a wealthy country.

We need to invest in our education system. It is really important. That additional investment means the capitation grant could be increased. It means that the basic utility bills like heat and light that some schools find difficult to pay could be paid without worrying or putting pressure on parents to make contributions to the school that they can ill afford. It would also make a difference in class sizes, given they are above the average in both the EU and the OECD. The INTO addressed this issue in its pre-budget submission. It asked for a reduction in class size by one to 19. That would make an immense difference. From teaching a class of 30 and a class of 15, I know the amount of work you can do with students is immense. We want to see more mixed ability teaching in our schools. If you have students with additional needs or from another country with language difficulties, the amount of time you can spend with them when the class size is small compared with a large class size is immense. It makes a huge difference to them and ensures that we have an inclusive education system.

On capitation, I also raise an issue that has been raised with me by schools. The capitation grant is paid depending on the number of students registered in a school on 30 September on the primary online database, POD. If a student enters the school after that date, the school does not receive any money for that student for the school year. There are different reasons for a student coming to a school. They may need to leave one school because of certain issues and have to go to another. They may move into a different area. They may come from a different country. It means the school does not receive the money. It also affects the school book grants in that they do not receive the money for those and have to go looking for it. That can sometimes be a complicated process and they have to wait a long time. It should be that when students move or join a school the capitation can be drawn down for that student even if it is a few months into the school year.

The school I taught in had DEIS status, so I know the benefits of DEIS in schools that have significant disadvantage. However, I am dealing with a school in one town where there are four primary schools. Three of them have DEIS status and one does not. They feel it puts them at a huge disadvantage to the other schools, and they do not understand why they are not deemed eligible for DEIS funding when students attending the school come from the same area as the students attending the other schools. I know there are different criteria, one of which is homelessness. The school would say it has families who are homeless, but they are not registered as homeless because they are maybe living with family in the box room or sleeping on the sofa. There is also a stigma attached to registering as homeless so people do not want to do it. There are criteria. Could this be looked at again to ensure that all schools are assessed in all areas?

I would like the Minister to expand on the DEIS plus scheme. Does it provide additional supports to schools that already have DEIS status or will it include more schools that currently do not have DEIS status in the DEIS programme? As part of the DEIS programme, the school completion programme is excellent. The cuts to that programme after austerity had a huge impact. I recall teaching in the early 2000s during what we called the Celtic tiger period. The school completion programme had significant funds and could therefore employ a number of people to work in the school. One of the people employed in the school I worked in was a school counsellor. She did immense work with students who may have had mental health issues or may have been self-harming. Unfortunately, her position and other positions were gone after austerity. I would like to see investment in the school completion programme because it has a huge part to play in ensuring that students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including Traveller backgrounds, stay in school longer. The benefits they reap from that will be seen in later years.

I concur with the previous speaker on Irish language education. Most of us spend 13 or 14 years in the Irish education system and when we come out of the school we cannot string together a conversation in Irish. There is huge interest at the moment among young Irish people in learning and speaking the language. The focus in our schools seems to be wrong because it is almost all on the written element. In secondary school especially, it is about passing an exam. I did not teach Irish but I had situations where students just wanted to be able to write the language. They did not even know what the words meant once they could string the sentence together on a page. I did French in school for five years and at the end of that time, I was not great at conversation in French either. I do not think I would have headed off to France and been able to engage with French people. Maybe we need to look at how we teach languages other than English in our schools, but particularly our national language. We learn to speak a language by immersion in it, by talking to others and listening to our parents and others around us as children. The same should happen in primary school education where the focus should be more on oral skills.

Special education is obviously a big issue. We had more than 120 students with no school placement at the beginning of the school term last year. I know many of them have received school placements since then. We also have a lot of students who might have a school placement but it is not necessarily an appropriate one or it may not be in their community. I know there has been considerable investment in special education, but we need to look at how we make education more inclusive for all so that students with additional needs can attend their local school with their siblings, where possible, or attend a school in their community, if at all possible, instead of having to travel up to an hour to receive the appropriate education.

Early intervention is key. Many students are either non-verbal or pre-verbal going into schools. They are not getting the early intervention students were getting from the intervention teams some years ago. They are not getting it from the children's disability network teams, CDNTs. That is leading to huge problems where there is a lack of ability to communicate. It is leading to frustration. In some cases, it is leading to self-harm or to children causing injuries to other pupils and staff and to school placements regularly breaking down. We need to find out how we can ensure every child receives an appropriate education with the appropriate supports. I know from talking to a number of primary schools that they would love to see the Minister rolling out therapies in schools, an issue she has spoken about. They feel this is necessary to help them and help the students to learn. They do not know how to deal with students who have complex needs. I would like to see inclusive education but that cannot happen until supports for children and staff are in place and all staff are trained to teach in special education settings.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for being here for part of this debate. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, is joining us now.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Táim ag iarraidh cúig nóiméad a roinnt leis an Seanadóir Fiona O’Loughlin.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)
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Fáiltím roimh an díospóireacht seo inniu agus táim buíoch go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar an ábhar rí-thábhachtach seo. Mar a luaigh Seanadóir Conway, is múinteoir meánscoile mé agus aontaím go bhfuil géarghá le hinfheistíocht sa chóras oideachais i mbealach a thugann deis dúinn bheith ar aon-chaighdeán leis na córais is fearr ar domhan. I am proud to be a member of a party, Fianna Fáil, that has a proud track record in education. From the pioneering work of the former Minister, Donogh O'Malley, in introducing free second level education in 1966, which meant people like my parents could access second level education, to the work of the former Minister, Noel Treacy, my local TD at the time, who invented science week in the early 2000s, my party has a proud record in education.

Classrooms should be places of real and active learning, where students learn and teachers teach properly. However, the workload that teachers are dealing with leaves them worn out because a large portion of the working week is spent lesson planning and correcting to give timely feedback to students. This creates an environment in which teachers enter the classroom exhausted, constantly stretched and at the end of their tether. I know this because I have sat in staffrooms with teachers who are constantly pressed to the pins of their collars. The result is that they are far from their best when they enter the classroom to give students the best possible learning experience. It is becoming clearer that if we want a world-class, modern education system, we need to modernise and embrace what technology can do to lighten the workload of teachers. The Department of Education needs to look at the highly successful roll-out of Khanmigo in American high schools.Khanmigo is an AI tool that prepares lesson plans, curates content and corrects exams with frighteningly high levels of sophistication and adaptability, allowing teachers to focus on the real job - teaching. On the student side, Khanmigo does not just give the answers. With infinite patience, it guides learners to find the answers themselves. This has revolutionised the classroom environment in America, with entire states adopting the technology.

When I studied to be a secondary school teacher and was doing the PME, one of the most prominent buzzwords from our lecturers was the word "facilitator", where the dream was that the teacher was a facilitator of active learning. However, the dogs on the street know this is impossible in the current system in Ireland. Instead of facilitating learning, teachers in Irish classrooms force-feed information with a view to it being spat back out on a leaving cert exam paper. Khanmigo is shovel ready to allow teachers to genuinely teach and facilitate learning. It allows them to actively roam the classroom and to guide and problem solve with students in real time while the AI tool does the teaching itself on the board. This allows for a drastically improved level of comprehension of the subject matter being discussed.

It is worth noting this is not intended to replace teachers in the classroom. Even the founder of Khanmigo has been at pains to stress this. A pilot project, with schools volunteering to take part, would lead to the conclusion that this is an example of AI being used as a tool for good and to bring education to a world-class standard in classrooms all over Ireland. From a budgetary point of view, if this were to be rolled out nationally, based on the 2024 budget for the Department of education, which was €10.467 billion, this €13 million investment would account for just 0.12% of last year's budget. It costs €15 per head, per year, academically.

It goes without saying that if we want a world-class education system, we need world-class facilities in which to deliver it. There are, however, many barriers to delivering capital schools projects in a timely fashion in Ireland. The national public procurement tender threshold is just €50,000 in contrast to the European Union norm of €143,000. What does this mean? For small, local suppliers, not only must they dedicate long hours to tender documents and processes but they must also have €6.5 million public liability insurance, €12.7 million employer liability insurance and €6.5 million product liability insurance. The result of this bureaucracy is a small number of huge companies have a monopoly over the supply of school meals, school equipment and school books. Not only does this drive up prices but it contradicts every concept of green procurement, where a small number of companies clock up thousand of kilometres per week, subsequently driving up carbon emissions. We must cut through and drastically reduce red tape if we want to have a world-class education system to modernise and provide these resources. Driving small, local suppliers out of the market by insisting on needless red tape prevents progress. Just last week, my own local bookstore actually closed, so I have a local anecdotal example to give.

I strongly welcome the fact that, this year, the Department of education will spend in excess of €2.9 billion, or a quarter of the Department's budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. That is hugely welcome and we are going in the right direction. However, world-class education should not be the luxury of neurotypical students in any rural town and we must ensure the roll-out of special classes around the country involves regional balance. My local town of Loughrea, with a population approaching 7,000 people, does not have a single SEN classroom at second level in the entire town. This should not be the case in 2025. We need to drastically improve services for students with SEN in our schools. I do not think it is a coincidence that Ireland has the lowest levels of employment for people with disabilities when stark facts, such as the plight of students with SEN in Loughrea, are considered. Rural towns like Loughrea should not be forgotten when it comes to SEN.

While we have made huge strides in delivering a world-class education system and we have a track record that we can, in the main, be very proud of, we must ensure it is delivered in an inclusive way and no region in rural Ireland is left behind.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is very welcome. It is great to have the opportunity to say a few words about this really important subject. I am very proud of the record of my party, Fianna Fáil, on education. It is fair to say we are the party of education and, throughout our history, we have established an unmatched record of commitment to education because it is a great leveller and a great enabler. Indeed, it is the bedrock of Ireland's continued social and economic progress.

In terms of all of the significant developments and expansions in Irish education, Fianna Fáil has been at the forefront, from the establishment of free secondary schooling and the creation of special education supports to broadening access to university education and, most recently, the free schoolbooks scheme. We have one of the strongest education systems in the world and that is evidenced by our high ranking in all different forms of student achievement. This has been confirmed by the OECD and the EU.

Two of my colleagues have mentioned that Ireland is way down the list of expenditure on education but I beg to differ. Ireland actually spends 12.6% of all Government expenditure on education. That is far more than most nations. The average spend across OECD countries is 10.7% and, in the EU member states, it is 9.5%. Of course, expenditure is not everything. It is the outcomes that are really important for that and, in relation to outcomes, Ireland does very well.

There are a few extra points I would like to make. There is a very ambitious programme for Government in relation to education and I certainly welcome the commitments made there, especially on special education, the review of the DEIS scheme and investment. It is very important we also look at transversal education and the bridge between formal education, non-formal and informal. I learned quite a lot about that many years ago from Peter Hussey, who established a youth theatre called Crooked House in Newbridge. Through that and through working with young people dealing with all of the different things that are happening in society that impact on them and how to help them navigate all of the challenges and issues through drama and improvisation certainly empowered the young people I got to know through that. In fact, only two weeks ago the Sunday Independent had a really good article by Gabriel Byrne addressing this. He spoke about working with Leish Burke and Griese Youth Theatre, who I actually had in the audiovisual room approximately four weeks ago to talk about young people, how they interpreted climate change and what we needed to do. The work being done to help young people express their feelings and their emotions and work through these issues is certainly very important and I would like to see the Department of education doing more in this area.

It is particularly important that we support the whole school community. While supporting teachers and the excellent teachers we have is vital, we are aware of the issue at the moment with school secretaries and caretakers. They have balloted for a strike, starting 28 August. I ask the Minister of State to work with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to ensure that does not happen, and I have no doubt he will. We need to support the whole school community. That is what makes a school strong.

This is something I have written to the Minister for education about and I will give an example here of supporting schools. St. Brigid's primary school in Kildare has 1,020 students, yet it only has one administrative principal and one deputy administrative principal because there is no provision after 573 pupils. However, once they hit 900 students in secondary schools, they have three administrative deputy principals. In terms of the workload principals and staff have, I would really like to see that being addressed. Another issue I would like to see progress on is the parent-student school charter. That was passed in the Seanad in 2019. There was pre-legislative scrutiny in the education committee at that point but that has never progressed in the Dáil. I see that as something that is very important for the whole-school community and it gives students and parents buy-in to decisions that are made and an ability to address grievance procedures collectively and not in a defensive way.

There is much I could say but supporting the extra capitation grants is really important because schools are finding it difficult to subsist at the moment. I ask the Minister of State to keep up his own excellent work on special education. There are so many relying on him to do that and I know he will deliver.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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At the outset, I commend the good work of many in the education system. We all want a world-class education system that allows every child to real his or her full potential. However, too many people feel that the Department of Education and Youth is ignoring the voices of those who matter most, namely students, parents and teachers, many of whom have contacted me. There are hundreds of children with special educational needs who do not have school places. There is chronic absenteeism. Teachers are warning us that leaving certificate reform is being rushed and that standards are being diluted. Parents across the country are feeling shut out of decisions about their children's education.

We are seeing a system that is no longer listening to professional experts or parents and that is not dealing which reality. This is particularly true when it comes to the roll-out of the Bí Cineálta programme. While we all support efforts to tackle bullying and promote kindness in schools, this programme introduces complex ideas about gender identity in ways that many parents and professionals feel are not developmentally appropriate. Bí Cineálta was originally developed to emphasise the importance of integrating people with disabilities and autism and children from impoverished backgrounds, many of whom are most of risk of bullying. However, it now focuses primarily on bringing gender ideology into the classroom. It forces children to accept gender ideology as fact. Gender ideology goes against progressive politics. It tells children that if they do not conform to the rigid notions of femininity or masculinity, they are really the opposite sex inside. It tells children that if they do not like dolls or football, they are outside the norm. We have a duty to ensure that what we teach children is grounded in best practice and appropriate for their age and stage of development.

We must also respect the constitutional role of parents in guiding their children's education. When more than 4,000 submissions from concerned parents are dismissed without meaningful engagement, something is very wrong. Bí Cineálta will be embedded throughout the school curriculum, so parents who do not wish for their children to be taught gender ideology will have to remove them from school altogether. There is no ability for parents to have their children opt out of learning factually incorrect information because this policy will be mandatory.

Psychiatrist and member of the Cass review clinical expert group Dr. Paul Moran has stated, "the Department of Health should reconsider some of the overly affirmative educational and training materials it is sending to schools" and has questioned the prominent role that has been given to activist organisations over clinical advice in respect of policy development and teacher training. After the Cass report was published, the North of Ireland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Hungary, Poland and Italy immediately removed gender ideology from their curricula because they took the advice of experts not activists. They listened. We also seem to be behind the curve on issues like this all the time. When other countries became aware of the harm this could do to children, they acted immediately to protect them. The Government is aware of this discourse and, thankfully, dropped the idea of letting those under 16 medically transition from the programme for Government. We need the Government and the Department to lead the way on ensuring education is based solely on factual evidence rather than biased agendas. The Bí Cineálta programme has to be stopped. Every child deserves support and respect, and that must come through evidence-based age-appropriate policies. A world-class education system should not turn a blind eye to what is factually true.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I support what the Senator said 100%. Gender ideology should be kept out of education, particularly primary and post-primary education. There is only one thing I want to raise and that is the education of children in foster care and the disadvantage they face. Many children who go into foster care may not go into an emergency placement within their own jurisdiction. Very often, they are moved out of the county. Believe it or not, some of those children end up not going back into the education system for one or two years. Members might find that shocking, but I have had teenage children in my care who may not have been in school for about two years because they were being pushed on and on through the system and never found that forever home. That, and not keeping them in care, is the greatest shame.

A mileage allowance was granted to foster parents last year, and I welcomed that. However, I would get a child in school in Kildare or Wicklow, and it would be impossible for me to get him or her to school in Wicklow on a daily basis. It is not about the money. I just might not be able to spend four hours in a car every day to bring that child to school. This is something I would like the Minister of State to look at - to think of children in the foster care system who are not in continued education, particularly primary or secondary school. That is important.

The Minister left after 40 minutes. To be honest, I am so disappointed. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State but even on Commencement Matters, we are finding that senior Ministers are not coming to the House to answer the questions Senators are putting before them. This is the first time we have had the chance to address the Minister on this very important Department. I am disappointed that she left the Chamber after 40 minutes. I had a question. I rarely bring up local politics in this Chamber. I do not think I have ever done it. I have done it four or five times since I came in here, and it was to do with a secondary school in my area. I am wondering where it is, but I will send a request to the Minister. I am disappointed that she left the Chamber after 40 minutes.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to be here for statements on education. In recent months, I have worked extremely closely with the Minister to deal with the many challenges we have faced in terms of special education and school places. We have worked with the NCSE and the Department during that time to ensure we will have a place for every student come 1 September. There are some challenges still ahead, but we are very committed to making sure we have the places for them.

During the current school year, parents were asked to make contact with the NCSE on or before 1 February if they wanted additional support for their children. We moved that back by four months. The cut-off date is 1 October for the 2026 school year. This was chosen in the hope we will have school places for children with additional needs and certainty for their families prior to Christmas. That is the least we can do for vulnerable children with additional needs, and we welcome the decision to do that.

In recent months, I have travelled the length and breadth of the country. I have visited special schools, special classes and mainstream classes. I discovered the amazing work that is being done by teachers, SNAs and the wider school leadership. Breifne College was mentioned. I visited it as it was closing two or three weeks ago. I am really taken by the serious commitment on the part of school leadership to deliver an education system that is inclusive and has the child's benefit at heart. School leaders who are embracing special classes and additional supports for children are quite amazing. We have a lot of work to do on the special classes in primary schools. The primary school education system has really embraced special education. We now face the challenge of ensuring we have places for those children as they transition from primary to post-primary education. Senator Curley mentioned his town of Loughrea. We have challenges in every part of the country with that because some students will be able to get through primary school but the transition from primary to post-primary will be difficult, so there needs to be a great deal of work, and a great deal of understanding around children's needs, to ensure they are accommodated throughout the length and breadth of the country.

I think of the special needs assistants who have done amazing work and been the foundation of special education over the past 20 or 25 years. We have gone from having no special needs assistants in the education system to having 23,000. They have embraced their job. When one meets them in schools, they talk about the commitment they have and their love for the children they are looking after. One can clearly see that.

We are embarking on providing therapists to special schools and special classes again. We will be rolling that out from September of this year. A decision was taken by the Government on Tuesday, I understand, and a number of discussions took place in the Cabinet subcommittee on disability in February. A large volume of work has been done by the Department of education, the NCSE and everybody else to ensure we can roll it out. Getting therapists back into special schools will be transformative for children, but it will also give great support to the teams working in the special schools because they will learn from the therapists. We have a lot of work to do across government, not just in the Department of education, but also in the Department of further education, to ensure there are more therapists coming on stream and that we have extra college places in September.

There is a role within the education system for assistant therapists. We all know that some of the practitioners in the education system, especially on the special education side of it, are almost therapists themselves at this stage. It is important that we look at the assistant therapist's role and how it will be rolled into the system. Any of us who are close to the education system know quite well that some of the special needs assistants working in it are skilled way beyond what they have on paper. We need to look at ways of ensuring they are brought further into the system.

Over the past five years, the capacity for special education has doubled and the National Council for Special Education has got many more teams on the ground. This year, we have 120 special needs assistants. They are embedded into the system. As the years go by, we will be able to get better outcomes and more certainty for families. It was last September that those 120 SNAs were put into the system. We should be able to get better information.

We also need to break down barriers between the Departments of Children, Disability and Equality and Social Protection to ensure information is sent. We have all heard the dreaded words, when we are making representations or dealing with some issues, about GDPR and the silos within government. We have to break down the silos within government so the whole of government understands quite clearly the need out there in society.

We will have over 400 extra special classes throughout the country this year. We will have five additional special schools. They are in Belmayne and Lucan in Dublin, what will be known as the Carraig na bhFear school will initially start at a site in Fermoy this year before moving to Carraig na bhFear later, another will be in Nenagh in County Tipperary and another will be in Castleblayney in County Monaghan. I believe there will be 18 places in that last school to start off. These are huge initiatives. They need an awful lot of support from the NCSE, the Department and ourselves because they are taking on a very important role in society. All those who are working right across the education system are fantastic, but the staff in special schools are superhuman because of the need they are meeting.

A number of issues relating to foster care were raised. Even yesterday, we had a meeting with a principal who raised a number of issues with me concerning one or two children. We can take fierce pride in the education system that has developed in Ireland over the past century and the amount of progress we have made, especially over the past 50 or 60 years, but there are students who are outside it and who fall through the cracks. We will be measured on how good a safety net we have under them. Senator Keogan spoke about foster care, which is something I will reflect on. We will look at it and make sure we are doing right by children who are going into foster care because life is challenging enough for them. I will certainly look at that. We were given information yesterday about a student who was outside the school system and had escaped the system of the State at seven and a half or eight years of age. We all think there are excellent checks and balances in the system, and by and large there are. There is a fantastic inspectorate within the Department and there is the NCSE. However, there are always some challenges and we are going to have to ensure our education system is bringing everybody together.

Regarding the many challenges we have in society, such as antisocial behaviour, which has been discussed here and in the Lower House in recent days, the education system is crucial. Many of our predecessors in the Houses understood that the way out of poverty was to ensure we had a proper education system, and that they did. Donogh O’Malley was mentioned. In the decades before, that the vocational education system was rolled out and one Minister opened 129 schools in one year in the early 1950s. I was in Scotland recently looking at its education system, particularly the special education system. While it has a great system, the cabinet secretary for education said that she would not start with what she was doing if she were us, given the challenges Scotland faced and the system we had been developing for years.

We have to ensure we are bringing everybody with us within the education system. It is the great enabler for getting people out of poverty traps and the endless cycle of poverty. We are going to have to ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose system for the most vulnerable, whether they come from very disadvantaged backgrounds or require a challenging amount of care. Sometimes, we fall short of that. The figures show we are doing very well. The OECD figures or any comparative studies will say the Irish education system is good, but we have to look at those we are not serving because if we do that right, we will have an even better system into the future. I have certainly put huge energy into my role in the past number of months. I chaired the disability committee during the previous Dáil and Senators O’Loughlin and Tully were members. We gained great insight into the challenges in the disability sector.

I will not speak all the way to 2.30 p.m.-----

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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Please do.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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In the time I have, it is important to say the experience we have and the disability issues we have learned about are going to lead us to putting actions in place to make sure people with additional needs can say the Irish education system really did them proud, whatever role they had.International studies show that for people with additional needs, one of the great things is nature. Some of the stuff we have lost over the years, such as sensory gardens, are being put in again, as are therapies such as equine therapies. Many second level schools have school dogs at the gate. That is all going back to what people did maybe centuries ago in the context of embracing nature in education. We will have to do that to make sure we get the best for our students. In recent months, we have been working on the new therapy services to which I refer. That work is going on apace. They will first go into special schools and then into special classes. They will be a great enabler for the teams in those schools, but more importantly, for the students.

We have a great deal of work to do. We have brought forward the dates for next year in order to create certainty for families and build a system in which families who have children with additional needs have confidence in the system and do not have to take to the streets to challenge it. There is a fight for everything. That is some of the anecdotal evidence we have from across the world. It is not only in Ireland. I am committed to working with the Minister. We work extremely closely to try to make sure we have a system that is fit for purpose

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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What about the ideology in Bí Cineálta?

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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The Senator spoke already. She does not have an opportunity to respond. The business is statements, unfortunately.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I want to ask the Minister of State-----

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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There is no opportunity under Standing Orders for the Senator to intervene.

That concludes the statements. I thank the Minister of State for his time. Before I call the Deputy Leader, I welcome guests of our colleague Senator McCarthy from the school of law in Quinnipiac University and New York. I hear they are studying in Trinity College, so they did not have to come too far. They are welcome. I hope they have a lovely day.

I also welcome guests of Senator Kelleher from the Ballincollig Tidy Towns committee, who are the all-Ireland champions of Tidy Towns. I congratulate them on their success. I am tempted to ask them to come to Tipperary to show us what we are doing wrong. I wish them well and hope they have a pleasant visit.

When is it proposed to sit again?

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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Next Tuesday at 2.30 p.m.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.