Smart meters and smart infrastructure provide the essential foundation for the delivery of the benefits of the energy transition and are a key enabler for the participation of energy consumers. Over 2 million smart meters have been installed to date nationwide, through the National Smart Metering Programme. A smart and flexible energy system will reduce consumer energy bills by reducing the amount of generation and network assets that need to be built to meet peak demand.

The deployment and integration of energy smart appliances such as electric vehicle (EV) charge points, domestic battery energy storage systems (BESS), heat pumps and hot water heating solutions is a crucial next step for empowering households and businesses to play a central role in Ireland’s energy transition. It will give consumers greater control over their energy bills through access to smart technologies and services, which allow users to optimise their energy use to align with Time of Use tariff periods, dynamic tariffs and to enable participation in Demand Side Response (DSR) schemes.

The Warmer Homes Scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes owned by people at risk of energy poverty by providing fully funded retrofits. The scheme is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on behalf of my Department and is funded through carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund.

The Warmer Homes Scheme is available to owner-occupied properties, based on the householder being in receipt of certain Department of Social Protection income supports, including fuel allowance. The scheme targets support to those on the lowest incomes who are living in the least efficient homes so that the resources available can have the greatest impact in addressing energy poverty.

The scheme seeks to reduce the amount of energy a household needs by reducing heat loss through the installation of insulation and ventilation in the first instance, before moving to replacing heating systems where required under Building Regulations. This is in line with the fabric first/energy efficiency first principle and best practice.

The SEAI is piloting the installation of renewable technologies under the scheme, including heat pumps where major renovations are taking place. These pilots are helping us assess the suitability of such technologies in the context of energy poverty and long-term value for money.

The scope of upgrades under the scheme is kept under ongoing review and my Department continues to work closely with the SEAI to ensure we maximise the impact of every euro spent.

The issue of representation of chaplains has been raised by the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers (RACO) with the Department.

Chaplains are currently appointed to a military installation by their Bishop or religious Superior after consultation with the Head Chaplain and following approval by the Minister for Defence. They are free to to join almost any union or representative association, if they wish, with the exception of military representative associations. Chaplains are not captured by the Defence (Amendment) Act 1990 and therefore cannot be represented by RACO or any other Defence Forces Representative Association.

Officials are exploring the possibility of amending existing primary legislation to address the matter of enabling military representative associations to represent military chaplains. In the interim, the Department has written to the Head Chaplain to advise that chaplains are of course free to bring any matters of concern to them to the Department of Defence.

The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future - sets out a number of commitments relating to national security. This strategy also outlines priorities for recruitment and retention within the Defence Forces.

In this regard, Government previously approved a move to a level of Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to Level of Ambition (LOA) 2 requiring an 11,500-establishment figure including a civilian component by 2028.

To support this and the implementation of related measures, Budget 2026 has provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include, among other things, a provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional PDF members per annum.

In order to meet Government targets, the Defence Forces are making concerted efforts to increase recruitment. Figures provided by the Defence Forces for 2025 indicate a growth in the strength with 728 inductions to the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) achieved to the end of October which exceeds the total of 708 recorded for last year in its entirety. Recruitment of vital specialist personnel via Direct Entry competitions is notably strong for the year to date with the total number of personnel inducted the highest since the commencement of Direct Entry in 2019. Discharge figures have decreased, with a year-on-year reduction of 68 in the number of personnel leaving the PDF as at 31 October. Interest in a career in the Defence Forces is also very high with application numbers well above the total received for all of 2024.

These figures reflect the collective impact of a range of critical enabling measures introduced by Government to support and bolster Defence Forces recruitment. These include:

• Increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement respectively.

• The extension of private secondary healthcare to all personnel.

• The application of the provisions of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces subject to certain exemptions.

• Increases to the Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea which has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year.

• Extension of the Naval Service tax credit for a further five years.

• Extension of the Service Commitment Scheme for pilots in the Air Corps to Air Traffic Control personnel.

• Engagement of external expertise to support recruitment in the Naval Service.

• Introduction of a Professional Instructor Payment for Officers.

In addition, there has been significant progress on pay with all personnel benefiting in August of this year from the latest in a succession of pay increases delivered under the terms of the current public service pay agreement. Recruit pay, on completion of training (which takes approximately 24 weeks), starts at €41,880. A school leaver Cadet, on commissioning, starts at just over €45,000 rising to over €51,000 after two years. Where a graduate joins the pay rate on commissioning begins at over €51,000. A further pay increase of 1% is due in February 2026.

While challenges undoubtedly remain, the allocation of record levels of expenditure to the Defence sector, and the policy initiatives currently in train, is indicative of Government’s commitment to bolstering Defence Forces recruitment and retention and, by extension, enhancing the security of the State.

As Minister for Defence, one of my key priorities is to ensure that the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed in line with the Government’s decision to move to Level of Ambition 2 (LOA2), as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF).

The CODF recommended the development of a primary radar capability to ensure that Ireland can maintain a complete ‘Recognised Air Picture’, and that this should be an immediate and top priority.

There are three elements to the Military Radar Programme: Land based Long Range Primary Radar; Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) systems, to include a Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capability; and Maritime (ship-borne) Radar.

This programme of work is ongoing and good progress has been made.

When fully delivered, the Recognised Air Picture will incorporate this suite of military radar systems; which will have the capability to detect all aircraft traversing our airspace including any that may be operating with their transponders turned off.

Full delivery of the Programme will be complex; but has been prioritised with a target date of 2028 identified in the Detailed Implementation Plan. That being said, elements of this capability will be rolled out in phases, starting in 2026, towards full delivery by the end of 2028.

My Department has engaged with a number of countries, including all EU Member States, to ascertain their interest in supporting Ireland to deliver this capability.

Based on the responses received, my officials commenced bi-lateral discussions with a small number of countries earlier this year, with a view to assessing options for delivery. This phase has concluded and a decision on this is imminent.

The requirements for delivery of military radar, across the various domains, including primary radar, are extremely complex and clearly this will be an expensive capability to deliver and maintain. However, all capital expenditure associated with delivery of this Programme will be met from within the capital allocations for 2026-2030, which were recently agreed as part of the review of the National Development Plan. Given the critical stage we are now at in this phase of the Programme, it would be premature to make any further comment on the likely costs involved, at this time.

Training needs will be determined and delivered as part of the delivery of the Programme and will encompass equipment level training, including maintenance, as well operational and tactical level training.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 and 249 together.

As of the 31 October 2025, the latest date such figures are available for, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,760 personnel consisting of 6,237 Army, 739 Air Corps and 784 Naval Service personnel respectively.

On foot of the recommendations from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, Government approved a move, over a six-year period, to a level of Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to Level of Ambition 2. This will require an additional 2,000 personnel, including a civilian component, beyond the 9,500-establishment figure that was in place at the time of the Commission’s report.

The establishment figure for the Permanent Defence Force has increased incrementally since 2022 to 9,739 to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.

Working towards the achievement of Level of Ambition 2, Budget 2026 provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional PDF members per annum.

In order to meet government targets, the Defence Forces are making concerted efforts to increase recruitment. Expanding training capacity is being progressed. A Joint Induction Training Centre has been established in Gormanston Barracks which provides initial training to new recruits.

Last year saw a stabilisation in numbers with 708 inductions to the Permanent Defence Force and the military authorities have advised that they are targeting over 750 inductions for 2025. There continues to be very strong interest in a career in the Defence Forces with further growth again this year in the number of applications received. A total of 14,879 applications have been received to the end of October this year which represents an 11% increase on the 13,348 applications received for all of 2024.

Government has introduced a range of key enabling measures to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment and retention. These include increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement respectively, the extension of private secondary healthcare to all personnel and the application of the provisions of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces subject to certain exemptions. The Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year while the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years.

There has also been significant progress on pay with a further pay award due in February of next year.

Though challenges undoubtedly remain, the allocation of record levels of expenditure, coupled with the recruitment and retention initiatives currently in train, is indicative of the government's commitment to Defence.

With Ireland assuming the Presidency of the EU from July 2026, there is an urgent operational requirement to prioritise delivery of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) capabilities for use by the Defence Forces.

Subject to negotiation and finalisation of a contract, the required capabilities are to be procured in an accelerated manner with planned delivery, and training, being carried out during the first half of 2026.

Pending finalisation of contract negotiations, and also for operational security reasons, it would be inappropriate to make any further comment on this matter, at this time.

The Department of Defence follows the principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts in accordance with national and EU Regulations, including specific EU Regulations for procurement of defensive equipment, and in line with Office of Government Procurement guidelines where relevant.

Under Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 05/2023, the threshold at which contracting authorities are required to advertise all contracts for goods and services on e-Tenders is €50,000 (exclusive of VAT). My Department also advertises contracts over the EU threshold, currently €143,000 for Goods and Services, in the Official Journal of the EU.

Office of Government Procurement guidelines allows that contracts below the national advertising threshold of €50,000 (exclusive of VAT), may be awarded on the basis of responses to written specifications issued to at least three suppliers or service providers.

Departmental procurement procedures are kept under constant review to ensure Office of Government Procurement advice is followed and to ensure best value for money procurements are achieved.

A key priority is to ensure that the capabilities of the Defence Forces are maintained, developed and enhanced in order to ensure that the Defence Forces can carry out all of the roles assigned to it by Government.

This includes the implementation of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CoDF) recommendations, particularly with regard to the enhancement of Defence Force Capabilities. The Commission's Report included a wide range of further recommendations in relation to capabilities and funding.

More specifically, capability priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are considered as part of the capability development planning processes which include both a five-year Equipment Development Plan and a Built Infrastructure Programme. This is an ongoing iterative process. In this context, the principal aim of Government policy is to replace and upgrade, as required, existing capabilities in order to retain a flexible response for a wide range of operational requirements at home and overseas.

The Defence Policy Review 2024 sets out an approach to collaboration with other States. It provides that “No nation acting alone can address all of the current complex and dynamic security challenges affecting global and regional defence and security. Ireland accepts this practical reality and appreciates the need to broaden and deepen our levels of engagement on defence issues internationally. In this context, increased collaborative procurement and capability development with partners will also be a feature of Irish defence capability planning to increase our knowledge, subject matter expertise and skills. This approach will serve to improve our defence interoperability, to harness and enhance efficient value-for-money procurement and capability development at the EU level.”

It is in this overall context that engagement with Finland, and a number of other countries has been ongoing in recent months. Engagement with Finland has included meetings between Department officials and colleagues from the Finnish Ministry of Defence and the Finnish Ambassador. I can confirm that a Memorandum of Understanding in respect of Defence Material cooperation was signed earlier this month at official level.

Engagement with Finnish colleagues has already begun with regard to planning the first formal Steering Group meeting which is expected to take place early in 2026. I look forward to the outcome of the work of the Steering Group, provided for under the MoU, and potential future co-operation in the defence procurement sphere between Finland and Ireland.

My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed and this will be aided by the Capability Development Programme.

The civil/military staffed Capability Development Unit, established in 2023 in response to a recommendation in the Commission on the Defence Forces to implement a top down Capability Development Planning Process, are preparing a Capability Development Programme, that will identify, at a high level, the Capability requirements for the Defence Forces out to 2040. This ongoing piece of work, once complete, will inform the prioritisation of capabilities the Defence Forces will progress in moving towards the strategic level of ambition set out in the Defence Policy Review. This will be in line with the capital allocation under the National Development Plan. To this end, the priority continues to be progressing to LOA 2 thereby providing the foundations for future developments in capability.

The Capability Development Programme will be published in the first half of 2026.

I am advised that the Defence Forces sought quotes from three suppliers to supply Wind Instruments in November 2025. Only one valid submission was received for this competition, and this contract is currently ongoing.

This approach is in line with Office of Government Procurement Guidelines which directs that contracts below the national advertising threshold of €50,000 (exclusive of VAT), may be awarded on the basis of responses to written specifications (for example, by email) issued to at least three suppliers or service providers.

Total number of Female applications to the 2025 Cadetship campaign for Army and Naval Service are as follows:

An Garda Síochána, as the nominated National Security Authority, conduct all liaison with police or security services abroad during the Security Clearance process.

Military authorities have advised that the security clearance process can take anything from 6 weeks to 9 months for candidates depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, their previous country(ies) of residence, the address(es) they have lived at, prior interactions with police or security services and the speed at which foreign authorities respond to requests from An Garda Síochána. These delays are beyond the scope of Ireland’s National Authority to address.

The Vetting/Security Clearance Process applies equally to applicants to both PDF and RDF.

The table attached provides the requested whole time equivalent strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) by branch and rank as of 31 October 2025, the latest date such figures are available for.

The Government has acknowledged the on-going staffing challenges in the Defence Forces; however, figures provided by the Defence Forces to date for 2025 indicate a modest expansion in the strength of the PDF.

A range of measures have been undertaken to tackle the recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces over the last number of years. Notable among these have been the extension of private secondary healthcare to all PDF personnel, a doubling of the Patrol-Duty Allowance, the application of the provisions of the Working-Time Directive across the Defence Forces as well as significant progress on pay.

It should be noted that there continues to be a very strong level of interest in a career in the Defence Forces is high with some 14,881 applications to date in 2025, with total inductions for the year expected to exceed 750.

Budget 2026 includes an allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, which incorporates a provision for the recruitment and training of at least a net additional 400 enlisted personnel in 2026. The Defence Forces advise that they will target in excess of 800 inductions in 2026.

Whole Time equivalent Strength of the Permanent Defence Force by branch and rank as of 31 October 2025

My Department signed a contract for the French made Dassault Falcon 6X in December 2024 with delivery expected in December 2025. The aircraft is expected to arrive in Casement Aerodrome today.

The Dassault Falcon 6X is a next generation aircraft which will enhance the State’s transport, airlift and medical evacuation capabilities, with a range of over 5000 nautical miles meaning it can reach the west coast of the United States without the need to refuel.

It provides the State with an independent and flexible air transport service, which is an increasingly essential requirement to assist the Government in meeting Ireland’s national and international obligations.

In addition, the aircraft will be used for a broad range of other taskings, including the evacuation of Irish citizens from critical situations, air-ambulance patient transfers, medical evacuation or repatriation of Irish Defence Forces personnel deployed on overseas missions, and logistics support for the transport of supplies to Irish Defence Forces overseas missions.

The delivery of the Dassault Falcon 6X strategic reach aircraft represents a significant enhancement of the State’s transport, airlift and medical capabilities, and is further evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to enhance the capabilities of the Defence Forces.

My Department has no record of using the company, whose details were supplied, for the provision of translation services in the years 2020 to 2025.

As Minister for Defence, I am committed to introducing legislation to reform the Triple Lock. It is not acceptable to the Government that any one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have an essential veto on Ireland participating in Peacekeeping missions overseas.

The General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 was approved by Government in March of this year.

The General Scheme was subsequently referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Defence and National Security for consideration under the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny process.

The purpose of this Bill is to:

(a) revise and consolidate the current legislation, including the provisions concerning the operation of the so-called 'Triple Lock' mechanism, relating to the despatch of members of the Defence Forces for service outside the State; and,

(b) give effect to recommendations pertaining to suspension and associated provisions contained within the report prepared by Mr Peter Ward, Senior Counsel, concerning the management of members of the Defence Forces charged, with or convicted of, serious criminal offences.

Prior to my recent appointment as Minister for Defence, there has been very detailed engagement on this legislation, most recently as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process which provided the Committee with the opportunity to examine the Heads and to consult relevant stakeholders on the proposed Bill.

The Committee conducted a very thorough piece of work which reflected the views of a wide range of stakeholders I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Committee for their report, which I am now considering as part of the drafting process for the Bill.

I can perfectly understand the concerns that some people have around this legislation and I want to assure them that this Bill will not impact on Ireland’s policy of military neutrality. Ireland's policy of military neutrality is characterised by the non-membership of military alliances or common or mutual defence arrangements. However, I ask that Deputies reflect on the much- changed geopolitical landscapeover the last number of years and resulting challenges arising globally and at UN Security Council level. I believe that the Defence Forces have played a really key role in peace keeping abroad, but Deputies must also be aware that no new peacekeeping mission has been authorised in the U.N. since 2014.

Ireland has always taken an active approach to global challenges and making significant contributions to international peace and security, and will continue to do so. The proposed changes will remain fully consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and international law.

Over the summer, an official from my Department provided the US Embassy with an overview of the work being done to develop the new National Maritime Security Strategy, including the public consultation that my Department undertook in support of this work.

Subsequently, the US Embassy asked whether Ireland is considering joining a US initiative on the security and resilience of undersea cables, known as the New York Principles. As this initiative is a policy matter within the responsibility of the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, the US Embassy’s request was shared with them and that Department is currently considering this matter.

Ireland has always been, and continues to be, a strong supporter of the United Nations and UN Peacekeeping. Our commitment and support for the primary role of the United Nations, in the maintenance of international peace and security, is expressed through Ireland's long-standing tradition of participating in UN peacekeeping operations as well as our engagement with the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

Ireland’s overseas commitments in that regard form an important part of our support to multilateralism and the maintenance of international peace and security.

Currently Ireland contributes personnel to a number of UN, EU and other international peace keeping and crisis management operations. Our participation in UNIFIL has been a central element of this engagement for many years and plays a central role in supporting peace and security in Lebanon and in the wider region. The current mandate for UNIFIL runs until the end of 2026, with the winddown and drawdown to be completed by end 2027, and both the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces will continue to assess operational implications arising from this timeline. The period of transition for any mission is a challenging one. Ireland recognises that careful planning will be needed over the coming period.

I am informed by the Defence Forces that a primary activity of it, when not engaged in overseas operations is continuous preparation and training. This training ensures that the Defence Forces remain operationally ready, at all times, to respond to all tasks assigned to the Defence Forces by Government. The Defence Forces also has a rigorous evaluation system based on best international military practice to ensure that units comply with and meet the Defence Forces training standards, quality assurance and governance requirements. This process actively evaluates the operational readiness of units to meet its assigned tasks by identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement, and where deficiencies are identified, appropriate action plans are developed and implemented.

Training and education within the Defence Forces is coordinated and managed under a Training and Education Directive which sets out a detailed landscape of training and education activities that are required. It outlines training priorities and indicates how these are to be achieved through the conduct of training and education activities, and deliver military capability necessary to meet Defence Forces assigned roles into the future.

Finally, I wish to reassure the Deputy that the Defence Forces will continue to maintain the operational readiness of personnel following any redeployment or changes in overseas commitments, including following the withdrawal of the peacekeeping contingent from Lebanon in UNIFIL, once that Mission mandate ends.

My Department does not comment on security issues

The Defence Forces are responsible for Cyber Defence. I wish to clarify that I have no function with respect to the National Cyber Security Centre, which is under the remit of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, or the HSE, which is under the remit of the Department of Health. The Department of Defence and the Defence Forces have no oversight or responsibility for victim support measures.

The following are the current capital works that are ongoing at the DFTC, Curragh Camp, completed in 2025, or estimated for works to commence in the first half of 2026.

Below sets out the various stages of construction, tender procurement, design or planning of each project, the estimation completion and estimate cost.

The Deputy may also wish to know that the following capital works were completed since 2020 for the DFTC at a total cost of €16.3M.

• New Vehicle Garaging Facility

• New Vehicle Garaging – Coolmoney Camp

• Engineer Logistics Office

• ARW Enabling Works

• Cadet School HQ

• St Bricins Re Location - Barracks Services Engineer Store

• Provision of a new Electric Target Range

• Upgrade of Block 7, Plunkett Barracks Accommodation

In addition, my Department also allocates funding each year to the Defence Forces for the maintenance, repair and upkeep of its building stock. This year a devolved budget of €12.5 million was assigned by my Department to the Defence Forces for these tasks. The individual prioritisation of specific projects to be carried out is solely a matter for the Defence Forces in keeping with the delegated nature of this budget.

The revised National Development Plan Capital allocation for the Defence Vote Group for the period 2026-2030 is €1.7bn. This represents an increase of €600 million (55%) on the previous baseline of €1.1 bn. For 2026, the Defence capital allocation will increase by €85 million to €300 million.

Capital Investment in Defence primarily provides for the renewal, retention and acquisition of major defence equipment and infrastructural platforms. This expenditure enhances and supports military capabilities and therefore contributes to a more secure and resilient society.

As Defence capital expenditure is often atypical, with long lead-in times, the funding certainty now provided will support the internal Equipment Development Plan and Infrastructural Development Planning Frameworks.

The revised capital allocations will assist ongoing efforts at modernising and upgrading Defence equipment and built infrastructure platforms and will enable targeted progression on key elements of Government commitments within LOA 2 (Enhanced Capability) objectives, as outlined in the Commission on the Defence Forces Report, including the priority Military Radar Programme.

In an era defined by a rapidly evolving geopolitical tensions, the investment will modernise Defence Forces capability across all domains and ensure that Ireland continues to meet its national and international security responsibilities.

Full details of the Defence NDP 2026-2030 Sectoral Plan are available on the Government website www.gov.ie.

The Deputy has previously been advised that there is a Joint Planning Working Group which considers the need to raise concerns and or comments in relation to proposed developments likely to affect Defence Force operations. The observations provided in this instance were based on returns received from the Defence Forces within the established time frame. I am advised that subsequently the Naval Service submitted observations several weeks later outside of the agreed protocols. The late provision by the Naval Service of these observations within days of the deadline for submission of observations to the consenting authorities did not provide my predecessor sufficient time to consider same. As the Deputy will be aware the decision to grant consent with or without conditions is a matter for the planning authorities, in the final instance.

Attracting and retaining talented individuals and encouraging them to stay and enjoy a fruitful career in the Defence Forces will continue to be a priority for me in 2026.

Significant work has been undertaken over the past five years to transform the Defence Forces and it is having a tangible impact with the stabilisation of overall staffing levels in the Defence Forces.

In addition to a programme of cultural transformation, which is underway, specific actions in retention, which have been delivered, include:

• Significant progress on pay;

• The extension of the existing Service Commitment Scheme for Air Corps pilots, to Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel;

• An increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62;

• The extension of private healthcare to all ranks in the Defence Forces;

• Provision of fitness, training and sports facilities across its installations;

• Progress on the 2023-2027 Defence Forces Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP) with the highest level of financial resources in the State’s history;

• The provision of excellent training and education opportunities;

• The implementation of the Working Time Directive.

Work is continuing to build on these initiatives through the delivery of a Strategic HR Change Programme, which includes:

• The transformation of Career and Talent Processes and Promotion Systems;

• Remote Learning Solutions;

• A Coaching and Mentoring Programme;

• Flexible Work Practices and Family Friendly Policies.

Local Bargaining has emerged as an important tool to address targeted issues related to workforce retention, particularly within critical skill areas. A range of bespoke proposals are currently under consideration that seek to improve job satisfaction, enable professional development, and address known pinch points affecting career progression and operational continuity.

In January 2025, a Retention Team was set up in the Defence Forces to start building a clear pathway to reduce overall attrition across the Defence Forces. The first focus has been on stabilising the workforce through targeted, evidence-led actions.

Work is well underway on the Defence Forces Retention Strategy, with support from an external partner.

Looking further ahead, the Defence Forces Strategic Workforce Plan is being developed. This plan will set out how the organisation can best balance its workforce in terms of numbers, structure, and skills over the coming years.

In a buoyant employment market, such as we have now, it is my aim to have the Defence Forces regarded as an employer of choice. in 2026 and beyond.

One of my key priorities in 2025 and into 2026 is the continuation of the modernisation of our Defence Forces and a vital part of this transformation process is the revitalising of the Reserve Forces, as identified and recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

The Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) Regeneration and Development Plan (RDFRDP), published in July 2024, coordinates 27 individual actions to drive forward recruitment and retention; resourcing; training and education; as well as integration and deployment - the 4 operational objectives of the plan. Each of the 27 actions contribute to the ultimate goal of developing a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis with the Permanent Defence Force, both nationally and overseas.

Examples of recruitment measures include: the increase in upper recruitment and mandatory retirement ages; implementation of a ‘managed Induction Process’ and the on boarding process which enables candidates to undergo pre-attestation recruit training.

In addition to general service recruitment, a further action within the RDFRDP is the enabling of multi induction streams, which will ensure the RDF has as many induction mechanisms as possible, including direct and lateral entry.

The Office of Reserve Affairs has created a Reserve Strategic Engagement Team, comprised of reservists with relevant marketing, advertising and media production skills, who have led a series of initiatives to enhance awareness of the RDF and support recruitment. This involves conducting a social media campaign, attending events and engaging with relevant stakeholders.

Furthermore, a national advertising campaign is being developed which will include new updated RDF promotional material and the roll out of branded exhibition equipment.

Admission to the First Line Reserve (FLR) element of the RDF, which provides a pool of former trained/ specialist personnel, available to supplement the PDF in times of emergency, is also under review.

The increased interest in the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) was reflected when the original 2024 budget allocation for the RDF was proactively increased in Q4 2024 to meet evolving levels of RDF activity, with a further increase requested and sanctioned in the latter part of the year. The budget was further increased to €3.5m for 2025 and will be increased again for 2026.

The initiatives contained in the RDF Regeneration and Development Plan are generating positive change and increased momentum towards a regenerated, trained and capable RDF to support the Permanent Defence Forces and the work in 2026 will build on that success.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 252, 253, 254 and 255 together.

There is no specific policy covering the travel of Ministers or officials in respect of travel to regions with identified health risks. When officials or Ministers are travelling abroad, the travel information available to all citizens travelling abroad, provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is available to them. In instances where foreign travel may involve health related considerations, it is for the Minister and officials concerned to seek guidance from their own medical advisers, if required.

As I have previously advised the Deputy, the most recent travel by a Minister for Defence, to a higher-risk region in Africa, was in 2019, when Minister Simon Coveney visited Mali. It is a matter for the individual Minister or official to make decisions in relation to their ability to travel having regard to their own particular medical history and advice from their medical adviser. This does not form part of any formal approval process as the matter is subject to personal medical information.

In response to the Deputy’s previous questions on this matter, I informed him of the Department’s record keeping requirements for ministerial travel do not extend to maintaining medical records of Ministers or officials, which are private to the individual and handled in accordance with normal medical confidentiality standards. As this is the approach taken to such matters, it was not necessary, nor would it be practical to carry out a widespread search for records of Ministers, or for records of any official who may have undertaken travel with a Minister over a period of 20 years.

Briefing material provided to Ministers and officials in respect of individual trips, which would largely encompass material pertinent to the meetings to be attended, is retained in accordance with the Department’s Records Management policy.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

I am acutely aware of the constraints on our public transport workforce. My Department chairs the Public Transport Workforce Taskforce which aims to progress the Programme for Government commitment to identify options to assist with resolving challenges regarding the recruitment of drivers and mechanics/craftworkers. The taskforce includes representatives from the school transport section in the Department of Education, relevant agencies and transport operators including Bus Éireann, and training bodies.

The aim of the taskforce is to work collaboratively to identify contributing factors to the recruitment issues, and put forward an action plan with recommendations and measures to create a pipeline of workers to address these wider issues. Officials in my department will also continue to engage with other stakeholders, including the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, during the preparation of the action plan.

In line with this work, the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment signed regulations on 11 April 2025 extending the general employment permit quotas for HGV/Bus mechanics and vehicle repairers, increasing the total number of quotas available for these roles by 200 permits.

This specific matter raised by the Deputy is a policy decision and operational matter for Bus Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

I wish to reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability, and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well-funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority under the Programme for Government. The National Transport Authority (NTA), which regulates fares for services provided under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts, plays a central role in achieving this.

As the Minister for Transport, my Department sets the overall policy direction and funding framework for the delivery of public transport services nationwide. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of €940m, provides a significant 43% uplift in the PSO allocation from 2025 to further support subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, as well as maintaining targeted fares initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of 9 and the Young Adult Card for those aged 19-25, as part of the NTA's National Fares Strategy.

The previous Government decision did not include provisions for extending free travel for children under 9 to commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, who largely operate without any State subvention.

I wish to reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability, and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well-funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority under the Programme for Government. The National Transport Authority (NTA), which regulates fares for services provided under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts, plays a central role in achieving this.

As the Minister for Transport, my Department sets the overall policy direction and funding framework for the delivery of public transport services nationwide. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of €940m, provides a significant 43% uplift in the PSO allocation from 2025 to further support subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, as well as maintaining targeted fares initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of 9 and the Young Adult Card for those aged 19-25, as part of the NTA's National Fares Strategy.

The previous Government decision did not include provisions for extending free travel for children under 9 to commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, who largely operate without any State subvention.

I wish to reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability, and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well-funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority under the Programme for Government. The National Transport Authority (NTA), which regulates fares for services provided under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts, plays a central role in achieving this.

As the Minister for Transport, my Department sets the overall policy direction and funding framework for the delivery of public transport services nationwide. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of €940m, provides a significant 43% uplift in the PSO allocation from 2025 to further support subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, as well as maintaining targeted fares initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of 9 and the Young Adult Card for those aged 19-25, as part of the NTA's National Fares Strategy.

The previous Government decision did not include provisions for extending free travel for children under 9 to commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, who largely operate without any State subvention.

I wish to reassure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability, and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well-funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority under the Programme for Government. The National Transport Authority (NTA), which regulates fares for services provided under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts, plays a central role in achieving this.

As the Minister for Transport, my Department sets the overall policy direction and funding framework for the delivery of public transport services nationwide. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of €940m, provides a significant 43% uplift in the PSO allocation from 2025 to further support subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, as well as maintaining targeted fares initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of 9 and the Young Adult Card for those aged 19-25, as part of the NTA's National Fares Strategy.

The previous Government decision did not include provisions for extending free travel for children under 9 to commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, who largely operate without any State subvention.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants.

The design of speed ramps on public roads is the responsibility of the local authorities. The relevant standards for the design of speed ramps are set out in the Traffic Management Guidelines.

On-street running of tram light railway must comply with the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 182 of 1997) as amended by S.I. No. 98 of 2003 and S.I. No. 404 of 2004 and the associated road traffic signs and tram signals that have been prescribed for the on-street running of trams. Drivers of trams must comply with the road speed limits that are applied under the Road Traffic Acts and with the speed limit regulations that are made under the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001. A tram driver is a safety critical worker for the purposes of the Railway Safety Act 2005 and must comply with the safety obligations that apply under that Act.

To apply to drive a tram on a public road a tram driver is required to hold a valid driver licence that is issued under the Road Traffic Act 1961 i.e. a personal driving licence. The training and qualification of persons to drive a tram vehicle on the light railway infrastructure is arranged by the employer (the railway organisation that provides passenger light rail services). The Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001 provides that a person who is disqualified under the Road Traffic Acts for holding a driving licence is prohibited from driving a tram on a public road.

The Public Service Vehicle driver licensing system does not apply to tram drivers.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. It is the National Transport Authority (NTA) that holds the statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, and as Minister for Transport, I continue to engage with the NTA on an ongoing basis in relation to maintaining high operational standards on all forms of public transport.

In light of the NTA's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's query to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to cycling and public transport infrastructure, including the provision of funding to the National Transport Authority (NTA) in support of public bike-sharing schemes in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford.

Outside of the regional cities, many local authorities have arrangements in place with shared mobility companies to provide bike-sharing schemes under contract or licence agreement. These schemes are not funded through the NTA. Accordingly, any proposals regarding the introduction of a shared bike scheme in Clare are a matter for consideration by Clare County Council.

As Minister of State, I have responsibility for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) is leading the development and rollout of strategic park and ride sites nationwide through the Park and Ride Development Office (PRDO).

The Programme for Government commits to working with local authorities and relevant agencies to develop affordable Park and Ride facilities on the outskirts of major towns and cities.

The NTA established the PRDO in February 2020. The function of the PRDO is to enable and advance the delivery of strategic Park & Ride sites in collaboration with Local Authorities and transport agencies across all regions of the State by providing full time specialist resources on these projects.

The Limerick & Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, 2040 (LSMATS) was published by NTA in November 2022, setting out the vision for Park and Ride (P&R) for the region over this time horizon. While the LSMATS covers the period up to 2040, this is not the target date for the completion of projects developed under the strategy. My Department and the NTA will continue to hold project timelines under regular review with a view to accelerating key projects, where funding and resources allows.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

I continue to engage with the NTA on an ongoing basis in relation to maintaining high operational standards on all forms of public transport. However, in light of the NTA's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's query to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Orders.

As the Deputy may be aware, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) including, in consultation with Iarnród Éireann, the DART+ programme.

The DART+ programme which comprises five different projects in and around the GDA will triple the length of the electrified network from circa 50km to 150km and double city centre capacity from 26,000 passengers per hour per direction to 52,000 during peak hours.

As part of the DART+ programme, DART+ Fleet provides a ten-year procurement framework for electric and battery-electric train fleet. Two fleet orders have been placed (185 carriages, largely battery-electric with some electric units). The first order for the purchase of 95 additional DART carriages, which compromise of 65 battery-electric carriages and 30 electric carriages, have started arriving and are currently undergoing certification and safety testing. It is intended that the new battery-electric sets will be initially deployed on the Northern Commuter Line serving Dublin to/from Drogheda from 2027, which will provide additional capacity on the line.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As the Deputy may be aware, BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, providing better bus services across our cities, including Galway. BusConnects is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State, and is managed by the National Transport Authority (NTA).

The Cross-City Link is a 6.7km scheme that aims to create a Sustainable Transport Corridor from the northeast of Galway to the northwest, crossing Droichead an Dóchais (formerly known as the Salmon Weir Bridge). Once constructed, will help to improve travel times on the bus network and to improve connections for pedestrians and cyclists.

Galway City Council submitted a planning application in September 2022 to An Coimisiún Pleanála for the project. An Oral Hearing for the project was held in February 2024. An Coimisiún Pleanála granted planning permission in 2024; however, it is subject to judicial review, which is still ongoing.

The National Development Plan Review 2025 Sectoral Plan for Transport allocates funding to BusConnects Galway to commence the construction of Sustainable Transport Corridors, subject to the outcome of the planning process and any subsequent legal challenges.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the BusConnects routes in Dublin.

As the Deputy may be aware, BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, with the aim to provide better bus services across five cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA.

The roll-out of the remaining phases of the BusConnects Dublin Network Redesign will occur over the coming years, subject to funding and operational readiness.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015, the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

Therefore, matters relating to the day to day operations regarding national roads, including toll roads are within the remit of TII. More specifically, the statutory power to levy tolls, to make toll bye-laws and to enter into agreements with private investors are vested in TII under Part V of the Roads Act 1993 (as amended). Moreover, the contracts for the privately-operated toll schemes are commercial agreements between TII and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) concessionaires concerned.

Please note that motor tax rates are under the remit of the Department of Finance.

Noting the above position, I have referred the question regarding tolls to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including the local area hackney, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV sector.

The purpose of the local area hackney (LAH) licence is to offer a SPSV service in a rural community where existing transport services do not serve the needs of the community. The LAH can meet the demand for these services, but it cannot displace any existing SPSV services. Applications are open to any person who wishes to provide this service, subject to the regulations.

The NTA held a public consultation, which closed on 28 November last, on proposed changes to the current LAH regulations to increase LAH licence uptake. The proposed key changes to the regulations are to: (1) permit more than one local area hackney driver to operate the local area hackney; (2) enhance the voice of local communities regarding the transport needs assessment for their area, and (3) reduce the regulatory burden on applicants by giving greater clarity to local communities and applicants on the areas nationwide that are open for applications for LAH licences.

In addition to those key changes, the NTA also proposes to: extend the maximum licence period for vehicles and drivers from 3 years to 5 years; mandate licence holders to demonstrate that they are providing satisfactory service to their community when renewing their licence; reduce the time period in which a licence holder must complete their licence renewals from 12/24 months following expiration to within 3 months of their licence expiry to ensure that a community is not without the required services, and introduce a new Fixed Penalty Notice offence for picking up passengers outside of their permitted local area.

Given the NTA's responsibility in this area, I have referred your question to the NTA for further information. Please advise my private office if you have not received a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to Active Travel. Funding is administered through the National Transport Authority (NTA), who, in partnership with local authorities, have responsibility for the selection and development of specific projects in each local authority area.

Noting the role of the NTA in relation to funding for active travel projects, I have referred your question to that agency for a more detailed answer. If you do not receive a reply within 10 working days, please contact my private office.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure including bus stops/shelters nationally.

There is a commitment under the Programme for Government to ensure that public transport operators provide safe and accessible access for all passengers and a commitment to work with local authorities and national bodies to improve public transport options and infrastructure.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Dublin Bus. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from Councils' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

My Department sought applications in September 2025 for consideration for funding of safety improvement works on regional and local roads to be carried out by local authorities during 2026. The schemes for inclusion in the application are decided by the local authorities and submitted in order of priority.

Within the overall budget available for the Safety Improvement Grant Programme, the 2026 allocations will be decided following consideration of Councils’ applications by the Department. The allocations will be notified to Councils as part of the general grant allocation process early next year.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. As a commercial semi-state body, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) are responsible for the provision of pension schemes for their employees.

Regarding the recent engagement between CIÉ and the Trade Union Group (TUG) on the matter of the CIÉ Pension Schemes, the Department acknowledges the longstanding tradition within CIÉ of ensuring that terms and conditions of employees, which include pension provision, are negotiated collectively with recognised Trade Unions.

I welcome the constructive and collaborative approach of the Trade Union Group and CIÉ management in reaching agreement on a pathway forward, which is aimed at balancing the objectives of supporting the future sustainability of the schemes, protecting existing benefits for members of the scheme (including pensioners), and contributing to the overall financial stability of the CIÉ Group. I also acknowledge the positive outcome from the ballot held on the CIÉ Pension Proposal for both Schemes, which was agreed by CIÉ and the TUG in May of this year.

Keeping in line with the appropriate processes, compliance with all applicable requirements, and necessary approvals , my Department are currently engaging with CIÉ as well as financial advisors at NewERA, the Pensions Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation on the next steps in progressing the agreement and bringing CIÉ pensions onto a more stable footing for the benefit of active, and retired scheme members.

As Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, I wish to advise that section 8(4) of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997, as amended, states that a driver entering a public road from a place which is not a public road shall yield right of way to all vehicles and pedestrians proceeding in either direction along the public road. Therefore, any bus entering a public road from a bus station, where there is no signal or other control, must give right of way to ongoing traffic on the public road which they wish to enter.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Bus Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Dublin Bus. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

Howth Coast Guard Unit operates from a fully equipped station building in the Howth Fishery Harbour Centre that was built by the Office of Public Works in 2001.

There is currently no requirement for a new station for the Howth Unit.

Works to install a vehicle and equipment storage area on a site adjacent to the current Coast Guard Building in Howth were completed in October 2025.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. In general, the drafting of employment legislation is a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and does not come under the remit of my Department.

However, the specific query raised by the Deputy relating to private income protection schemes is an operational matter for Dublin Bus. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

In general, the drafting of employment legislation is a matter for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and does not fall under the remit of my Department. However, the specific query raised by the Deputy relating to private income protection schemes is an operational matter for the bus operators involved who should be contacted directly in this instance.

My Department plans to complete a public consultation on a draft revision of the National Ports Policy (NPP) in the first half of 2026.

This second public consultation will build on the thematic Issues Paper, to which over 70 responses were received and assessed by officials in my Department. Following consideration of the responses received from stakeholders, the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) was commissioned to carry out further research on national port capacity post-2040. This research has now been reviewed and will form part of the revised NPP.

Once the public consultation on the draft revision of the National Ports Policy is launched, I look forward to the same level of stakeholder engagement with this second public consultation as was achieved during the first.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the N22 at Carrigrohane, Co. Cork.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, including implementation of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan. Post Budget discussions around allocating funding for the Public Service Obligation programme are ongoing, as is regular engagement between the NTA and the Transport Coordination Units on resourcing requirements.

In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.

The National Transport Authority (NTA), via the 15 Transport Coordination Units operating under the "TFI Local Link brand" nationwide, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.

The National Transport Authority (NTA), via the 15 Transport Coordination Units operating under the "TFI Local Link brand" nationwide, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 290, 291, 295, 296 and 297 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the N67 and N68.

The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply in relation to the N67 and N68. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 and 293 together.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has a statutory remit to report on fatal, serious and minor injury collisions on public roads. The RSA receives collision data from An Garda Síochána for this purpose and produces official statistics to help develop evidence-based road safety interventions.

Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the RSA for direct, detailed reply. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response has not been received within ten days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the N67 and N68.

The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland.

Matters in relation to emergency services and Garda response times would not fall under my remit as Minister for Transport. Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply in relation to any costs incurred by TII in relation to accidents on the N67 and N68. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

I wish to thank the Deputy for his question.

In line with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, where a legal dispute involves another State body every effort should be made to mediate, arbitrate or otherwise resolve the dispute before expensive legal costs are incurred.

In line with the Code's annual reporting requirements, daa is required to provide details of legal disputes with other State bodies involving expenditure of €25,000 or over.

I can confirm that daa has reported to the Department on this matter in line with the Code of Practice.

The responsibility for ensuring the safety of fishing vessels rests in the first instance with the owner of the fishing vessel who is responsible to ensure the safety of the vessel and its crew. The Master or skipper is also responsible for ensuring the safety of the vessel and its crew and should not proceed to sea in a vessel which is not seaworthy and must ensure that all operations are carried out safely.

In addition to these legal responsibilities on the owner and skipper, Irish fishing vessels are subject to a safety regime which addressed the three main classes of fishing vessels. These are fishing vessels of less than 15m length overall, fishing vessels between 15m and 24m in length and fishing vessels 24m in length and over. Considering each of these groupings as follows:

Fishing vessels of less than 15 m length overall are required to comply with the Code of Practice for the Design, Construction, Equipment and Operation of Small Fishing Vessels of less than 15 metres Length overall. My Department oversees this Code of Practice and appoints private surveyors to a panel to carry out periodical surveys for compliance with the Code, which was last updated in 2022 and is under constant review Copies of the Code and details of the surveyors appointed to the panel are available online at [Code of Practice for Fishing Vessels less than 15 metres in length overall].

Irish fishing vessels of between 15m length overall and less than 24m registered length are required to comply with the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Fishing Vessels) (15-24 Metres) Regulations 2007 and be issued with a Fishing Vessel Safety Certificate. Periodical surveys are carried out by the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport, prior to the issue or endorsement of a certificate.

Irish fishing vessels of 24m registered length and over are required to comply with the European Communities (Safety of Fishing Vessels) Regulations 2002 and the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions Regulations 2002 which give effect to Council Directive 97/70/EC of 11 December 1997 setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over. The International Maritime Organisation’s Torremolinos Protocol is given effect in the EU by Council Directive 97/70 as amended. Periodical surveys are carried out by the Marine Survey Office of the Department of Transport, prior to the issue or endorsement of a certificate.

The Marine Survey Office (MSO) of my Department carries out compliance inspections on all sizes of fishing vessels throughout each year and may take enforcement actions requiring rectification of non-compliance within a specified time, detention of a vessel in port or prosecution of the owner and skipper. The MSO also follows up on all reported incidents and accidents on fishing vessels.

The safety levels of the Irish fleet has shown positive trends and figures published by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) in their Annual Report for 2024 record zero fatalities in 2024, three in 2023, zero in 2022 and zero in 2021. Despite this safety profile the safety of fishing vessels remains a key priority and will continue to receive the attention which it deserves.

Available figures are included below for inspections carried out in recent years. As the MSO transitioned to a new task management system recently, figures are not available for 2021 or 2022. However, inspections in these years would have been at a minimum due to the Covid pandemic restrictions.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 300, 301, 304, 306 and 307 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators. in this case Irish Rail.

In light of the NTA’s responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators. in this case Irish Rail.

In light of the NTA’s responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The issue specified in the query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation (PSO) contracts.

In light of the NTA's responsibility in this area, I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Car Testing (NCT) service under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006 and, as Minister, I have no function in respect of operational matters. However, my officials have engaged with the RSA on various aspects of the NCT service including quality control and monitoring.

Ireland is obliged to adhere to the minimum specified technical standards and intervals for carrying out periodic roadworthiness inspections on motor vehicles under EU law and the NCT is operated in line with the requirements of EU Directive 2014/45/EU. This is given effect in Irish law by means of the Road Traffic (National Car Test) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 415/2017), as amended. These Regulations also give effect to the EU Directive in respect of testing methods and pass/fail criteria. The NCT is designed for a particular purpose, which is to ascertain does a vehicle meet certain roadworthiness tests at a point in time.

Delivery of the NCT service is currently contracted out to a third-party supplier, with the contract managed and overseen by the RSA's customer operations directorate. The service is subject to a stringent regime of independent audits and inspections carried out by the AA. More than 99 per cent of tests reviewed are deemed to be fairly and correctly assessed. A dedicated internal audit team is in place to manage allegations, investigations, and complaints. This involves random surprise audits to review vehicles that had just completed a test. Auditors repeat critical elements of the test and identify if there are any discrepancies with the original test result.

The Deputy may also wish to note that the NCT is accredited to International Organization for Standardization standards. All NCT Inspectors are fully qualified mechanics who undertake an intensive three-week training programme delivered through classroom, practical and online training methods. All staff complete Code of Integrity training upon recruitment and on an annual basis thereafter. On-site and annual training programmes are delivered every year to staff to brief them on new technologies.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. This includes all application and scheduling matters. Neither I nor my officials are involved in the service at an operational level. Accordingly, the information requested is held by the RSA.

Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct response. Please contact my office if a reply is not received within ten days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Dublin Bus. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the N70 between Caherdaniel and O'Carroll's Cove.

The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to Greenways. There has a significant amount of investment for Greenway schemes in County Kerry with €8,250,000 allocated in 2025.

In line with Section 32 (2) of the Roads Act 1993, the planning, design, and construction of individual Greenways is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Investment in Greenway and National Roads Active Travel projects is also subject to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and necessary statutory approvals.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question, on this occasion, to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to Greenways. There has a significant amount of investment for Greenway schemes in County Kerry with €8,250,000 allocated in 2025.

In line with Section 32 (2) of the Roads Act 1993, the planning, design, and construction of individual Greenways is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Investment in Greenway and National Roads Active Travel projects is also subject to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and necessary statutory approvals.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question, on this occasion, to TII for a direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

I wish to advise the Deputy that no expenditure has been incurred on translation services from Translink for the years 2020 to 2025 to date.

As Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, I wish to advise that all new vehicles must comply with EU Type Approval standards, which specify the requirements for equipment to be sold and registered in the EU.

While EU Type Approval outlines the requirements and standards for each vehicle type, it does not prescribe how specific systems should operate. This applies not only to electric vehicle-specific systems, but also to more general controls such as indicators, lighting, windscreen wipers, handbrakes and air-conditioning systems. The operation of both mandatory and optional driver assistance and safety systems can also vary significantly from one vehicle to another.

All vehicle owners should familiarise themselves with the operating methods of the systems in their own vehicle. The operation of these systems may differ from vehicles the owner has previously driven. Details of system operation are outlined in the vehicle user manual and should be available to be demonstrated by motor dealers.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the promotion of public awareness of road safety and of measures, including the advancement of education, relating to the promotion of the safe use of roads. I have therefore referred the Deputy's questions to the RSA for direct reply in relation to an information campaign. I would ask the Deputy to contact my office if a response is not received within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Bus Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, my role concerns overall policy direction and funding for public transport. Day-to-day operational matters, including addressing performance-related complaints, are the statutory responsibility of the National Transport Authority (NTA), working with the relevant transport providers.

For this reason, I have referred the Deputy’s question to the NTA so they may address the specific operational query raised. Please contact my private office, if a response is not received within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, my office has held the 2 meetings this year where Cork’s bus service was on the agenda. The first meeting was with the Chair & CEO Bus Éireann on the 3rd April. The second meeting was with the NTA Chair on the 29th Sept 2025.

Deputy,

The Department of Transport's progress on Programme for Government commitments over the past 12 months is set out below in tabular form. The Department published its Statement of Strategy and Implementation Plan on 30th September 2025 and the NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for Transport on 26th November 2025, which provide the strategic direction and framework for delivery of the commitments tabulated below.

Please see attached.

strategic direction and framework

As the Deputy may be aware, the Infrastructure Manager Multi Annual Contract (IMMAC) provides a multi-annual investment programme to protect our national railway system by funding maintenance and safety projects needed to maintain safety and service levels in railway operations, including in County Mayo. Approximately €1.3bn in Exchequer funding was allocated towards the protection and renewal of the national rail network which runs from 2020 to 2024. For 2025, €380 million of Exchequer funding is being invested in IMMAC-related works, including in County Mayo.

As the operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network is a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance, I have referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister for Transport, my role concerns overall policy direction and funding for public transport. Day-to-day operational matters are the statutory responsibility of the National Transport Authority (NTA), working with the relevant transport providers, in this case Go Ahead.

For this reason, I have referred the Deputy’s question to the NTA so they may address the specific operational query raised. Please contact my private office, if a response is not received within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.

BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, providing better bus services across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the state and is managed by the NTA. The aim of the network is to improve the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high frequency spines and new local, Orbital and Radial routes.

It is acknowledged that reliability has been a key concern during the initial rollout of Phase 7, with challenges primarily linked to traffic congestion on new city-centre alignments and driver availability. When implementing new phases of the BusConnects network, the NTA continuously monitors services, identifies any issues that arise, and puts in fixes where appropriate. In that context, and as the Deputy may be aware, the NTA have recently announced changes to certain route alignments for Phase 7, including routes 80, 23, and 24, following feedback from passengers and local representatives. These amendments reflect the NTA’s commitment to improving services in direct response to that input.

Notwithstanding this, I would like to reassure the Deputy that Government remains strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in Budget 2026, the Department of Transport secured €940 million of funding for Public Service Obligation (PSO) and TFI Local Link services (a significant 43% uplift, an increase from €658.4 million in 2025).

My Department will continue to work with the NTA to ensure the redesigned network delivers on its objectives and its performance is closely monitored.

In light of the NTA’s responsibility in this area, I have also forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for a detailed direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.

As Minister of Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. The operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network and stations on the network, including the train station at Farrenfore and any any potential change in its location, is a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance.

In view of Iarnród Éireann's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the company for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister of State, I have responsibility for International and Road Transport, Logistics, Rail and Ports; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, RSA has statutory responsibility for the promotion of public awareness campaigns and for the advancement of education specific to the safe use of roads. There has been a significant increase in spending on public awareness, communications and education campaigns by the RSA in recent years. As in 2025, the RSA will again ringfence funding of €18 million for awareness, education and promotional campaigns in 2026. This will ensure a continued focus on campaigns that make our roads safer for all road users.

I am informed by the RSA that in January and December they ran a social media campaign to promote the correct use of lights for cars. The RSA also placed a print advert in the Farmers Journal in July to remind farmers of the rules around the use of works lights and reminding them to turn them off before going on the public road. They are promoting this message across Agriland in December.

In October this year the RSA developed new radio and social media assets advising people to make sure they do seasonal checks on their vehicle as we headed into winter. Checking that lights are working properly was included in that messaging.

The RSA have also just filmed a walkaround check for motorcycles and tractors that also highlights the need to check their lights are working before moving off.

Non functioning or defective headlights would also be an element of the National Car Test (NCT) for relevant vehicles.

Protecting vulnerable road users is a key priority for me and this government. This year we have seen too many pedestrians lose their lives on our roads. Working with all road safety stakeholders, I am determined to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

It is the policy of both the Government and the RSA to recommend the use of high-visibility vests and armbands by vulnerable road users. To support this, the RSA has been running the ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’ campaign for over a decade to support road safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

As part of this campaign, the RSA distributes thousands of free high-visibility vests and armbands each year. In 2025 alone, I am informed that the RSA distributed approximately 250,000 high-vis safety items, including jackets, vests, armbands, drawstring bags, rucksack covers and running bibs.

There has been a significant increase in spending on public awareness, communications and education campaigns by the RSA in 2025 in recent years. Next year, the RSA will again ringfence significant funding of approximately €18 million for awareness, education and promotional campaigns. This will ensure a continued focus on campaigns that make our roads safer for all road users, including pedestrians.

The RSA aired its older pedestrian safety TV-led campaign in September, ahead of the time of the year where increases in pedestrian fatalities tend to occur. The campaign reminders motorists and pedestrians to look out for each other to keep each other safe and shows an interaction between a pedestrian and a motorist at a pedestrian crossing. The campaign is supported by radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media.

Vulnerable road users including pedestrians were also the focus of the RSA’s October bank holiday media campaign with national and radio press engagement. The activity ran across today FM, NewsTalk, classic hits, spin southwest, Beat and 98Fm with presenters voicing stings and promos. It also ran across NewsTalk and Today Fm websites and social media channels, reminding motorists to look out for vulnerable road users and also reminding pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclist and e-scooterists what they can do to help make sure they are seen.

The RSA is supporting An Garda Síochána’s social media campaign raising awareness that 4 in 10 pedestrians were killed this year in hours of darkness and reminding vulnerable road users including pedestrians to do what they can to help others see them on the roads.

The Government continues to support these campaigns and I would encourage all vulnerable road users to ensure that they are as safe as possible on our roads and to avail of these free high visibility safety materials.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the BusConnects routes in Dublin.

As the Deputy may be aware, BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, with the aim to provide better bus services across five cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA.

The roll-out of the remaining phases of the BusConnects Dublin Network Redesign will occur over the coming years, subject to funding and operational readiness.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including light rail.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the development of public transport infrastructure, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the procurement of rail fleet and service improvements.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, including implementation of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As the Deputy may be aware, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) including, in consultation with Iarnród Éireann, the DART+ programme.

The DART+ programme, which comprises five different projects in and around the GDA, will triple the length of the electrified network from circa 50km to 150km and double city centre capacity from 26,000 passengers per hour per direction to 52,000 during peak hours. This will significantly enhance access to high capacity public transport across the GDA.

DART+ South West will extend DART services from the City Centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston. A Railway Order was approved for DART+ South West by An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024. In addition, procurement for DART+ South West and West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) notices for Design and Build works advertised in May 2025.

The NDP Sectoral Investment Plan, published by the Department in November, sees the allocation of €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to Transport, along with an additional allocation of €2 billion from the country's Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink. Of this total allocation, funding of circa €10 billion for public transport infrastructure is earmarked from 2026 to 2030, in addition to the €2 billion for MetroLink, primarily in line with the Department’s NIFTI intervention hierarchy of Maintain, Optimise, Improve, and New. This approach involves prioritising investment in the protection and renewal of existing assets before investing in new ones, on economic and environmental grounds.

The funding under the NDP Sectoral Investment Plan will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects, including elements of the DART programme. This funding will allow Compulsory Purchase Orders to progress for DART+ South West starting next year and provide for procurement progress for the project, with some of the framework contracts being established in common for DART+ West and DART+ South West.

The Department of Transport will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to compliment national Exchequer funding which may allow some projects to proceed to construction earlier than currently anticipated, including DART+ South West.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, I wish to advise that the Government introduced regulations in 2024 for the safe use of e-scooters in public places. These regulations cover a wide range of requirements, both usage and technical, including for speed, weight, capacity and power, as well as prohibitions on, among other things, carrying more than one person, the carriage of goods and use on footpaths. The full list of regulations can be found on the gov.ie website ([E-Scooters]). E-scooters may only be used on public roads if they comply with the legislation.

Although the Department of Transport is responsible for road safety legislation, the operation of the legislation, through enforcement, is, as for all road traffic law, under the remit of An Garda Síochána. Gardaí can stop e-scooter users and issue fixed charge notices for particular road traffic offences such as using an e-scooter without reasonable consideration, failing to stop at traffic lights or using an e-scooter on a pedestrianised street. If an e-scooter user commits such an offence, they may be issued with a fixed charge notice of €50. An Garda Síochána can also confiscate e-scooters that do not meet the technical requirements set out in legislation.

My officials meet regularly with An Garda Síochána to discuss matters related to road traffic legislation. As with any legislation, I consider feedback on its operation from An Garda Siochana and other stakeholders. On foot of such feedback, my officials intend to examine the issue of protective equipment for e-scooter users and to consider regulating for the mandatory use of helmets.

As the Deputy may be aware, this Government has committed a very significant investment in public transport over the period to 2030.

The Review of the National Development Plan (NDP) allocated €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to Transport from 2026 to 2030, with an additional allocation of €2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink.

Of this total, the NDP Sectoral Implementation Plan for Transport, published in November, sees funding of circa €10 billion for public transport infrastructure from 2026 to 2030, with an additional €2 billion for MetroLink.

The total funding provided in the NDP Sectoral Implementation Plan will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects, including commencing construction on the DART+ Programme, purchase of new DART carriages, continuation of Cork Area Commuter Rail, investments in the national rail system, commencement of MetroLink and the Luas Finglas extension, and progression of BusConnects across five cities including the construction of multiple Core Bus Corridors in Dublin.

My Department will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to compliment national Exchequer funding which may allow some projects to proceed to construction earlier than currently anticipated.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is the independent transport regulator of the taxi sector, and I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of that sector.

I wrote to the NTA to request clarification on the regulatory position on the Uber fixed price fare for the information of taxi operators and public representatives alike. In the response to his letter, I have been advised by the NTA that the charging of a fixed fare is in accordance with the applicable regulations. I have also been advised that the NTA continues to keep the regulatory model under review. Senior officials from my department met with the NTA to discuss the response on 09 December.

I also formally requested the urgent consideration of the matter at a special meeting of the Advisory Committee on Small Public Service Vehicles, whose role is to advise the Minister for Transport and NTA on matters relevant to SPSVs and their drivers, which took place on 11 December. I note the views of the Committee as follows:

1. The Committee expressed support for the regulatory model for small public service vehicles in Ireland which requires that all drivers and vehicles are licensed. Public safety must be at the heart of the regulatory regime.

2. The Committee wishes to acknowledge the important work undertaken and the service provided by taxi drivers in our communities. Taxis play an important role in providing access to essential services including health care.

3. The Committee is of the view that given changes in the taxi sector since the Taxi Regulation Act 2013, there is a need to assess whether legislation is up to date regarding the roles of technology and booking app dispatch operators in the sector.

4. The Committee recommended the following actions:

• for more dispatch operator data to be available to the regulator to assist it in undertaking its role.

• an examination of technology charges in the sector

The structure of the SPSV market has undoubtedly changed over the last number of years, particularly in relation to the role of dispatch operators. With this in mind, I have requested that the NTA conducts a regulatory assessment of dispatch operator licensing in Ireland in the context of ensuring that the regulatory framework for this element of the overall sector is sufficiently up to date and robust to respond to developments in the SPSV market since the enactment of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. In addition, I have requested that all stakeholders are given the opportunity to feed into this work as soon as possible.

Furthermore, the Minister intends to meet representatives of the taxi sector in the coming weeks

I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 341 together.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from Councils' own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

My Department provides grant assistance to local authorities under the Regional and Local Road Grant Programme for a number of targeted programmes, including the Safety Improvement Programme. Applications are sought each year from local authorities under this programme for consideration for funding in the subsequent year.

The number of safety improvement schemes that Kerry County Council were allocated funding for in each of the years 2020 to 2025 are shown in the table below.

Within the overall budget available for the Safety Improvement Grant Programme, the 2026 allocations will be decided following consideration of Councils’ applications by the Department. The allocations will be notified to Councils as part of the general grant allocation process early next year.

As the Deputy may be aware, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) including, in consultation with Iarnród Éireann, the DART+ programme.

The DART+ programme, which comprises five different projects in and around the GDA, will triple the length of the electrified network from circa 50km to 150km and double city centre capacity from 26,000 passengers per hour per direction to 52,000 during peak hours. This will significantly enhance access to high capacity public transport across the GDA.

DART+ South West will extend DART services from the City Centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston. A Railway Order was approved for DART+ South West by An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024. In addition, procurement for DART+ South West and West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) notices for Design and Build works advertised in May 2025.

The NDP Sectoral Investment Plan, published by the Department in November, sees the allocation of €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to Transport, along with an additional allocation of €2 billion from the country's Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink. Of this total allocation, funding of circa €10 billion for public transport infrastructure is earmarked from 2026 to 2030, in addition to the €2 billion for MetroLink, primarily in line with the Department’s NIFTI intervention hierarchy of Maintain, Optimise, Improve, and New. This approach involves prioritising investment in the protection and renewal of existing assets before investing in new ones, on economic and environmental grounds.

The funding under the NDP Sectoral Investment Plan will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects, including elements of the DART Programme. This funding will allow Compulsory Purchase Orders to progress for DART+ South West starting next year and provide for procurement progress for the project, with some of the framework contracts being established in common for DART+ West and DART+ South West.

The Department of Transport will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to compliment national Exchequer funding which may allow some projects to proceed to construction earlier than currently anticipated, including DART+ South West.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for Rural Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to rural public transport service provision; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally, including implementation of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan. In light of the NTA responsibilities I have referred your question to the NTA for direct reply to you. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

As Minister for Transport, I can assure you that my Department is actively progressing the legislative proposals required to deliver on the Government’s commitment to establish a Transport Security Force and is working closely with the National Transport Authority (NTA) in this regard. This work involves careful and informed consideration of the most appropriate model for the force, with all key stakeholders fully engaged – the NTA, operators, trade unions, passenger groups, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice. Since assuming office, I have met with these stakeholders as a collective twice and we will continue to work together to deliver on this commitment.

The Programme for Government sets out a clear commitment: that a Transport Security Force will operate under the NTA with powers similar to those held by Airport Police and Customs Officers. The introduction of such a force will require new legislation and this issue is a priority for my Department, and we are determined to advance it as swiftly as possible. We expect legislation to progress during 2026 with a view to having the force operational by 2027.

In parallel with the work being carried out in the Department of Transport, the Government continues to invest heavily in public transport safety, to date €14 million in 2025 . Twenty rapid response hubs have now been established across the Iarnród Éireann intercity network, enhancing their ability to respond quickly to incidents and support frontline staff. In the Dublin region, the Dublin Bus Safer Journeys Team has dedicated units covering North, South, and Central Dublin as of February 2025.

All buses are also now equipped with eleven internal CCTV cameras, and the modern fleet includes three external cameras on each bus to further strengthen surveillance and deterrence. On the Luas, Transdev has a full time dedicated security staff patrolling both Red & Green lines from early morning to last tram.

While these measures mark significant progress, antisocial behaviour on public transport remains a serious concern. It is those who use and work within the network who are most directly affected, and the establishment of the Transport Security Force will be key in addressing this issue.

The establishment of this Transport Security Force is a key priority for Government, and as the Minister for Transport I fully support all the ongoing positive work to progress towards creating a safer public transport network for staff and passengers.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 342 and 344 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you in relation to the M7/N7.

The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland. Please note that matters in relation to emergency services do not fall under my remit as Minister for Transport.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply in relation to accidents on the M7 and N7, as well as on accident recovery services. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 343 and 345 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.

The Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland. Please note, matters in relation to emergency services do not fall under my remit as Minister for Transport.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply in relation to M50 operational matters and accident recovery services. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The query raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann. I have, therefore, referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 347, 348, 349, 350, 351 and 352 together.

As Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, I wish to advise that light emitting diode (LED) and high intensity discharge (HID) headlights are known to provide greater brightness, improved colour rendering, increase efficiency and, in the case of LED in particular, longer performance life.

The use of LED and HID headlights in vehicles across the EU is regulated by the European type-approval system under Regulation (EU) 2018/858, transposed by SI 556/2020 - European Union (Road Vehicles: Type-Approval and Market Surveillance) Regulations 2020. This system establishes the technical and safety standards required to place a vehicle or a vehicle component on the market and enter it into service within any EU Member State. To acquire type-approval, the headlight components and technology must meet specific safety standards. Accordingly, if a headlight has been type-approved and entered into service, it is considered safe to use within the EU.

During roadworthiness testing, the lighting system in a vehicle is tested to ensure it is in full working order and correctly aligned for the safe performance of the vehicle. Factors which can contribute headlamp glare include misaligned aim, dirty or damaged headlamps or the use of incorrect bulbs.

As the standards for these lights are regulated for at EU level, the Department currently has no plan to review their use in the State. However, I understand that the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling is planning on establishing a task force to investigate this issue.

I am advised by Revenue that the number of properties in Cork liable to vacant homes tax (VHT), and the VHT liability is provided in the table below.

The PTSB Formal Sales Process (FSP) is conducted by PTSB pursuant to the Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997. The process is overseen by the Takeover Panel and is subject to the Irish Takeover Rules.

The FSP is open to suitable strategic and financial investors and is being conducted by PTSB and its advisers in accordance with the Irish Takeover Rules. It is not appropriate to speculate on what potential bidders may emerge.

Under Section 10 of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Act 1999 the Department of Finance prepares and lays before each House of the Oireachtas an Annual Report of Ireland’s participation in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group within three months after the end of each year. All reports are publicly available on the Houses of the Oireachtas Documents Laid website and include an account of all contributions made to each financial institution during the previous year.

Attached in tabular form is the breakdown of Ireland’s contribution to the World Bank each year from 2016 to 2024. Preparations of the 2025 figures has begun and will be published by 31 March 2026.

Ireland's Contributions to the World Bank 2016-2024

I propose to take Questions Nos. 356, 357 and 358 together.

The Deputy has asked about deemed disposal. Deemed disposal is an anti-avoidance measure that applies to investments in Irish domiciled investment funds and life assurance products, as well as equivalent offshore funds and certain foreign life assurance products. Under the deemed disposal rule, tax is levied eight years after an investment is made, and every subsequent eight years, regardless of whether or not a disposal has in fact occurred. The tax is levied on any gain in the value of the investment from the date of acquisition to the date of the deemed disposal. On the ultimate disposal of the investment, any tax paid is allowed as a credit against the final tax liability. The purpose of deemed disposal is to prevent the indefinite roll-up of income and gains and the associated loss of tax to the Exchequer. Under the Irish system pension savings grow tax free until drawdown. Therefore, deemed disposal does not apply to pension funds and products.

Across Member States there are many different approaches to the taxation of investments, including in some instances a savings and investment account with its own specific tax treatment. This range of approaches was considered by the European Commission in developing their Recommendation on savings and investment accounts in September 2025. The recommendation provides a European blueprint for savings and investment accounts, and its publication was welcomed by Ireland.

The Deputy maybe aware that Finance Bill 2025 provides for a reduction in the taxation rate that applies to Irish and equivalent offshore funds, and Irish and certain foreign life assurance products, from 41% to 38%, intended as an important first step in supporting retail investment in Ireland.

I am conscious of the need for further adaptation of the existing complex system which applies to the taxation of investments, and I hope that further progress can be made across coming budgets to address some of the existing obstacles to greater retail investment. To this end Budget 2026 included the announcement of the publication of a roadmap for retail investment in early 2026. Work is underway on this roadmap, which will set out an approach to simplify and adapt the tax framework to further support retail investment. This roadmap will facilitate due consideration of the Funds Sector 2030 Report and the European Commission’s recommendation on Savings and Investment Accounts.

Under the Central Bank of Ireland’s Consumer Protection Code, a regulated entity must retain details of individual transactions for six years after the date on which the particular transaction is discontinued or completed. A regulated entity must retain all other records for six years from the date on which the regulated entity ceased to provide any product or service to the consumer concerned.

The six-year requirement is a minimum retention period required by Central Bank regulation, not a maximum retention period. How regulated entities deal with retention of records after the period has elapsed may be impacted by other regulatory requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation, anti-money laundering considerations and banks' internal policies.

I am advised that Revenue has an allocation of 30 detector dogs with vacancies filled throughout the year as new dogs and handlers are appointed.

The cost of a detector dog team in its first year of operation is approximately €100,000. This includes the cost of training the detector dog and its handler for the first year, and associated salaries and kennelling arrangements. For all subsequent years, the approximate operational cost is €50,000 per annum.

Based on above quoted figures, an increase in the detector teams to 37 would incur an additional cost of €700,000 in the first year of operations dropping to €350,000 for each subsequent year.

Revenue’s operational requirements are kept under continuous review, having regard to ongoing risk evaluation and evolving operational needs. I am advised that Revenue is satisfied with the current allocated number of detector dog teams.

The issue raised by the Deputy, where homeowners are unable to secure insurance cover due to pyrite or defective concrete, is one the Government recognises as challenging for affected households.

Insurance companies operate independently when determining the availability and pricing of their products, and neither I, as Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, nor the Central Bank of Ireland has the legal authority to compel insurers to offer cover for specific risks. These restrictions derive from the EU’s Solvency II Directive, which expressly prevents Member States from intervening in insurers’ pricing or underwriting decisions.

Insurers rely on their own claims’ histories, risk assessments, and cost projections when deciding whether to provide cover. Factors such as inflation in building materials and labour are also influencing premium levels across the sector.

For homeowners seeking additional information, Insurance Ireland operates an Insurance Information Service for any queries, complaints or difficulties in relation to obtaining insurance, which can be contacted by telephone at 01 676 1914 or via email at feedback@insuranceireland.eu. Similarly, Brokers Ireland, the representative body for insurance brokers in Ireland, has access to a wide range of providers and products, and can offer advice for customers when sourcing cover. Brokers Ireland can be reached by telephone at 01 661 3067.

Furthermore, where homeowners are dissatisfied with an insurer’s decision, they have the option of making a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). The FSPO can be contacted either by email at info@fspo.ie or by telephone at 01 567 7000.

In addition to the issue of insurance coverage, my officials have been advised by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that the Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grants Scheme provides for homeowners to claim a Government grant of up to 100% of remedial costs (including demolition and rebuild) subject to meeting eligibility requirements and the overall grant scheme cap. Following Government approval, the overall grant cap increased from €420,000 to €462,000 in October 2024.

Designated local authorities under the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 can administer the grant scheme and any queries relating to the scheme should be addressed to the relevant designated local authority in the first instance.

Firstly, it is important to understand that the Irish economy at present remains reliant on fossil fuels for the majority of its energy inputs – so economic activity in Ireland at present involves fossil fuel consumption for over 80% of its energy needs.

In regard to financial services firms’ involvement in supporting fossil fuel investments in Ireland, I would respond by saying that addressing climate risks and supporting the transition to a carbon-neutral economy is a key part of financial regulation: the Central Bank of Ireland’s Strategy for 2025-27 sets this out clearly.

Governor Makhlouf has re-affirmed the Central Bank’s commitment to addressing the macro-financial risks arising from climate change and enabling finance for sustainable and transitioning activities.

As a major funds jurisdiction, Central Bank figures for end September 2025 show that approximately €2 trillion of funds authorised in Ireland are made up of investments promoting a sustainable objective (Article 8 SFDR) or with a sustainable objective (Article 9 SFDR) - and this is approximately 35% of the total authorised Irish funds.

The Central Bank has also considered the importance of transition planning for the financial sector and published an Information Note on this important issue earlier this year.

It is important to note that while the EU and Ireland are on a path to net zero emission by 2050, at present our economies are still dependent on carbon emitting fuels. Investment is needed in high emission sectors in order for them to decarbonise.

The development of the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) has brought sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) features into the disclosures space. This month, the European Commission has undertaken a significant review of the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation framework. The aim is to simplify the regime, while supporting and incentivising investment towards credible transition and sustainable products.

The European Commission has published a proposal centred on the development of product categories which will have specific contribution requirements; more than 70% of assets are aligned with that category and there are to be certain standardised exclusions for certain fossil fuel activities. The new proposal aims to significantly restrict the use of sustainability terminology in names and marketing materials, reserving them for those who meet the strict criteria of the mandated categories. This change seeks to improve clarity and transparency, combating the misuse and misleading claims, ensuring that these labels more accurately reflect genuine sustainability commitments.

Finally, with respect to State investments, the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018 has been in place since December 2018. Pursuant to the terms of the Act, the National Treasury Management Agency must, inter alia, endeavour to ensure that the assets of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) are not directly invested in any undertaking that generates 20% or more of its turnover from the exploration for or extraction or refinement of a fossil fuel (coal, oil, natural gas, peat or any derivative thereof intended for use in the production of energy by combustion).

ISIF has developed a list of fossil fuel companies in which it will not invest, as determined by criteria within the Act. This list is updated on a semi-annual basis in line with methodology which is aligned to the Act and is available on ISIF’s website. ISIF’s Climate Investment Strategy seeks to fund climate positive initiatives which support Ireland’s transition to a Net Zero low-carbon economy.

Section 31 of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Act 2024, builds upon the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018, requiring the NTMA to endeavour to ensure that the assets of either the Future Ireland Fund (FIF) or Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF), are not directly invested in a fossil fuel undertaking.

I thank the Deputy for his question in relation to benefit-in-kind.

I am informed by Revenue that where an employer provides a taxable benefit (benefit-in-kind) to an employee (including its company directors), it is treated as notional pay and the employer should deduct the appropriate amount of Income Tax, PRSI and USC from the employee in the usual manner. This can be done through the PAYE system in line with the normal reporting procedures set out in Chapter 4 of Part 42 of the TCA 1997 and the associated regulations issued thereunder.

In some cases, employers may opt to bear the tax due on this notional pay on behalf of the employee (including directors). To do so, the employer is required to “gross up” the value of the benefit in their payroll, such that the net amount after tax is equal to the amount of the benefit actually received by the employee. Further details on the operation of benefit in kind are outlined in the relevant Tax and Duty Manual: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-05/05-01-01.pdf.

Section 985B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 allows an employer to pay the tax (Income Tax, USC and PRSI) which arises on certain benefits provided to employees (including directors). An employer must make an application to Revenue to avail of this facility which is known as a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA). To be a qualifying benefit for the purposes of a PSA, the benefit must be both minor in value and irregular in its frequency, and for which the employer would otherwise have to deduct the tax from the earnings of the employee (including directors) through the normal PAYE system.

Where the employer pays the tax on behalf of the employee (including directors) under a PSA with Revenue, the benefits will not form part of the employee (including directors) total income and the employee (including directors) will not be entitled to credit for, or repayment of, the tax accounted for under such an agreement.

While there isn’t a statutory definition of ‘minor or ‘irregular’ in legislation, whether a benefit is both minor and irregular should be considered based on the facts and circumstances of the occurrence. Where a benefit is provided to employee (including directors) that is not considered to be both minor and irregular, then income tax, USC and PRSI are chargeable on the benefit to that employee or director and the notional pay arising from such a benefit should be processed through the PAYE system as normal.

Further details on the operation of PAYE settlement agreements are outlined on the Revenue website: www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/paying-your-employees-tax-to-revenue/paying-tax-on-employees-minor-and-irregular-benefits.aspx and the relevant Tax and Duty Manual: www.revenue.ie/en/tax-professionals/tdm/income-tax-capital-gains-tax-corporation-tax/part-42/42-04-73.pdf.

The design and operation of a digital euro pilot programme is a matter for the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Eurosystem and therefore does not fall within the remit of my Ministry. My Department is, however, actively engaging in the ongoing negotiations in the European Council on the proposed regulation that will provide the framework for any such pilot.

My officials will continue to work closely with the Central Bank of Ireland and support its efforts, as appropriate, as this initiative develops.

The Central Bank of Ireland has informed me that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project in October 2025. This decision follows the successful completion of the preparation phase, launched by the Eurosystem in November 2023, and preceded by its investigation phase which laid the foundations for issuing a digital euro.

The ECB Governing Council will only make such a decision to launch once the legislative process has concluded with the European Parliament and Council formally adopting the regulation. Ireland, similar to other euro area countries, can expect to see an increased public information campaign in advance of this launch.

More recently the Eurosystem confirmed their plans to prepare for the potential issuance of the digital euro by 2029 (assuming the European co-legislators adopt the necessary regulation in 2026). These preparatory steps include plans for pilot exercises and initial transactions which could begin as early as mid-2027. The Central Bank of Ireland, as a member of the Eurosystem, is contributing to this preparatory work.

Further Information

Ireland enjoys a deep and wide-ranging bilateral relationship with Italy, owing to our strong economic relationship, cultural ties, and our cooperation across a wide range of areas.

I was pleased to meet with my Italian counterpart, Giancarlo Giorgetti, at the December Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings.

While a specific visit to Dublin by my Italian counterpart is not currently planned, I look forward to continuing my engagement with him, particularly as we move closer to our Presidency of the Council of the European Union when I will have an opportunity to host an informal meeting of EU economic and financial affairs ministers in Ireland.

I am advised by Revenue that there is no specific role of ‘asset profiler’ within Revenue. However, this is a skill and capability which Revenue officers may undertake training in from time to time to assist them in the course of their duties.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 367 and 368 together.

I am advised by Revenue that the number of non-resident taxpayer units who declared rental income on the Form 11 for the years 2016 to 2023 (the most recent year for which data are available), broken down by their country of residence and their income source (residential or commercial properties), is provided in the tables below.

In relation to data for the year of assessment 2015, I am advised by Revenue, that it is not to provide a breakdown of the income source (residential rental income and commercial rental income). I am further advised by Revenue that data for 2011 to 2014 are not readily available.

Revenue has compiled the figures for 2016 to 2023 using an updated residency marker. This replaces the approach used in the reply to Parliamentary Question number 228 of 14 December 2023, which relied only on residency of the assessable taxpayer. Accordingly, the figures should not be directly compared with those advised in Parliamentary Question number 228 on the 14 of December 2023.

It should be noted that a taxpayer unit may have both residential and commercial property rental income and could therefore appear in both tables. (A taxpayer unit is either an individual with any personal status who is singly assessed or a couple in a marriage or civil partnership who have elected for joint assessment, in which case they are counted as one taxpayer unit.)

Non-resident taxpayer units

I propose to take Questions Nos. 369, 370 and 371 together.

I am advised by Revenue that the changing demands of taxpayers and the need to provide an efficient and cost-effective service has resulted in the overall mix and nature of service channels evolving over time.

For taxpayers who, for a variety of reasons, may not have access to the online services, Revenue offers extensive support across its various telephone helplines, a full service for queries being received through the postal system and an appointments service which allows taxpayers to schedule either a virtual or in-person appointment at a time that suits them. Revenue is committed to providing a quality customer service on alternative channels to help those taxpayers comply with their tax obligations and claim their entitlements.

Acknowledging the challenges that some taxpayers aged 65 and over may face in engaging with our online services, Revenue host an “Age Week” outreach event in their public offices annually. The most recent event was held between 31 March and 9 April 2025 and the intention is run similar sessions in 2026. The aim of the event is to enhance the support available to assist these individuals in meeting their tax obligations, promote the ease of use of our online services, and to reduce the compliance burden for these taxpayers.

For details on these information sessions please see the Revenue website at the link below:

[www.revenue.ie/en/news/articles/revenue-over65s-event.aspx]

In-person appointments are currently available at its offices in Dublin (O’Connell Street), Cork (Revenue House), Limerick (Sarsfield House) and Galway (Geata na Cathrach), between 9.30am and 1.30pm, Monday to Friday. If a customer wishes to schedule an appointment outside of the above opening hours, or avoid waiting times, they can do so by calling the Appointment Helpline on 01 738 3660.

Taxpayers without access to an internet connection or a smart device can arrange for a “RevConnect” in-office virtual appointment. RevConnect is a service that allows taxpayers to attend a designated Revenue office and, using Revenue equipment, speak to a Revenue official regarding their query. This service is presently available from the Revenue offices in Castlebar, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Tralee or Waterford. It is anticipated this service will be available in other Revenue offices shortly.

To further assist customers who cannot use Revenue’s online services, an Access Supports Marker is available to customers on an “opt-in” basis. This marker will be applied where customers advise that they have a need for additional supports and assistance in managing their tax affairs and allows Revenue’s customer service staff and caseworkers to quickly and easily identify customers who cannot use Revenue’s online services, ensuring that they are not diverted to online channels, and that correspondence issues in hard-copy, paper format.

Revenue recently launched an Age Friendly Service in conjunction with local authorities which is designed to assist customers who do not use its online services. Separately, for persons with a disability or requiring additional assistance, Revenue has appointed Access Officers across its main Divisions. Access Officers are a point of contact with responsibility for providing or arranging for assistance and guidance to customers requiring additional assistance. Access Officers also assist customers by arranging services such as appointments; Irish Sign Language translations; braille documentation and other services provided by Revenue. Further details on Revenue’s Access Officer service is available at Revenue's website at the link below: [www.revenue.ie/en/contact-us/head-office-functions/access-officer.aspx]

Specifically regarding LPT revaluation, Revenue acknowledges that such a project and its associated compliance requirements caused challenges for older customers who do not routinely interact with Revenue and its systems. In the lead-up to revaluation during October-November this year, over 1.5 million notices were issued to property owners, including approx. 179,000 property owners who had not previously availed of online filing or payment options. Revenue provided an enhanced telephone service during this period to assist older customers who were not able to file online, and Revenue’s call centre agents helped many such customers with the return filing and the setting up of the property owners preferred payment method.

Revenue have further advised me that they provide a form ordering service for customers to order paper PAYE Income Tax Returns. The form ordering service is accessible for customers through a 24-hour automated number on 01 738 3675 or by email custform@revenue.ie. Further details on this service are available on Revenue’s website at the link below: www.revenue.ie/en/contact-us/forms/ordering-forms.aspx

Revenue operates a dedicated Oireachtas Helpline for use by members of the Oireachtas and Irish Members of the European Parliament. This provides an exclusive channel to contact Revenue on behalf of constituents, and almost all queries are resolved on the same day.

Revenue is aware that some customers, including many older people, may need a more traditional service. In addition to online services, Revenue provides a range of alternative, non-digital channels:

Revenue confirmed that since 2022 it has received two official complaints from elderly customers concerning its service offerings. Both complaints were managed within Revenue’s official complaints CS4 process. Revenue further confirms that it received feedback by way of written correspondence and by phone from a relatively small number of older customers indicating that they find using digital technology challenging. Revenue provides assistance to these customers on an individual basis and assist with alternative solutions resolving any difficulties that these customers may have in complying with their obligations.

I am advised that Revenue continuously reviews service performance and customer feedback, including call handling statistics, appointment availability and engagement with customers and representative bodies. I am advised that where issues are identified, Revenue adjusts resourcing and processes to improve access, including at peak service periods. Revenue will continue to monitor demand for non-digital services among older customers and enhance supports as necessary.

Revenue is committed to ensuring that its website and online services are accessible and user-friendly for all customers, including older people and those with limited digital skills or disabilities. Revenue consults representative groups, such as the National Disability Authority (NDA), and has appointed trained Access Officers who provide or arrange assistance for persons with disabilities and act as contact points for people wishing to access Revenue services.

Revenue’s online services are subject to the statutory monitoring framework operated by the NDA under the EU Web Accessibility Directive and S.I. No. 358/2020. Revenue provides accessibility statements, in the prescribed EU format, for each of its key online services (revenue.ie, Local Property Tax, myAccount and ROS), describing conformance, known issues, and planned improvements.

In practical terms, Revenue’s approach includes:

• Designing and testing services to meet applicable accessibility standards and the requirements of the EU Directive.

• Using plain language and step-by-step guidance to support customers with limited digital skills.

• Ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies and inclusive design practices (for example, keyboard navigation, alternative text and captions, readable layouts and sufficient contrast).

• Providing assisted digital support through telephone and appointment channels for customers who need help to complete online transactions.

• Training staff to support customers with accessibility needs and maintaining clear routes to raise accessibility issues with Revenue’s Access Officers.

Revenue continually monitors feedback from customers and the NDA’s findings and makes iterative improvements where needed. This ensures that online services remain accessible and user-friendly while alternative service channels remain available for those who cannot use digital services.

I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department has not engaged the company in question for translation services.

It was not possible for my Department to provide the information sought in the time available. I will, however, make arrangements to provide the information to the Deputy in line with Standing Orders.

The first year in which ISIF had holdings in Palantir Technologies was 2023 and as reported for year-end 2023, those holdings were valued at €300,000. The most recent annual report is for the year ended December 2024 and ISIF’s holdings in Palantir Technologies at year end were valued at €950,000.

ISIF does not comment on individual investment decisions given commercial sensitivities.

I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department has no expenditure on advertisement on the social media platform in question in either 2024 or in 2025 year-to-date.

The European Commission launched an anti-dumping investigation in May 2025 into Chinese imports of new pneumatic tyres for passenger cars and light lorries after a complaint was received from the Coalition Against Unfair Tyre Imports on behalf of EU tyre producers. The investigation aims to determine if the Chinese imported tyres are being sold at artificially low prices, causing harm to the EU's domestic tyre industry. Where the investigation confirms dumping, the EU may impose anti-dumping duties on these tyres. The investigation shall be concluded within 14 months of its launch.

While the investigation is ongoing, there is a risk that stockpiles of tyres under investigation may be imported prior to the conclusion of the investigation, thus avoiding any potential anti-dumping duty. To avoid this scenario, the EU advised customers of the possibility that anti-dumping could be applied retrospectively, up to a maximum of nine months after goods are imported.

To ensure that importers do not inadvertently import tyres which might be liable to retrospective anti-dumping duty, each customs administration in the EU is obliged to review all import declarations of goods under investigation. Revenue has reviewed all such declarations in the Revenue import system, AIS, since 29 July 2025, the date from which retrospective duties may be charged.

Revenue has contacted each importer to get written confirmation from them that they are aware of the potential anti-dumping duty charges pending the completion of the EU investigation. This ensures that all importers are aware of the potential additional tax that they may have to pay in the future if the EU applies ADD to these goods retrospectively. The conditions for retroactive collection of duties, if any, will be included in the regulation imposing definitive duties.

While the EU’s investigation is ongoing (potentially up until July 2026), the EU may decide to impose provisional anti-dumping measures on this product in advance of the conclusion of the investigation, with the deadline for this being 21 January 2026. However, at present we have no information on whether the EU will decide to take this course of action.

The Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008 (CIFS) (No.18 of 2008) provided the Minister of Finance with the powers to provide the bank guarantee. In October 2008, the European Commission approved the guarantee, as being necessary to remedy a serious economic disturbance in Ireland. It was introduced by way of statutory instrument, the Credit Institutions Financial Support Scheme (SI 411 of 2008).

The CIFS had a life of two years and guaranteed all of the deposit liabilities (retail, commercial and institutional), inter-bank borrowings, all covered bonds, senior debt and dated subordinated debt of participating credit institutions. Before its expiry date of 29 September 2010, a new guarantee scheme - the Eligible Liabilities Scheme (ELG) - was introduced. The coverage of the ELG Scheme was less extensive than CIFS and both ran in parallel until the expiry of CIFS.

Following the expiry of the ELG scheme the majority of deposits continue to be guaranteed under the statutory Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS), which covers retail deposits with all credit institutions authorised in Ireland (including credit unions) up to a maximum of €100,000 per qualifying depositor per institution (€200,000 in the case of joint accounts).

The terms of the CIFS Scheme imposed ongoing obligations on covered institutions. The Schedule to the CIFS Scheme contains provisions on restructuring, board representation, commercial conduct, remuneration and transparency, and impose reporting requirements on covered institutions.

There are a number of obligations set out in both the Credit Institutions Financial Support Scheme (CIFS) 2008 and Eligible Liabilities Guarantee (ELG) Schemes 2009, that continue to apply to Bank of Ireland, AIB and PTSB group companies. However, it should be noted that these obligations have become redundant, due to there no longer being any guaranteed liabilities under the Schemes.

The Minister and the Central Bank of Ireland (“CBI”) imposed a number of obligations on the institutions requiring them to certify compliance with relevant matters; report and provide information to the Minister and to CBI; comply with certain restrictions relating to capital, share transactions and financial targets; and comply with any powers exercised by the Minister over the governance of the institutions.

These obligations are also separate to those which the institutions owe to the European Central Bank and to the CBI as its regulators.

Credit institutions authorised by the CBI are required to comply with the prudential reporting requirements set out under Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR). This provides for a comprehensive template for mandatory reporting of financial and operational data by banks throughout the EU. The comprehensive reporting requirements in the CRR will remain once the CIFS and ELG schemes have been revoked. The revocation will eliminate the duplication of reporting requirements.

It should be noted that in 2022, Deeds of Partial Release were entered into by the Minister and each of Bank of Ireland, AIB and PTSB Group, to release the banks from contractual obligations entered into in CIFS Guarantee Acceptance Deeds in 2008 and ELG Scheme Agreements in 2009.

Furthermore, and in line with the Programme for Government commitment to complete the task of normalising the domestic banking system, a further normalisation of the relationship between the State and the domestic banking system was announced in June 2025.

Since the introduction of the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee scheme and the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act in 2008, European regulatory and supervisory structure for banks has changed fundamentally. Financial regulation has transformed significantly in more recent years as a result of changes introduced through domestic reform and at EU level. This has included a material strengthening of banking regulation, and consequently the Government has committed to the normalisation of the domestic banking system.

Revenue has provided my Department with the following table which illustrates the number of enforcement staff at Dublin Airport between the years 2022 and 2025:

From 2003 to 2011 the economic development programme for rural towns in Ireland was supported through a number of interlinked policies and funding streams including a programme of decentralisation in line with commitments in the National Spatial Strategy (2002 - 2020) to balance regional growth in Ireland.

Background on the Decentralisation Programme

Decentralisation was announced in 2003 to support the relocation of jobs and organisational functions across the civil service from Dublin to towns and cities in Ireland. Over the duration of the programme, approximately 3,400 civil servants have relocated to 53 offices across 25 counties.

Cancellation of the Decentralisation Programme

The Government announced on 17th November 2011 that the Decentralisation Programme was to be cancelled in the light of substantial changes in the national budgetary and staffing situation. This decision also had regard to the need to focus on programmes and projects that would best support economic recovery and to identify significant expenditure savings and efficiencies. The Central Application Facility (CAF) closed on 31st October 2017. There are currently no plans to reintroduce this programme.

The Civil Service Mobility Scheme was introduced in 2018 to facilitate the structured movement of civil servants between departments and locations across Ireland. The Scheme supports skills development, career progression and increased workforce flexibility to strengthen and sustain Civil Service capacity nationwide.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) can confirm that one project, in excess of €40,000, was carried out at Kilrush Garda Station, commencing in 2024 with retention due in December 2025.

The nature of the works are outlined in the table below:

The Office of Public Works (OPW) can confirm that no refurbishment works, in excess of €40,000, were carried out at Shannon Garda Station in 2024 or to-date in 2025.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) can confirm that one project, in excess of €40,000, was carried out at Ennis Garda Station. The project commenced on site in 2024 and completed in 2025 when final retention was paid.

The nature of the works are outlined in the table below:

I can confirm that no other works in excess of €40,000 were carried out in 2025 at Ennis Garda Station.

The State Art Collection, which is managed by the Art Management Office in the OPW, is a unique cultural entity comprised of 13,500 artworks. It contains works that are of historic significance and contemporary works by emerging artists in the early stages of their careers. Artworks are on display in close to 500 client locations around the country. Every artwork in the State Art Collection is given a unique number and photographed before it is placed on display in client buildings. Loan agreements are signed between the client borrowers and the OPW. In 2020, the Art Management Office commenced a major collection management project to improve its control systems. This project involved migration of data and images from a database that had been in use since the mid-1990s to a new digital collection management system.

The Art Management Office undertakes routine collection audits of artworks for which it has responsibility in State owned buildings nationwide. These collection audits are conducted on a regular basis as part of the day-to-day management of the collection. In-person collection audits are undertaken by Art Management Office staff who visit client buildings to assess the artworks in situ. In-person collection audits involve photographing, condition checking and documenting artworks on the collection management system. Digital collection audits are overseen remotely by the Art Management Office and are undertaken by the client. The process involves the Art Management Office issuing a list of artworks on loan to the client and the client is requested to confirm locations of these artworks. If there are any queries, these are followed up with the client by the Art Management Office. All data is updated on the collection management system.

According to collection management system data at 10th December 2025, there were 19 in person collection audits and 37 digital collection audits undertaken in 2025. The total number of artworks audited was 2,633. From these collection audits, 37 artworks were categorised on the collection management system as unlocated. Once an artwork is noted as unlocated, the Art Management Office engages with clients in the relevant building to identify the current location of the artwork. The Art Management Office also conducts a further analysis into the record history of unlocated artworks, including the length of time for which they remain unaccounted for, with the purpose of locating the works. This process is currently ongoing in relation to 2025 collection management audits and a more detailed analysis will be included in the 2026 work programme.

In relation to the total valuation of the State Art Collection, in line with other national collections, there is no policy to value the State Art Collection financially as a whole. Financial valuations are only undertaken on individual artworks where there is a need to insure them when they are placed on loan to external third parties or exhibitions.

Final Reply

As the Deputy may be aware, I have overarching responsibility for public service pensions policy, including in relation to pension contributions.

There are a number of different pension schemes in operation in the public service; in answering this query I will refer to those for entrants prior to 2013 as pre-existing schemes. The other relevant scheme here is the Single Scheme which was introduced under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (the "2012 Act").

Members of the Single Scheme continue to accrue pension benefits beyond 40 years, and they are not subject to the 40-year rule as set out in the 2012 Act. It is a Career-Average Defined Benefit Pension Scheme. Single Scheme retirement benefits are based on a percentage of total pensionable earnings throughout the individual's public service career as a member of the Scheme.

In accordance with the 2012 Act, pensionable service under pre-existing public service pension schemes is capped at 40 years for the purpose of calculating retirement benefits. This cap applies across all such schemes and is implemented in accordance with Circular 13/2020, which sets out financial limits for members with service in more than one scheme.

In line with scheme rules, standard pension contributions, including those for the Spouses’ and Children’s Pension Scheme, continue to be deducted while the person remains in employment. Pension contributions to the Spouses’ and Children’s Pension Scheme in excess of 40 years are refunded to the member upon retirement, starting with the earliest contributions. Main scheme contributions are not refundable.

In general pre-existing schemes operate on a final pensionable remuneration basis, this means that while contributions are paid throughout the career based on varying rates of remuneration, benefits are based on the final pensionable remuneration at retirement.

It should be noted that the contributions paid throughout the course of the member's career do not directly correspond to retirement benefits payable in the public service pension schemes and do not reflect the full cost of those benefits.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not incurred any expenditure on translation services from the named company during the period specified.

I have been advised by publicjobs, the centralised recruiter for the Civil and Public Service and a body under the aegis of my Department, that they are currently administering a bespoke recruitment competition for Assistant Principal Officer positions requiring fluency in Irish for the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. These positions are based in Galway.

This competition closed for applications on the 13 November with 44 candidates applying. The recruitment process is ongoing and is expected to conclude in Q1 2026. The shortlisting process will commence shortly and, as a result, no applicants have yet been placed on a panel.

In addition, as part of the application stage for the Assistant Principal Officer (Standard) Nationwide competition, publicjobs included an Irish language stream. This allowed candidates to indicate their interest in being considered for vacancies requiring fluency in Irish that may arise during the lifetime of the competition.

Based on requests received from departments, candidates who expressed interest in such vacancies for Dublin and Galway were progressed through the standard Assistant Principal Officer selection process. Those successful at the final stage (Interview and Strategic Analysis exercise) were then required to complete full certification examinations at C1 proficiency level through Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (TEG). Six candidates achieved this standard: five were placed on the Dublin panel (Irish stream) and one on the Galway panel (Irish stream).To date, four vacancies have been filled from the Dublin panel and one from the Galway panel.

Additional candidates who indicated interest in Irish language vacancies for other locations remain available; however, they have not yet undertaken the assessment stages outlined above, as no departmental requests for such vacancies have been received to date.

Local coastal erosion and flooding issues are a matter, in the first instance, for each local authority to investigate and address.

The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme was introduced by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in 2009. The purpose of the scheme is to provide 90% funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding or coastal erosion problems within their administrative areas. The scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short time frame. The criteria for the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme are currently under review, and any new application under the scheme will be considered against revised criteria. The OPW expect to advise Local Authorities of the revised criteria for the Scheme shortly.

Since 2022 to date, the OPW has approved some €641,000 in funding to Tipperary County Council for some 9 projects. Details of the approved projects are provided in table below.

An occupational supplementary pension (OSP) may be payable to an individual in receipt of an integrated public service pension, where they meet the following criteria as set out in Circular 12/2024 "Arrangements for Occupational Supplementary Pensions (OSP)":

(i) The individual must be retired and have reached Minimum Pension Age, or retired on grounds of ill-health,

(ii) The individual must have been a member of a Pre-existing Public Service Pension Scheme, the pension benefits payable in respect of such membership must have been integrated with the social insurance system and the pension scheme must provide for payment of an OSP,

(iii) The individual must not be engaged in full-time paid employment, and the individual must not be self-employed,

(iv) The individual must be in receipt of an overall pension package (Occupational Pension and Relevant Benefit, where appropriate) that is less than the Occupational Pension which would have been payable, had the Occupational Pension not been integrated,

(v) Where the individual is:

a. Below the State Pension Age, they must

i. not have claimed any Relevant Benefit or

ii. where a Relevant Benefit has been claimed, have not qualified for such a Relevant Benefit or have qualified for a Relevant Benefit at a rate that is less than the maximum rate of the State Pension Contributory (SPC)

b. At or above the State Pension Age, they must not qualify for any Relevant Benefit, or fail to qualify for any Relevant Benefit at the maximum rate of the SPC

(vi) The individual’s failure to qualify for a Relevant Benefit, as set out at (v) above, must be due to causes outside of their control.

As per criteria iii) where an individual is self-employed in any capacity, including farming, they are not eligible for an OSP. Please note that this policy applied prior to the release of Circular 12/2024, and was not a policy change.

Please also be aware that the OSP does not seek to make up the difference between the actual social insurance benefits in payment/ payable and the value of the maximum rate of State Pension (Contributary). The OSP makes up the difference between, the occupational pension payable to an individual, combined with the SPC or other Relevant Benefits payable; and the equivalent non-integrated Occupational Pension, which is notionally calculated. The OSP payable is capped at the maximum rate of SPC and is reduced pro-rata where the individual is employed part-time. However, please note that any form of self-employment is deemed to be full-time employment for the purposes of OSP.

My Department’s mission is to drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland. The Department's overall priorities are set out in its Statement of Strategy 2025-2028, which was published in September 2025. The strategy outlines how my Department will achieve its goals in the context of the Programme for Government and overarching policy frameworks. My Department has already made significant progress across its overall strategic priorities and Programme for Government actions to date in 2025, as illustrated by the summary of progress on relevant Programme for Government actions in the attached table.

DPER Programme for Government Commitments

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is responsible for conserving, maintaining and operating Ireland's most important heritage sites. The mission of the OPW Heritage Services is to conserve and protect the built and natural heritage in our care whilst providing public access, interpretation and encouraging the public to visit and engage with our National heritage.

The Céide Fields Neolithic site and Visitor Centre in Ballycastle, Co Mayo is a seasonal site, usually operating from March to November each year. The visitor data for ticketed visitors to the Visitor Centre in the 2024 and 2025 seasons is set out in tabular form below.

It should be noted that the OPW audits all visitor data annually, in arrears. The audit to verify visitor numbers takes place in quarter one each year. In that context, the 2025 visitor data presented here is strictly provisional.

The principle of abatement of a public service pension is longstanding within the rules of various public service pension schemes, and pension abatement is an important aspect of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (the “2012 Act”).

As per Section 52 of the 2012 Act, where an individual in receipt of a public service pension is appointed to work in a public service body, their pension will be subject to abatement. Prior to this, abatement applied only to individuals who returned to work in the same sector from which they were receiving their pension. Section 52(1)-(5) were commenced on 1 November 2012, and applied to all appointments after that date.

As such, anyone who was in receipt of a public service pension, who was appointed to a role in the public service (outside of the sector from which they receive their pension) prior to that date, is not subject to abatement in respect of that role.

Circular 24/2022 provides further guidance on the application of abatement under the 2012 Act. Please note that as per Section 6 of Circular 24/2022, if the individual takes up a new role (other than under compulsory re-deployment, temporary "acting-up", or secondment), is promoted, or takes up a position in a new body, this constitutes a new appointment, and the individual will be subject to abatement in that appointment.

I am very familiar with the coastal erosion and flooding issues in Kerry having visited the county twice, on 11th, 12th September and the 20th and 21st November 2025.

Local coastal erosion and flooding issues are a matter, in the first instance, for each local authority to investigate and address. The OPW is working closely with Kerry County Council to implement a number of initiatives to tackle coastal erosion and flooding in the county. We are currently funding three local authority staff in Kerry County Council to manage the delivery of flood relief schemes, a Senior Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer and a Senior Staff member.

Minor Works Scheme

The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme was introduced by the Office of Public Works in 2009. The purpose of the scheme is to provide 90% funding to local authorities to undertake minor flood mitigation works or studies to address localised flooding or coastal erosion problems. The scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved in a short time frame.

Since 2009, OPW has approved some 40 projects and €4.2m to Kerry County Council under the Minor Works Schemes. Some €2.9m of this approved funding relates to coastal erosion works and studies.

Kerry County Council has identified areas of soft coastline such as Rossbeigh/Inch, Banna/Ballyheigue and along the Maharees peninsula as being particularly vulnerable to coastal erosion. A Minor Works application for Maherabeg has been reviewed by the OPW and a request for further information from Kerry Co. Council will be reviewed once submitted.

Flood Relief Schemes in Kerry

The Government has also committed to investing some €81m for the design and construction of flood relief schemes for county Kerry. The Tralee, Kenmare, and Banna schemes all have coastal elements to them.

Banna

To progress this scheme design Kerry County Council is completing a wider flood risk assessment; including of the channels to the north and general drainage from the Ballyheigue area.

Tralee

As part of the scheme design, to protect 717 properties, the consultants have carried out options assessment of 11 appraisal areas. Following the screening process a series of flood risk management options were developed for each area with both fluvial and coastal options. A Public Consultation Day will be held in the coming months, to bring all options appraised to the public for their feedback. It is programmed to submit the scheme to planning at the end of 2026.

Kenmare

The scheme design is being progressed to protect 235 properties. The consultant has carried out options assessment and identified 6 fluvial options and 3 coastal options. These options are currently progressing through the Multi Criteria Assessment process. It is programmed to submit the scheme to planning early in 2027.

Coastal Monitoring.

The OPW are currently working on the development of National Coastal Erosion Hazard Mapping and a Past Coastal Erosion Database to assist in identifying areas at potentially significant risk of coastal change.

The former will provide spatial mapping to identify coastal areas that may be exposed to coastal erosion in the future, the latter is a web-based platform which will allow members of the public to report coastal erosion observed in their locality.

Ballyheigue was included in the Pilot Coastal Monitoring Survey Programme (CMSP) which was a five year pilot project which ran from 2020 to 2024. Additionally the OPW completed an aerial imagery and LiDAR survey of the full Kerry coastline in 2021.

This work follows the recommendations outlined in the Report of the Interdepartmental Group on National Coastal Change Management Strategy, where the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage chair an Interdepartmental Steering Group on Coastal Change Management and the OPW has been designated by the Government as the national lead coordinating body for the assessment of coastal change hazards and risks.

On December 3rd, the Government published the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. This is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. The Action Plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes, and rising costs. These have all been identified as major barriers to achieving Ireland’s housing, energy, and climate objectives.

The report is evidence-based. It has been built on the research and analysis of my Department, the views received during the public consultation and stakeholder engagement undertaken by my Department over the summer, and the expert input and advice from the members of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce.

The Plan sets out 30 targeted actions grouped under four pillars, each addressing a key area of reform. The actions address the twelve barriers to the timely delivery of infrastructure that were highlighted in the Report on Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement with Emerging Themes on Infrastructure, published by my department in July.

A four-week online and in-person public consultation last summer supported the preparation of that Report published in July, by providing an opportunity for stakeholders and the general public, from across the country, to feed into this work. I hosted events during this consultation period, including a regional event in Athlone.

The actions selected represent a transformative approach to streamlining development processes and significantly reducing delivery timelines, ensuring a more efficient and timely delivery of critical infrastructure nationwide.

Together, these actions will ensure that the record investment under the National Development Plan (NDP) translates into faster, more efficient delivery of housing, energy, and transport infrastructure, supporting Ireland’s economic growth, climate commitments and Delivering Homes, Building Communities. The actions will benefit every county and region of Ireland as infrastructure projects play an essential role in supporting Ireland’s balanced economic growth and meeting the demands of a rapidly expanding population.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 395 and 396 together.

On December 3rd, the Government published the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. This is a comprehensive programme of actions designed to speed up the delivery of critical infrastructure across the State. This Action Plan responds to well-documented challenges of lengthy development timelines, fragmented processes, and rising costs. These have all been identified as major barriers to achieving Ireland’s housing, energy, and climate objectives.

The report is evidence-based. It has been built on the research and analysis of my Department, the views received during the public consultation and stakeholder engagement undertaken by my Department over the summer, and the expert input and advice from the members of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce.

The Plan sets out 30 targeted actions grouped under four pillars, each addressing a key area of reform. The actions address the twelve barriers to the timely delivery of infrastructure that were highlighted in the Report on Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement with Emerging Themes on Infrastructure, published by my department in July.

The first pillar is Legal Reform. Reforms here aim to achieve a better balance towards the common good by addressing the incentives that drive a disproportionate reliance on the courts in planning and regulatory matters. While access to justice remains protected, the reforms will reduce incentives for excessive litigation, clarify rules on standing and remedies, and introduce fast-track pathways for nationally significant projects that are in the common good, through the development of new legislation.

The second pillar is Regulatory Reform and Simplification. This means identifying where regulation leads to excessive process rather than improved outcomes. It also means examining the structure of our regulatory environment, the practices applied by regulatory bodies, and how they communicate with one another and applicants. In practical terms, I think that there is scope for improved outcomes by applying parallel processes, mandating statutory timelines, and measuring the performance of our regulatory bodies

The third pillar is Coordination and Delivery Reform. This implements the reforms outlined in the Programme for Government. It means my Department assuming a more central coordination role on critical infrastructure, providing certainty to other Government Departments and utilities through multi-year funding commitments to underpin 5-year sectoral plans and reforms to the Infrastructure Guidelines. Across Government, it means driving and embedding a delivery-first culture, including, where appropriate, a balance between risk and delivery that incorporates the potential cost of delay.

The final pillar is Public Acceptance. Fundamentally, without improved public acceptance, critical infrastructure will be subject to delays, leaving broader society worse off. Government and utilities need to do a better job in promoting the social value of infrastructure to communities openly and transparently using tools like a benefits realisation framework that can demonstrate these societal benefits.

The actions under these four pillars are focused on accelerating the provision of critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure, for this purpose, means the electricity network, water and transport infrastructure, as this is the infrastructure that is necessary to support the development of all other social and economic infrastructure.

As the Deputy will be aware, this is a matter in the first instance for my colleague the Minister for Education and Youth.

My Department has had engagement with the Department of Education and Youth on funding and wider policy issues. I understand that the Department of Education and Youth remains committed and ready to engage with Forsa to reach a resolution to this important matter which has been referred to the Labour Court. The matter is due to be heard at the Labour Court on 12 January 2026.

All discussions between parties remain confidential, therefore it is not appropriate to make any further comment until such time as this process concludes.

The Department of Education and Youth received an allocation of €13.1 billion during Estimates 2026. Any costs arising fall to be considered in this context.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 398 and 399 together.

In July 2022, a temporary Special Scheme was introduced in the public health sector to support eligible staff affected by Long Covid. This scheme was initially established for 12 months and, at the request of the Department of Health, was extended several times by this Department under the same terms for the existing group of supported employees. The scheme was scheduled to conclude on 30 June 2025.

Following a Labour Court hearing in June, the Court recommended a final extension of the Special Scheme until 31 December 2025, at which point anyone remaining on the scheme should transition to the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme.

This recommendation was accepted and sanction was given by my Department to extend the scheme until the end of the year in line with this Labour Court recommendation.

Any eligible public health sector employee remaining unwell beyond 31 December 2025, may utilise the full provisions of the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme which will provide further support. This includes full pay for three months, half pay for a further three months, temporary Rehabilitative Remuneration, which, if approved, can provide up to an additional 547 days of paid leave or the Critical Illness Protocol, subject to approval. Employees who were not eligible for the Special Scheme but are also affected by Long Covid may also access these supports through the sick leave scheme.

The European Union (Action for Damages for Infringements of Competition Law) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 43 of 2017), which were signed into law on 13 February 2017, gives effect to Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union. The Department currently has no plans to introduce a collective litigation mechanism into competition law.

There are robust legal protections in place for employees who are pregnant.

An employee cannot be made redundant, or be given notice of redundancy, while on maternity leave or additional maternity leave. This is provided for in section 23 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994, as amended.

In general, dismissal of an employee due to redundancy is not deemed to be an unfair dismissal for the purposes of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, as amended. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and the selection criteria and the redundancy process is substantively and procedurally fair.

The 1977 Act also provides for a number of grounds under which a dismissal is automatically considered unfair. This includes dismissals wholly or mainly related to pregnancy, giving birth or breastfeeding or any matters connected with pregnancy or birth. While normally employees require at least one year’s service with their employer to be covered under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, this does not apply if the dismissal wholly or mainly relates to the employee's pregnancy.

Pregnant employees are also protected under the Employment Equality Act 1998, as amended. This Act is the responsibility of the Minister for Children, Equality and Disability.

Where an employee believes their employer has breached their employment rights, they can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). In most cases, complaints must be made within 6 months of the alleged breach. The WRC can extend this to 12 months if the employee demonstrates reasonable cause.

There are a range of protections under employment law for employees facing redundancy or the loss of their job.

Redundancy is where an employee loses their job because their employer is closing their business or reducing the number of staff. It occurs when a job no longer exists, an employee is let go and they are not replaced.

Where an employee has been made redundant, they may be entitled to a redundancy payment. Under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy to eligible employees.

In order to qualify for a statutory redundancy payment, an employee must have 104 weeks' continuous employment, have been an employed contributor in employment which was insurable for all benefits under the Social Welfare Acts, and be over the age of 16.

The requisite period of 2 years continuous service is to ensure the employee has a reasonable attachment to the employer that is making them redundant. There are no plans to make changes to the eligibility criteria to receive a statutory redundancy payment.

An employee with more than one year’s service is protected under the Unfair Dismissal Act 1977, as amended. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the dismissal is both substantively and procedurally fair.

In general, dismissal of an employee due to redundancy is not deemed to be an unfair dismissal. However, in such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and the selection criteria and redundancy process adopted are fair.

Where an employee believes their employer has breached their employment rights, they can make a complaint to the WRC. In most cases, complaints must be made within 6 months of the alleged breach. The WRC can extend this to 12 months if the employee demonstrates reasonable cause.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 403 and 410 together.

The Deputy has asked for details of the progress made over the past 12 months on each of my Department’s Programme for Government commitments. I am pleased to report that since January 2025, my Department has made substantial progress in delivering on the commitments set out in the Programme for Government with significant progress achieved across a wide range of areas. Our focus has been on supporting enterprise, fostering innovation, strengthening tourism, and ensuring high-quality employment opportunities across all regions of Ireland.

Employment continues to grow strongly, with 30,700 jobs created in the year to Q3 2025, bringing total employment to over 2.82 million. This represents an increase of 1.1% compared to Q3 2024, with regional employment outside Dublin rising by 23,700 (+1.2%).

Inward investment has remained robust. IDA Ireland supported 179 investments by global companies in the first half of 2025, a 37% increase on the same period last year, expected to deliver cutting-edge research and development and create over 10,000 jobs. IDA also launched its new five-year strategy, Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation 2025–2029, aligning with Programme for Government objectives.

Enterprise Ireland continues to drive export growth, with client companies achieving exports of €36.75 billion in 2024, up 7% on the previous year. Over 234,000 people are now employed in EI-supported companies.

Key policy initiatives have been advanced, including the publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity in September, supported by €3.68 billion in allocations under the National Development Plan Review 2025.

We launched the Government’s Action Plan on Market Diversification and led trade missions to Japan, Canada, the UAE, and the United States. A Small Business Unit was established, fulfilling a key Programme for Government commitment, and we convened the first meeting of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum. Regulations were signed to implement the EU Directive on reducing administrative burdens and simplifying corporate sustainability reporting.

In line with the Programme for Government a key priority of mine is reducing red tape and simplifying processes for small businesses. Key highlights in this regard include:

• Grant simplification: The newly established Small Business Unit has reviewed all Local Enterprise Office (LEO) grant schemes, resulting in a reduction of application questions, down 47% for Business Expansion Grants, 30% for the Green for Business Grant and 28% for the Feasibility Grant with further reductions targeted.

• 'Once only' principle: Work is underway to merge application processes across different grants, ensuring businesses only need to provide their data once.

• Faster approvals: Enterprise Ireland has been tasked with achieving a 24-hour turnaround time for grant application approvals.

• EU regulatory relief: Ireland was among the first in Europe to sign regulations exempting 80% of small businesses from the scope of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), with a two-year delay granted to others pending further EU negotiations.

• SME Test expansion: In 2024, 26 SME Tests were applied across 8 Government Departments, 10 of which were conducted by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. These tests assess the impact of new legislation on small businesses and propose mitigation measures. This figure is expected to increase with all departments mandated to apply SME Tests for new policies.

• Listening to businesses: My officials are actively engaging with stakeholders through the Enterprise and Retail Forums and the Cost of Business Advisory Forum to identify high-impact burdens and opportunities for reform

• Digital transformation: 95% of filings with the Companies Registration Office are now online and the Workplace Relations Commission has implemented Robotic Process Automation to streamline complaint handling.

• Business support access: The National Enterprise Hub has handled over 7,500 enquiries, simplifying access to over 250 supports from 29 departments and agencies.

• Regulatory modernisation: Updates to the Companies Act, the introduction of SCARP (Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process), and reforms to co-operative legislation are making compliance more flexible and accessible.

• EU engagement: The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment continues to shape EU policy through active participation in working groups, supporting simplification efforts such as the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy and the forthcoming Digital Simplification Package.

In line with the Programme for Government commitment, tourism policy has been strengthened with its functions transferring to my Department and with the launch of A New Era for Irish Tourism, Ireland’s new National Tourism Policy Statement, and the publication of the Tourism Sectoral Adaptation Plan 2025–2030, the first of its kind for the sector. These initiatives aim to ensure balanced regional development and resilience in the face of climate change.

Innovation remains central to our agenda. Under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, €159 million has been awarded to 27 projects addressing major societal and economic challenges. We launched Ireland’s first Semiconductor Strategy, positioning Ireland as a key player in Europe’s semiconductor future. Additional commitments have been advanced through convening of the Employment Law Review Group, the publication of the Action Plan to Promote Collective Bargaining 2026–2030. The Employment Permits function has had a very strong year, reducing the backlog to its lowest level since 2022 and achieving the fastest processing timelines to date. The permit system digitally transformed facilitating the more efficient and secure processing permits with critical skills processing times down to 10 days. This progress is critical given the service’s central role in enabling business growth and job creation, supporting Ireland’s economic development over recent years. New categories of permits issued including town planners, and a seasonal permits scheme.

In the Programme for Government, there is a firm commitment to support the central role played by the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court in industrial relations and employment matters. A new chair of the Labour Court was appointed in April and the WRC continues to play a critical role in ensuring that employment rights are upheld for all, recovering over €2 million in unpaid wages on foot of 5,156 inspections completed during 2024. The WRC plays a leading role in contributing to the harmonious industrial relations climate with data for conciliation services showing an 85% success rate.

I secured Government agreement to adopt a distributed model of implementation of the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. This approach will build on the deep knowledge and expertise of the established sectoral regulators. Following this in September 2025 a national single point of contact has also been established within the department to streamline coordination between Irish regulators, the European Commission, and stakeholders. The Single Point of Contact serves as the interface with the public, other Member States, and EU-level counterparts with its purpose to streamline communication and coordination for the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act.

Over the last 18 months my Department’s Officials have been putting in place the structures for a successful Presidency and have been working through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Interdepartmental Groups on Presidency Policy Priorities and Operation Planning on progressing Ireland’s policy priorities and operational planning for the Presidency. This work will continue right up to 1st July 2026 when Ireland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. My Department’s Presidency Planning Team will continue to collaborate across government to ensure that all perspectives are heard and considered in a fair and inclusive manner.

In line with commitments in the Programme for Government my Department continued work to strengthen the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. the CCPC to strengthen its mandate through the addition to and enhancement of its senior leadership team. In addition, the recruitment of an additional CCPC Member is ongoing, and the CCPC has recently commenced the recruitment of two Senior Directors who will have a direct role in supporting the Members to ensure it can continue to deliver on its important brief. In parallel, the Department is reviewing the legislative framework governing consumer protection fines. Future penalties are expected to align with those applicable to competition law infringements, ensuring greater consistency and impact across the regulatory landscape.

Further progress includes commissioning research to inform the review of Personal Injuries Guidelines, launch of the new Action Plan for Insurance Reform which 11 actions for delivery by my Department and new mediation service from the Personal Injuries Resolution Board. I have also launched a public consultation on the new National Life Sciences Strategy, and announced €170 million investment in European Space Agency programmes to support innovation and technology commercialisation.

Supported by Ministers Dillon and Smyth good progress is being made across all relevant commitments beyond the main achievements highlighted above, in fulfilment of the Programme for Government. Full details of these achievements and ongoing initiatives will be published in the Department’s Annual Report for 2025.

Enterprise Ireland have 531 staff in client facing roles.

The grades are broken down as follows:

I can confirm that, as at the 8th December 2025, IDA Ireland had 24.6 WTE Accounts Executives and Senior Accounts Executives within its Finance Team, set out by grade in the table below.

I can confirm that no payment for translation services has been made by my Department to Translink for the years in question.

The Employment Permits Unit of my Department informs me that it does not pre-assign individual SOC codes or pre-adjudicate job descriptions. Eligibility for a Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP) is determined at the point of application, taking account of the role’s classification under the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2010) system and the Critical Skills Occupations List (CSOL), as well as the proposed remuneration and the applicant’s qualifications and experience.

For ICT roles, the CSOL currently includes Information Technology and Telecommunications Directors (SOC 4 1136) under the broader ICT Professionals (SOC 3 113) category. Where an ICT role is not expressly listed on the CSOL, it may still qualify for a CSEP if the remuneration is over €64,000 and all other criteria are met; otherwise, employers may consider applying for a General Employment Permit subject to the usual requirements for this permit type.

Employers who wish to have eligibility assessed should submit a full application through the Employment Permits Online System (EPOS). Applications are assessed by the Department in line with published criteria.

A dedicated TD mailbox is available for Oireachtas members to raise queries -tdepqueries@enterprise.gov.ie

With a significant semiconductor design and fabrication history, Ireland has built an extensive and technology-rich semiconductor industry comprising over 130 Irish-Owned and FDI companies, employing over 20,000 people, and making up part of a 175,000-person strong broader ICT sector with overall exports of €13.5 billion worth of products annually.

In this context, and in line with commitments in the Programme for Government, I launched Silicon Island: Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy in May 2025, as a clear signal of Government support for such an economically and strategically vital sector for both Ireland and the EU. Such a clear message of tangible support for the sector, the Government believes, is important to international investors, particularly coming at a time of international uncertainty, as well as in the context of other challenges, but also the opportunities arising for the sector as the world rolls out various AI and other technological innovations.

As I highlighted at the launch of our Strategy, a KPMG study identified that by 2040, with the right backing, Ireland could support up to 34,500 new semiconductor roles, and I believe Silicon Island is the Strategy that will enable us meet that opportunity. Accordingly, the Strategy includes a suite of deliverables owned by my Department, the Enterprise Agencies – IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland – and Tyndall National Institute, among others.

To this end, we will work with our partners in IDA Ireland to secure the development of:

• One leading-edge fabrication facility (Integrated Design Manufacturer or Foundry) in a regional location;

• Two trailing-edge foundries; and

• One advanced packaging facility.

To fulfil these ambitions, the Government is acutely aware of the strategic imperative to position Ireland as a competitive location for semiconductor fabrication facilities, which are critical to global supply chains and national economic resilience. Semiconductor fabrication plants, or “fabs”, require large sites due to their significant land use and the need for expansion space. The establishment of such advanced manufacturing operations requires substantial capital investment across several key infrastructure domains. Accordingly, the Programme for Government outlines a policy aim of expanding the IDA Ireland land bank, including consideration of new advanced manufacturing facilities in strategic, regional locations, and developing Next Generation Sites (NGS) with all of the necessary utilities and services to secure and accommodate a major semiconductor investment.

The NGS approach will be plan-led, streamlining development and reducing planning risks, and provide pre-permitted, utility-intensive sites, enabling swift development and certainty for investors. Each site will be developed in stages over several years to facilitate incremental investment in the necessary infrastructure. Funding for land acquisition for the first two sites, planned for the west and east of the country, is coming from my Department's capital allocation under the revised National Development Plan. A third site is planned for the south in future years.

It is important too that we encourage multinational companies to partner with Irish enterprise to foster a strong, mutually supportive sector. This will be achieved through close collaboration between IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to strengthen linkages between the Agencies’ respective client bases within the semiconductor sector. This work will help local firms become embedded in the value chains of this strategic sector to develop a well-represented and self-sustaining ecosystem.

Enterprise Ireland is also leading on commercialisation support; access to finance; scaling of technology start-ups and spinouts; R&D and emerging technologies; enhanced R&D support for its clients in and associated with the sector. In this regard, Enterprise Ireland will also continue to ensure that its research and innovation programmes and supports are available and relevant to the semiconductor ecosystem, including in niche areas where Ireland and the EU can foster cross-sectoral opportunities including semiconductor technology as an enabling technology across sectors of strategic importance to Ireland and Europe such as quantum chips, advanced packaging (chiplets, heterogeneous packaging), neuromorphic chips, and sensors.

Enterprise Ireland is also focusing on activities to generate deep-tech spin-outs, leveraging its Commercialisation Fund, as well as the expertise of Tyndall National Institute’s Entrepreneurs in Residence programme. Over the past decade, Enterprise Ireland has funded a portfolio of Commercialisation Fund projects in Tyndall and will continue to support high-risk/high-reward spin-out projects with ongoing commercialisation support from assigned Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Specialists.

It should also be noted that Irish SMEs, such as Mbryonics and Pilot Photonics, have recently received funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to allow for further scaling of their operations. Moreover, Ireland’s overall success in the Horizon Europe EIC programme, supported by Enterprise Ireland, highlights the innovation and capability of Irish semiconductor companies to compete on a global level. This funding provides the critical support required to enable these innovative semiconductor companies to develop and scale their businesses.

The Government is also working to harness the European Chips Act as a vehicle to further enhance the sector’s research, development, and innovation landscape and to increase Ireland’s capacity to produce semiconductor chips in support of the Act’s ambitions, building on Ireland’s existing strengths in the semiconductor sector and related ecosystem.

Utilising our fabrication and development bases built up over several decades through household names in the industry successfully operating from here, Ireland has already begun implementation of the European Chips Act.

Over €70 million in national and EU funding has been allocated for Tyndall’s participation in three EU Pilot Lines, strengthening links with leading semiconductor institutions like IMEC, Leti, and Fraunhofer. These pilot lines aim to bridge the gap between research and industrial deployment, as well as accelerating the development of advanced semiconductor technologies.

I-C3, the National Competence Centre for Semiconductors, has been established with Tyndall National Institute as co-ordinator and MIDAS Ireland, MCCI, UCD and NovaUCD as partners. I-C3 is one of 27 Chips Competence Centres across the EU being launched in 2025 as part of the European Chips Act. In that regard, I-C3 will provide SMEs, startups, and scale-ups with expertise and technological support to speed up innovation in the semiconductor sector.

Furthermore, Analog Devices is currently partnering with 14 EU Member States in the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies.

My Department will continue to seek opportunities from instruments such as IPCEI, and others like Horizon Europe, and the Digital Europe Programme, combining national and EU funding to maximise impact for the semiconductor ecosystem in line with the aims of Silicon Island.

The Government also recognises the global nature of semiconductor supply chains, and we are seeking to building partnerships and creating stronger linkages within the global industry. In this regard, Ireland is currently working with our European partners through the European Semiconductor Board, and as part of the European Semiconductor Coalition, on the successor to the European Chips Act which is due in 2026.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body under the aegis of my Department, established on 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The WRC’s primary functions include the inspection of employment law compliance, the provision of information on employment law, mediation, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, and advisory services. WRC inspectors carry out inspections of employer records with a view to determining compliance with employment rights legislation.

The table below sets out the number of WTE inspectors, by grade, working in the WRC in 2024 and to date in 2025. There is an ongoing recruitment campaign in place through Publicjobs to hire additional inspectors and we expect to make more assignments in early 2026:

I propose to take Questions Nos. 411 and 412 together.

Ireland's employment permits system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills or labour shortages in the State in the short to medium term. This objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish or EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is genuine.

The role of dairy farm assistant has been provided with a quota of 1,100 General Employment Permits since eligibility was first introduced in 2018. This quota was exhausted in November 2025.

Where a sector wishes to have a quota extended, or a role fully removed from the ineligible occupations list (i.e. not subject to a quota), evidence should demonstrate a continuing need for access to employment permits for the role, supported by the department with lead responsibility for the sector.

My department has received a submission from the agri-food sector with regard to the role of dairy farm assistant to the current review which closed to receipt of submissions on Friday, 19th of September. Consideration of submissions and evidence supporting changes is in progress including where occupations that currently have assigned quotas are undergoing review. Final recommendations on foot of the review process are expected to be published at the beginning of 2026.

My Department is also engaging directly with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine at present in relation to the immediately pressing issue regarding the dairy farm assistant quota. A recommendation with regard to changes will be finalised and submitted to my office for consideration and approval shortly.

Should a new quota threshold be introduced through amending secondary legislation, new applications may be submitted for consideration to be processed by date of receipt.

Under the terms of my Department's School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are eligible for transport where they are attending the nearest recognised school that is or can be resourced to meet their special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) acts in an advisory role to my Department on the suitability of placements for children with special educational needs.

A pupil with special educational needs is eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school, special class or special school that is or can be resourced, to meet the child's special educational needs under Department of Education and Youth criteria.

When a child is changing school, and still requires school transport under the above scheme, a new application must be completed by the family and the school principal, who will then forward to the SENO.

Once the SENO has completed their section of the form, they will forward it to the School Transport Section of the Department for consideration.

This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.

Special schools support children and young people aged between 4 and 18 years of age with the most complex special educational needs and ensure positive links are established and fostered between the home, school and other agencies for these students.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) advise that there are seven schools with a designation of Schools for Emotionally Disturbed Children. However, it is important to remember that a number of special schools have diversified since they were established to enrol students from their local area with varying degrees of complex needs. This diversification allows children and young people to attend their local special school without the need to travel long distances so as to receive the supports they need. For further information on special schools please see my Department's website on www.gov.ie and the NCSE website.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.

In accordance with the terms of my Department's School Transport Scheme, school transport services operate during the standard school year and facilitate a child's attendance during normal school opening and closing times. Transport to the facility as outlined by the Deputy would not come under the remit of the scheme.

The pupil to whom the Deputy refers to is eligible for school transport under the Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs and the family receive the Special Transport Grant in lieu of a school transport service.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 416 and 417 together.

The Data Protection Commission recently published a "Data Protection Toolkit for Schools" to assist with specific concerns and challenges faced by schools and following consultation with a number of organisations in the education sector. The Toolkit is available on the DPC's website and includes specific guidance about photographs of pupils. The DPC has also published other guidance on this subject: Taking photos at school events.

The Data Protection Commission is the national independent authority responsible for upholding the fundamental right of individuals to have their personal data protected. It is the supervisory authority responsible for monitoring the application of the GDPR. The statutory powers, duties and functions of the DPC are as established under the Data Protection Act 2018.

The responsibility for compliance with data protection legislation rests with each school board of management. Schools/Education and Training Boards are separate data controllers from the department under data protection law and are responsible for their own compliance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act. Schools can consult with their management body and/or the DPC if they require further advice.

Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying was published on 1st December 2022. Cineáltas is my department’s whole-education approach to preventing and addressing bullying behaviour in schools.

Cineáltas is dedicated to the prevention and addressing of bullying behaviour including cyber bullying, racist bullying, gender identity bullying and sexual harassment, among other areas, in schools. It is centred on a child rights-based approach and provides a collective vision and clear roadmap for how the whole education community and society can work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour in our schools.

Cineáltas incorporates each of the nine components of UNESCO’s Whole Education Approach to prevent and address bullying behaviour. It is rooted in four key principles: prevention, support, oversight and community. Implementation of Cineáltas is well advanced. The first implementation report, which relates to 2023, was published on 02 July 2025. The second implementation report, which relates to 2024, is due to be published shortly.

One of the more significant actions under Cineáltas was to update the 2013 Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. This action has been completed with the publication, on 19 June 2024, of Bí Cineálta: Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. These updated procedures were developed in collaboration with the education partners, including the National Parents Council, and are heavily informed by the views of children and young people, parents, school staff, Board of Management members and the wider education community.

The Bí Cineálta procedures are centred on a child rights-based approach and support a partnership approach where all members of the school community work together to prevent and address bullying behaviour. The procedures have been updated to take account of gender identity bullying, cyberbullying, racist bullying, sexist bullying, and sexual harassment. They support schools to develop clear strategies to prevent and address these bullying behaviours. The Bí Cineálta procedures are being implemented in all schools since the beginning of the 2025/2026 school year.

Implementation of the procedures was supported by a suite of professional learning resources and information sessions for school staff, Board of Management members and parents.

One of the key objectives of the Children First Act 2015 is to ensure that organisations that provide services to children (referred to as “providers of a relevant service” in the Act) keep children safe from harm while they are availing of those organisations’ services. In that regard, the Act places certain statutory obligations on every such provider. These include obligations to ensure, as far as practicable, that children are safe from harm while availing of its services, to undertake an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of the organisation’s services (referred to as a “risk”) and to produce a Child Safeguarding Statement in accordance with the Act. The Act requires that the Child Safeguarding Statement has due regard to Children First National Guidance 2017, any other child protection guidelines issued by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality or any guidelines concerning child safeguarding statements that are issued by Tusla under section 11 (4) of the Children First Act 2015.

All recognised schools fall within the definition of a “provider” of a relevant service under the Children First Act 2015 and therefore have specific statutory obligations under the Act. The protection and welfare of children is of paramount importance for every school, and the obligations and responsibilities which arise from child protection procedures are taken very seriously by our schools.

A school’s Child Safeguarding Statement shall be reviewed each calendar year and the department has provided a qualitative review document that shall be used when schools are conducting the annual review of the Child Safeguarding Statement. As part of its annual review of the Child Safeguarding Statement, the board of management must seek feedback from parents and school personnel in relation to the school’s compliance with the child safeguarding requirements of the procedures and retain a record of the consultation. As part of the annual review, parents in the school should have an opportunity to have a voice and participate in the process.

My department takes child protection matters very seriously and considers the protection and welfare of children to be a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children.

My department has robust oversight measures in place which provide direction and guidance to school authorities to deal with child protection concerns. These are set out in the updated Child Protection Procedures for Schools 2025 which were published in May. The obligations and responsibilities have been taken very seriously by our schools since their implementation and there is a very strong culture of child protection across the school sector.

During the period in question, 3,103 school evaluations included checks on schools’ compliance with anti-bullying requirements. From January 2024 to August 2025, these checks related to the 2013 Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. Over this period, compliance levels were high, with 97.2% (n = 2,435) found to be compliant and 2.8% (n = 70) identified as non-compliant.

From the beginning of the current school year, in September 2025, the focus of these checks shifted to the implementation of the Bí Cineálta policy, which replaced the 2013 Procedures. Since September 2025, compliance has remained strong, with 96.3% (n = 576) of evaluations found to be compliant and 3.6% (n = 22) non-compliant.

These results indicate consistently high levels of compliance with safeguarding and anti-bullying obligations, both under the 2013 Anti-Bullying Procedures and, more recently, under the Bí Cineálta policy.

The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme and the School Completion Programme (SCP) are two key supports provided by my department as part of the overall Delivering Equality of Opportunity in School (DEIS) programme. Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) manage the HSCL scheme and the SCP on behalf of my department.

The HSCL scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention. SCP plays a critical role in supporting children and young people of school going age to stay in school and to tackle school absenteeism.

All DEIS urban primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which currently serves 687 DEIS schools, catering for approximately 207,000 children and young people. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL coordinators assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools. HSCL coordinators are released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life.

In addition, a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, is in operation in 4 locations with 1 HSCL coordinator assigned in each location. A further 10 HSCL coordinators support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools.

In the 2025/26 school year there are 14 HSCL coordinators employed across DEIS schools in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area.

Local SCP projects operate under the management and direction of a Local Management Committee (LMC). The LMC is responsible for the oversight of the project delivery at local level, including the use of project resources, employment of staff, and accountability for public funds.

The SCP staffing levels in the four SCP projects operating in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area, as sought by the Deputy are provided in the table below.

It is an objective of my Department that all students will have the same accessibility to all information on all pathways including non-academic education and training options and that Junior Cycle students will begin to receive age and stage-appropriate information on pathways and options, and that this information will not be limited to senior cycle students. This objective is embedded in a wide range of work being undertaken within my Department including but not limited to the following:

National Strategic Framework for Lifelong Guidance

A National Policy Group for Lifelong Guidance was convened in 2022 and is chaired by my department. This National Policy Group published a strategic framework and action plan for lifelong guidance in Ireland in December 2023. A number of actions within these publications relate to the matter of career information, inclusion and parity of esteem for all pathways. For example, action 6.2 commits all NPG Departments, including my own, to “Promote the uptake of diverse pathways to education, training and the world of work”. With this framework and action at the fore of policy development in this area, the active promotion of education and training options that are not traditionally academic, as framed in your question, and other pathways are a major theme in all activities undertaken by department.

Whole School Guidance

In order to meet the guidance-needs of students in our post-primary system, including in relation to education and training, a model of whole-school guidance (WSG) has been formally developed and promoted through Teacher Professional Learning over the past decade. This model is advantageous for students (and their parents) as students’ educational and career development is supported by all staff members including but not limited to the guidance counsellor. In relation to accessibility of information on education and training options as you have requested specifically, students can learn from all staff members. For example, a school may hold a parent engagement session to broaden awareness of alternative routes, a maths teacher may discuss vocational STEM career options and apprenticeships when teaching junior cycle students, and a Year Head may organise a group-trip to a careers fair where vocational and practical education and training opportunities are well represented. Each school has its own student-centred ‘Whole School Guidance Plan’ within which activities like this are described. As the guidance needs of each school community will vary, WSG programmes will vary from school to school. A WSG-plan will contain a WSG-programme which includes engagement with employers, experiential learning opportunities, and a focus on career-management skills which can further support informed choices and broaden students’ understanding of the diverse pathways open to them. This is a fundamental part of each WSG-plan.

Many WSG-plans are available to view via a school’s website.

Forthcoming Policy:

During 2025, my department has concluded a National Consultation on Post-Primary Guidance which will inform a number of policy actions in relation to Guidance. Draft guidelines for whole school guidance were published during this consultation. The draft guidelines contain a clear and detailed programme for guidance with learning objectives for all students nationally to ensure consistency and standards within WSG-provision. Early-intervention and access to information is highlighted within these guidelines and learning outcomes are identified for both junior- and senior cycle students. ‘Pathways’ is a clear theme within these guidelines and learning objectives focus on multiple pathways including non-academic vocational and practical options. The final guidelines, which will incorporate points made by stakeholders within the national consultation, will be published in due course.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 421, 422 and 423 together.

The Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) is designed to re-engage young people who are at risk of leaving education by providing an informal learning environment that promotes beneficial routines, positive social interactions, and personal responsibility. It fosters mutual respect, encouragement, and inclusiveness while supporting participants to explore options for returning to school, educational progression, training, and future careers.

Delivered by local youth workers in partnership with ETB tutors, ALP operates three days per week during the academic term and combines group work and varied activities to build supportive, trusting relationships between participants and staff. The programme relies on collaboration with the Education Welfare Service, school principals, and parents/guardians to ensure effective engagement.

Since its introduction in 2014, the ALP in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area has supported 138 young people. Nine young people are currently participating in the ALP in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area, with 10 young people engaged since September 2025. There is capacity within the programme to accommodate additional participants.

The ALP operates on an 8-week cycle, with provision for up to 16 young people per cycle (two groups of eight, morning and afternoon sessions). Numbers vary depending on individual progression and whether participants complete one or two cycles.

Since 2017, the programme has adopted a structured 8-week format to strengthen collaboration with schools and Education Welfare Officers, supporting young people to return to mainstream education. In some cases, participants complete two consecutive cycles before exiting the programme.

The programme continues to adapt to meet the needs of young people in the area, ensuring a supportive and effective pathway back into education.

The ALP continues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young people, offering them the confidence, skills, and support needed to re-engage with education and plan for their future. By fostering inclusion and building strong relationships, ALP provides a vital pathway for those most at risk, ensuring that every participant has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.

In 2025, the department allocated approximately €360,000 to DDLETB in UBU Your Place Your Space funding to support the delivery of ALP in its five locations; Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Tallaght, Clondalkin, Balbriggan and Swords.

The Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO), acting on behalf of my department, is currently engaging with the school's patron in relation to the lease between the school patron and my department. Once the lease has been signed and registered, my department will be in a position to reimburse any funds due to the school.

This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.

In 2026, over €3 billion will be spent supporting students with special educational needs. It will ensure that specialist capacity continues to grow by providing 3,000 specialist places. The majority of these places will be available in special classes within mainstream schools.

It will increase our special educational posts by 860 special education teacher and over 1,700 special needs assistant (SNA) posts. This will mean we will have almost 46,000 professionals dedicated to supporting students with special educational needs in our schools. This is one of the highest annual increases in posts to date and is a firm reminder of this government’s commitment to supporting students with special educational needs. Salary scales for school staff are available via my Department's website on www.gov.ie.

Budget 2026 has also afforded a number of new initiatives such as funding for the roll out of the Education Therapy Service (ETS), the introduction of extra special education teaching hours for post-primary schools to support coordination and transition efforts and indeed a special school package to support the unique challenges these schools face.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

The department does not hold centralised comparative data on the level of individual student needs.

Such data is maintained at individual school level and detailed within the individual student support file held by the school.

The Continuum of Support is the framework developed by NEPS for schools to identify, plan and provide support for children and young people who experience difficulties with their learning.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) supports schools in implementing the Continuum of Support framework with each school taking responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and supports for children and young people with special educational needs.

Under this model, a child or young person does not require a psychological assessment diagnosis in order to access additional support at school.

This Continuum of Support framework recognises that special educational needs occur along a continuum, ranging from mild to more significant, and from transient to enduring. It recognises that children require different levels of support depending on their identified educational needs, and that needs may change over time.

Using this framework helps to ensure flexible and timely allocation of supports, so that those children with the greatest level of need have access to the greatest level of support.

While there is no specific estimate available of the number of hours spent by each school on applications for either RACE or assistive technology, both the SEC and my Department are reviewing respective processes currently.

In relation to the RACE scheme, the SEC, directed by the Board of Commissioners, is leading a comprehensive system wide review of the Scheme which will seek to address relevant issues and take account of best practice internationally. Work is underway as part of the Review to review the RACE application process with a view to moving applications online, reducing the administrative burden on schools and resulting in a more streamlined decision-making process.

The RACE scheme is school-based, and applications are made through schools on behalf of students. Schools also undertake the testing required to support the application. Applications for reasonable accommodations are considered in line with the published Framework of Principles and can only be approved in accordance with the principles and requirements of the scheme which are set out in RACE Instructions for Schools.

In line with established practice, all Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate RACE applications are subject to quality assurance. The focus of the quality assurance process continues to be assisting schools to comply with the demands of the RACE scheme. In the event that problems are identified, the SEC assisted by the National Educational Psychologist Service (NEPS) provides schools with guidance and advice as to how they should improve their RACE application process.

NEPS also provides advice to the SEC on the eligibility criteria and the testing arrangements required to assess eligibility for RACE supports on grounds of learning difficulty. There is no longer any need to undertake tests of general cognitive ability for the purposes of the RACE scheme as there is no requirement to distinguish between specific and general learning difficulties.

In relation to assistive technology, the Assistive Technology Scheme supplements the overall approach to providing funding to schools for digital technology and equipment to support children for education purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children who require essential specialist equipment in order to access the school curriculum.

I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is currently finalising a review of this scheme to ensure it is effectively supporting the children it is intended to serve, and that resources are being allocated as efficiently as possible.

There has been widespread consultation in relation to the scheme, and the consensus from stakeholders was that the application system needs to be quicker and easier and that all of the children who need assistive technology to access the curriculum should receive it.

In addition, the application process is being streamlined so that children can get the equipment in the shortest time possible. This will be a simpler process for schools by way of a new portal for schools to submit applications. This portal is currently under development and is intended to be rolled out as soon as possible.

The review will be finalised early in 2026, and in advance of this, I'm pleased to say that I have secured additional funding for this scheme in Budget 2026 to recognise the growing need for assistive technology in our schools.

This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.

Providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs is a fundamental principle of the education system. This principle is observed through Department policies, Teaching Council requirements for initial teacher education, curriculum provision and the range of supports provided to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and Oide. Schools are supported through building the capacity of teachers to deliver an inclusive education system.

The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2016. As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the Council registers teachers under five routes of registration: Route 1 - Primary, Route 2 - Post-primary, Route 3 - Further Education, Route 4 - Other and Route 5 - Student Teacher.

Central to Initial Teacher Education policy in Ireland is that all teachers teaching children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) should be qualified Primary or Post-primary teachers in the first instance.

Inclusive education is a mandatory element of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. Within further updated standards which the Teaching Council adopted in 2020, known as Céim Standards for Initial Teacher Education, inclusive education was further strengthened as one of seven core elements which must underpin all aspects of programmes of ITE.

Furthermore, the department has initiated a process to move towards a mandatory assessed placement period in a special education needs setting for all student teachers. As part of this, it is envisaged the Teaching Council, on behalf of the department, has conducted a survey across all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers to gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape of school placement provision in special education settings. This will support the consideration of the Teaching Council in the development and approval of a Guidance Note for Higher Education Institutions, around an assessed student placement period in a SEN setting, working with a view to supporting initial change in September 2026.

Additionally, funded by the Department, Oide works with teachers and school leaders to provide ongoing support and professional development, which promotes inclusive practices.

The Department funds over 300 places on postgraduate professional development programmes in collaboration with HEI nationally.

The Department provides a suite of professional development programmes developed and delivered by NEPS in supporting children and young people with special educational needs.

The NCSE provides supports to teachers and schools in a way that builds capacity, supports the inclusion of all children, including students with special educational needs, at a whole school level. The NCSE Support Service manages, co-ordinates and develops a range of supports in response to identified teacher training needs. This included Teacher Professional Learning (TPL). The NCSE continues to update current TPL courses and design new courses in response to the needs of teachers.

The Department does not maintain records regarding the additional qualifications of qualified teachers however, my department is committed to ensuring that all teachers, at primary and post-primary level, have the skills they need to support the diverse needs of all our children and young people in our schools. It is critical that our teachers are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to continue to deliver high quality and inclusive education.

Consideration has not been given to redeploying elements of the Inspectorate to provide in-school training and collaborative planning support. Oide is the Department-funded body with a specific remit to provide professional learning for teachers and school leaders. The Inspectorate has a statutory evaluative, advisory and capacity-building functions in schools, Early Learning and Care (ELC) settings and centres for education. The Inspectorate’s programme of evaluation is not focused primarily on compliance-based inspections. As set out in its published Inspection Policy (2025), the Inspectorate is committed to carrying out a balanced approach to regulation, quality improvement and provision of policy advice at school and system levels. It provides an evaluative account of the work of education settings and schools, affirming good practice and promoting improvement. The Inspectorate and Oide work closely to support improvement in the quality of education provision at both school and system levels.

The Assessment of Need (AON) is a statutory process under the Disability Act (2005) whereby the Health Service Executive (HSE) reports on the health and education needs of a child/young person. The provision of Guidelines, including any data sharing arrangements for the assessment of needs process is a matter for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the HSE.

It is Department policy, in accordance with the principles of inclusive education, that, to the greatest extent possible, students with additional learning needs are supported in mainstream classes along with their peers, with additional supports provided as necessary.

The Continuum of Support is the framework developed by NEPS for schools to identify, plan and provide support for children and young people who experience difficulties with their learning. The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) supports schools in implementing the Continuum of Support framework with each school taking responsibility for initial assessment, educational planning and supports for children and young people with special educational needs. Under this model, a child or young person does not require a psychological assessment diagnosis in order to access additional support at school. This Continuum of Support framework recognises that special educational needs occur along a continuum, ranging from mild to more significant, and from transient to enduring. It recognises that children require different levels of support depending on their identified educational needs, and that needs may change over time. Using this framework helps to ensure flexible and timely allocation of supports, so that those children with the greatest level of need have access to the greatest level of support.

Primary and post-primary schools make provision for students with special educational needs (SEN) through a continuum of interventions ranging from additional support teaching in mainstream schools through to more specialist placements either in a special class or a special school depending on the level of complexity of need. Schools are required to target their additional resources at those students requiring the greatest level of support. Children/young people do not require a psychological assessment or a diagnosis in order to access additional support at school.

Schools are provided with the resources, through the special education teacher allocation model, to assist them in meeting the needs of their students. It is a matter for schools to monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified students, in accordance with the Department's guidance. Guidelines for schools on the organisation, deployment and use of their special education teachers have been published on the Department’s website, at - gov.ie - SET Guidelines and supporting documentation to aid schools in supporting Children/Young people with Special Education Needs.

It is important to note that since 2017 children and young people in mainstream classes have not required a specific diagnosis to access mainstream supports from the 15,000 special education teachers in our school system. In addition, the Department has removed the requirement for any health-based information to support transitions from a primary to a post-primary special class and/or for additional SNA requirements.

The AON process as it applies to schools and as outlined in DEY Circular 0069/2025 will remain in place. For clarity, there is no change to the AON process as it applies in schools.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for students with special educational needs.

Through the accelerated provision of additional special class and special school places over recent years, there are now over 30,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools. 2,700 new places were created for the 2025/26 school year and these, together with the over 1,200 existing places due to students moving on from primary schools and post-primary schools, has meant that close to 4,000 specialist places were made available for the 2025/26 school year.

407 new special classes were sanctioned for the 2025/26 school year. Of these 103 are in County Dublin, 81 at primary and 22 at post-primary level. This brings to 705 the number of special classes currently in operation in the county.

There are also 40 special schools in County Dublin with approximately 2,643 students enrolled. Two of the five new special schools for the 2025/26 school year have opened in Lucan and Belmayne also.

As demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates, my department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders in relation to the provision of special classes.

In October 2022, my department wrote to all post-primary schools requesting that each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of students progressing from primary school. Last year my department issued a circular to all schools setting out new measures to support the forward planning of special education provision. Included in this circular was a reminder of the need for post-primary schools to continue planning for this level of provision.

The NCSE is currently collating the data and information received by 1 October through the Parents Notify process and are engaging with schools regarding where specialist provision is best placed for the 2026/27 school year. It is expected that many of these special classes will be sanctioned by 31 December 2025.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for students with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation as to where new specialist provision is required.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 432 and 433 together.

In line with the programme for government, the Education Therapy Service (ETS) has been established as an additional support for children and young people in their school environment. It is not a replacement for existing children’s services from which provision will continue. It will commence in specials schools and rollout in time to special classes and mainstream school.

It is anticipated that the service will commence in 45 special schools at a later stage in the 2025/26 school year. Further roll out of the service will occur on a phased basis with a wider roll-out in special schools commencing in the 2026/27 school year.

The selection process to identify schools for inclusion in the initial phase is ongoing and being informed by engagement with our colleagues in the HSE and the National Council of Special Education (NCSE). It is anticipated that school selection for the initial phase will be complete early in 2026 to ensure that selected schools have the opportunity to engage with the ETS prior to therapist assignment.

The recruitment campaign for therapists to the new ETS, launched on the 28th November, campaign will initially see 90 occupational therapists and speech and language therapists consisting of staff and senior grades join their therapy team. As this is a national service which will grow and expand to include all schools, it is envisioned that there will be rolling recruitment campaign commencing in 2026 covering all counties to meet the therapy needs of the children in the school system. It is envisioned that further recruitment campaigns will also include additional therapy grades including therapy managers, clinical specialists and therapy assistants.

Engagement with stakeholders across the health and education sectors, professional bodies and advocacy groups representing families, and parents is ongoing and will continue, through a number of focus groups and working groups focusing on the design and delivery of the ETS. This vital feedback will continue to inform service development and ensure alignment with existing children’s services, aiming to provide a comprehensive service for children in their school environments.

In addition, the NCSE have been developing an education -based therapy support service known as the previously as the Education Therapy Supports Service (ETSS), which will now be subsumed into the ETS. This service provides two strands of support to all schools: Sustained In-School Therapy and Regional Therapy Supports.

Sustained in-school support (SIT) is provided to schools for a defined period of 18-24 months in line with the School Inclusion Model. 22 schools in the Eastern region and 28 schools in the Western region are receiving support under SIT in the 2025/2026 school year.

Regional therapy support provides Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) with follow on/implementation support by NCSE therapists. The focus of this support is to build the capacity of schools and to embed the learning from TPL into their teaching practice, through In-school coaching and co-facilitation of interventions, strategies and resources. Regional Therapy Supports are available nationally for the 2025/2026 school year.

My Department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 434, 435, 437 and 438 together.

The NCSE Guidelines for the Review of SNA Allocations 2025/26 issued to schools on the 12 September 2025. In response to concerns raised the NCSE subsequently published the Clarification Document to be read in accompaniment with NCSE SNA Guidelines .

The process for allocating SNAs has been in place since 2014 and has not changed this year. SNA allocations for the 2025/26 school year were notified to schools in June 2025.

The NCSE continues to respond to increased demand for SNA support as is reflected growing SNA workforce which now numbers more than 23,000, an increase of 43% in the last 5 years alone.

The timeline for SNA reviews contained in the guidance meets the following strategic objectives:

• Supports the earlier announcement of SNA allocations for the 2026/27 school year to align with the release of the annual staffing schedule.

• Stakeholder feedback from school management bodies, staff representative bodies, schools and SNA’s requests that the department ensures that SNA allocations issue earlier preferably to align with the general staffing allocation in February.

• Supports the SNA workforce by giving them early clarity on their tenure in schools.

• Facilitates the SNA Redeployment Scheme.

The NCSE has written to all schools since the publication of the guidelines to clarify that a school can request a review at any time during the school year and not just in the review period set out in the guidelines. Any school who has concerns about their SNA allocation should contact their local special education needs organiser in the first instance.

I want to assure you that the department and the NCSE, through all of our policy and guidance such as resource allocations, take a child centred focus and approach to ensure that all children in our schools with special education care needs are provided with a supportive environment and the resources needed to help them develop and be prepared for life after school.

The NCSE Guidelines for the Review of SNA Allocations 2025/26 issued to schools on the 12 September 2025. In response to concerns raised the NCSE subsequently published the Clarification Document to be read in accompaniment with NCSE SNA Guidelines .

The process for allocating SNAs has been in place since 2014 and has not changed this year. SNA allocations for the 2025/26 school year were notified to schools in June 2025. The NCSE continues to respond to increased demand for SNA support as is reflected growing SNA workforce which now numbers more than 23,000, an increase of 43% in the last 5 years alone.

The NCSE has written to all schools since the publication of the guidelines to clarify that a school can request a review at any time during the school year.

Circular 0030/2014 outlines that provision of SNA support should not be considered as a first response for the management of behaviour. SNA support should only be provided where behavioural management strategies have not been successful to date and where it is demonstrated how access to such support can assist with ongoing planning and intervention for the child. Schools are required to show evidence of the use of a variety of approaches to behaviour in all applications to the NCSE.

As has always been the case any school who has concerns about the level of their SNA allocation should contact their local special education needs organiser. The NCSE assesses the level of need within the school as a whole and this is critical to ensure that the care needs of the entire school are identified and that the school is resourced to meet this identified need.

I want to assure you that the department and the NCSE, take a child centred approach to policy and resource allocations with a view to ensuring that all children can attend and participate in school life.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time. The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary for post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

The NCSE report a very significant level of engagement and contact from families before 1 October. They further advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

The Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO), acting on behalf of my department, is currently engaging with the school's patron in relation to the lease between the school patron and my department. Once the lease has been signed and registered, my department will be in a position to reimburse any funds due to the school.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 441 and 442 together.

The purpose of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme (CASWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis that, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The CASWS operates on a multi-annual basis across a number of categories of works.

It is envisaged that approvals in any given year will involve a spread of categories rather than the traditional single category at a time. This is aimed at managing market capacity and maximising value for money opportunities for school authorities.

The CASWS will operate on a multi-annual basis. In November 2025, my colleague the former Minister of Education and Youth, Helen McEntee TD, announced the first tranche of approvals under the new Climate Action Summer Works Scheme. 297 projects were approved to proceed and involve primary, post primary and special schools, along with projects in all counties and across all categories of works.

My Department can confirm an application was received from the school in question however the school was not on the list of approvals in the first tranche. Given that funding is limited in any particular year it is necessary to prioritise applications. Under the new climate action summer works scheme which operates on a multi annual basis, like previous summer works schemes, applications from schools that are not reached for funding or market prioritisation reasons in 2026 will qualify to be assessed for purposes of the funding available for climate action summer works in subsequent years.

It is anticipated that the next tranche of approvals will be in the latter half of 2026.

Full details of the of the announcement and the list of schools approved in the first tranche, the Circular (0029/2025) for the scheme and guidance documents for schools can be found at the below link;

gov.ie Summer Works Scheme

This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning.

An analysis of teacher payroll data, as of March 2025, shows there are 79,225 teachers employed in our schools across the country with 43,221 at primary level including special schools and 36,004 in post-primary schools

The ratio of female to male teachers in primary and post-primary schools (excluding ETBs) in the 2024/25 school year was 6:1 and 2:1 respectively.

The Department produces and publishes a range of data on teachers including the gender of teachers appointed. The data may be found on the Teacher Statistics section to the Department's website, using this link <https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/teacher-statistics/>

In addition, the Department recently published 3 reports on teacher supply including data on an analysis of the Teaching Council register, a survey of substitutes and a survey of teacher unmet demand in post-primary schools.

The Department provides a range of measures to address teacher supply. The Department announced new measures in 2025 including assisting teachers gain permanent roles more quickly and approving regulations recently to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State.

My Department remains committed to supporting a diverse and sustainable teaching workforce and is currently developing a strategic workforce plan for the teaching profession, in partnership with UNESCO and supported by the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument.

In addition to recently announced measures, the Department will continue to consider further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.

My department's Home Tuition Grant Schemes provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. By its nature, it is intended to be a short term intervention.

The Home Tuition Grant Schemes are governed by annual circulars which sets out the purpose, eligibility criteria and details of the scheme. Circular 0047/2025 provides information in relation to the 2025/2026 Home Tuition Grant Scheme and can be accessed by clicking on the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/circulars/home-tuition-grant-scheme-2025-2026-special-education-component/.

The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for:

(a) Pre-School Children with autism who meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria

(b) Children seeking a Special School or Special Class placement

(c) Students, enrolled in schools, with a significant medical condition, which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school

(d) Students, enrolled in schools, with school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety, which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, major disruption to their attendance at school

In relation to applications in respect of students with school phobia and/or associated depression/anxiety, the principle that home tuition cannot be provided as an alternative to school applies.

Eligibility is assessed having regard to, although not limited to, the following criteria

• The student’s attendance levels during the previous school year.

• A relevant medical /relevant professional report - a separate report may be requested in some cases if required.

In exceptional cases, in recognition of significant and immediate circumstances, the Department will consider home tuition hours to compensate for a period of absence occurring in the current school year on a case by case basis. Home tuition hours in these circumstances are provided on a once off basis to compensate for a period of absence from school. Therefore this period of absence will not attract home tuition hours if an application for home tuition is made in the next school year.

Generally, grant aid based on a range of between 2 and 10 hours tuition may be approved with the allocation reflecting the level of attendance in the previous school year, and whether the attendance was at primary or post primary level. As a general guide, up to 5 hours may be granted to children at primary level while students at post primary level may be granted between 2 and 7 hours, and students sitting their Leaving Certificate Examinations may be granted between 2 and 10 hours.

Regarding the student referenced by the Deputy, the parent has the option to appeal the decision not to grant Home Tuition in this instance. The appeals process was outlined in the decision letter. Officials from my Department have contacted the family to provide information on the Home Tuition Grant Scheme, including details of the application and appeals process, and to offer any additional assistance or information they may require.

Enabling students with special educational needs to receive an education that meets their needs is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of students with special educational needs attend mainstream classes with their peers, supported by special education teacher (SET) and special needs assistants (SNAs) as well as other resources. Where students with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which advocates that students will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

The NCSE is, in the first instance, the primary body responsible for the matter the Deputy has raised. I will arrange for your query to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.

Deputies are also welcome to raise such queries with the NCSE directly through their dedicated Oireachtas query line.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

I can confirm to the Deputy that the school in question applied for a PE Hall in 2023 and were advised that there was no capital funding available for GP/PE halls as the priority for the Department was ensuring the availability of school places. Though the funding position remains the same the school in question have not applied to the Department since that time.

The Department recognises the limitations that a lack of indoor PE facilities places on the delivery of the PE curricula. However, it is important to note that almost 95% of the post primary schools, and over 70% of the primary schools that made 2020 Annual Schools Returns have indicated to the department that they either have a PE Hall, access to a nearby PE Hall, or a project in train that will deliver a new PE Hall. Practically all schools have outdoor play areas and many schools use adjacent local facilities, including community halls, public parks, playing fields and swimming pools.

Investment and expenditure on PE Halls is an element of the overall School Building Programme. The provision of GP rooms and PE Halls, at primary and post primary level respectively, and outdoor hard play areas, form part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings. This is also the case where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school.

The main focus of the Department’s capital funding over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of critical additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics and children with special education needs.

Since 2020, my Department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.

Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. It is planned that circa 80 school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a 2-year rolling programme.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

My officials are working to consolidate the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the progress made over the past 12 months on each of my Department’s Programme for Government commitments. I will arrange to have the material compiled and forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time.

This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary to post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas.

This new timeline was publicised widely and communicated with schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the timeline and process and consequently report a significant level of engagement from families before 1 October.

The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation as to where new specialist provision is required.

Languages Connect – Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026 aims to increase and diversify the range of languages taught and learned. As set out in the accompanying Implementation Plan which was informed by a lengthy and detailed consultation process, four new leaving certificate curricular languages were introduced from September 2020 – Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, Polish and Portuguese. These new languages were examined for the first time in summer 2022.

The Department of Education and Youth welcomes the efforts of the Romanian government and communities in Ireland to support the maintenance of the Romanian language and acknowledges that where the home language is supported there are better academic outcomes, positive identity, the development of intercultural skills, more opportunities for the future, and children stay connected with their heritage and families, all of which are recognised as important for the well-being of children.

Romanian is included as a non-curricular Leaving Certificate examination in accordance with Article 149 of the Treaty of Nice which states that “Community action shall be aimed at developing the European dimension in education, particularly through the teaching and dissemination of the languages of the Member States."

*Non-Curricular Romanian Leaving Certificate Examination Sits (SEC)

Having regard to Ireland's clearly articulated national response to the war in Ukraine, and the principles that have been developed for the school sector which are informed by that position, it is considered appropriate that Ukrainian as a non-curricular language for Leaving Certificate would be developed by the State Examinations Commission for the State examinations 2025. A total of 549 students received a grade.

The model for the non-curricular language examination papers is based on the First Foreign Language final written paper of the European Baccalaureate.

A follow on to the Languages Connect Strategy will be developed with work commencing in 2026.

Introduction of new Leaving Certificate subjects under Senior Cycle Redevelopment

Under the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme, announced in March 2022, two new Leaving Certificate subjects, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies (DFTS), and Climate Action and Sustainable Development (CASD) have been introduced a number of selected Phase One schools from September 2025.

The curricula for all existing Leaving Certificate subjects and modules are also being revised in five annual tranches from 2025-2029 There is currently no plan to introduce Romanian (or any other new language subject) as a curricular subject into Senior Cycle under the redevelopment programme.

Ukrainian was introduced as a non-curricular examinable Leaving Certificate language (the same status as Romanian) from summer 2025 and 549 students received a grade.

The actual development of a new or revised subject specification takes around two years; with associated Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) to commence in the academic year prior to teaching and learning commencing in schools. This means that the total time required to introduce a subject from the time its development commences until it is taught in schools is a minimum of three years.

In determining the new subjects to be introduced under the redevelopment programme, a number of relevant factors were taken into account. These included consideration of:

• subjects that were suggested by students, teachers and others during the NCCA’s Senior Cycle Review, which ran from 2016-2020

• anticipated level of interest

• capacity to develop and deliver new subjects in addition to the revision of existing curricula

• providing greater choice for students to better reflect their range of interests and support the development of a wider range of talents and skills. In this regard the extensive range of language subjects already provided on both a curricular and non-curricular basis was a specific dimension to the consideration. In addition to Irish and English, the current language provision amounts to 14 curricular languages and 15 non-curricular languages, representing 34% of all curricular subjects and 52% of examinable subjects overall.

Foreign Languages at Primary level

• A new Primary Languages Curriculum (PLC) was published in September 2025 for introduction in primary schools on a phased basis from September 2026. The new PLC includes Modern Foreign Languages as part of the primary curriculum for the first time.

• Schools will be able to select the language used in the context of their resources and demographic. The curriculum will incrementally build on children’s existing knowledge and awareness of language in 3rd and 4th class progressing to a language competence model in 5th and 6th class.

• Language upskilling for primary teachers is currently underway.

• In advance of implementation of the new PLC, ‘Say Yes to Languages’ a language sampler module for primary schools is being facilitated by Post Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) on behalf of the department. Over 1,300 primary schools right across the country are participating in this ten-week module selecting 12 languages in 2025/26 including Romanian in two schools.

• PPLI have provided training to the participating teachers and tutors. They have also provided the schools with a range of exciting and engaging resources which are also available on-line on the languages connect website. languagesconnect.ie/primary/ Four schools implemented Say Yes to Languages using Romanian in 2024/25.

• There are a range of Romanian resources for all levels available on the PPLI website here: [Romanian - PPLI]

Current supports for the Romanian language

Post Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) supports the provision of Romanian language classes to encourage more students to maintain and develop literacy in their home or heritage language, by means of financial support to schools to recruit a teacher of Romanian where a critical mass of Romanian-speaking students attends. In 2024/25, funding was provided to three post-primary schools in Dublin, enabling them to deliver classes to over 150 students, as well as to acquire relevant materials. These classes supported students in their preparation for the non-curricular Romanian Leaving Certificate examination.

PPLI also provide support classes in Dublin on Saturdays with students of Romanian heritage taking the non-curricular language. 132 students were enrolled in these classes for the academic year 2024/25 and 111 in 2025/26.

PPLI are also working on the development of resources to support the teaching and learning of Romanian. In 2023 PPLI devised a Romanian language mat and Romanian Z-fold for use in the classroom to encourage communication in the target language. PPLI have also published a TY Beginners’ Module for Romanian.

A toolkit for acquiring foreign language books was developed as a collaboration between PPLI, Dublin City Libraries and Cabra Library and is now available to library branches nationwide. A foreign language category was introduced in the MS Readathon. A School Library Home Languages Funding Scheme facilitated by PPLI has provided 1385 schools (937 primary and 448 post-primary) with reimbursement for acquired materials in 80 different languages. Over 800 book titles in 27 languages have been provided to the JCSP Digital Library. All of the aforementioned include books and resources in the Romanian language.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 451 together.

Tackling educational disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for me as the Minister for Education and Youth and for Government. Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over €180 million. Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16.5 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy and introduce the DEIS Plus scheme, which will commence in 2026.

A new DEIS Strategy, which will include the DEIS Plus scheme, will be published early in 2026. The DEIS Plus scheme will provide additional support to schools with the highest levels of need, in line with the Government’s commitment. It will target a cohort of schools with high concentrations of children and young people experiencing intergenerational disadvantage where there is a significant gap in outcomes and there are barriers to those children and young people achieving their potential.

Schools will not be required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS Plus scheme. The process to identify schools for inclusion will be evidence-informed, using available data. The Pobal HP deprivation index will be one element of this.

The details of the DEIS Plus scheme are currently being finalised within an overall programme of work to tackle educational disadvantage and will be outlined in the new DEIS Strategy. Future allocation of overall resources will be considered within the context of the new DEIS Strategy and the availability of resources.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, over 200 SEN Repurposing projects have been delivered maximising the use of existing accommodation while creating opportunities for inclusion and integration. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January 2026. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

My department has invested over €287m in capital expenditure since 2020 in County Limerick. This investment in County Limerick has supported the completion of 54 school building projects, including 4 new school buildings and currently there are 8 school building projects in construction of which one is a new school building.

The table attached lists large scale school building projects in County Limerick.

The current status of all projects is set out, under item number ten, at the following link (www.gov.ie). This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, over 200 SEN Repurposing projects have been delivered maximising the use of existing accommodation while creating opportunities for inclusion and integration.

Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January 2026. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

My department has invested over €86m in capital expenditure since 2020 in County Cavan. This investment in County Cavan has supported the completion of 24 school building projects, including 1 new school building and currently there are 4 school building projects in construction. At present no large scale, additional accommodation or modular school building projects are at Stage 3 in County Cavan.

The current status of all projects is set out, under item number ten, at the following link (www.gov.ie). This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

The table below lists the schools that have requested financial assistance from the Financial Support Service Unit (FSSU) for the years 2022 to 2025 for Co. Roscommon.

Schools in financial difficulty are encouraged to contact my Department for advice and support. The Department is committed to offering all available and appropriate supports to schools, which may include an advance in capitation grant funding or other measures.

The Department is constantly engaging with a number of schools in this respect. Schools that have contacted the Department have been referred to the FSSU.

The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU), funded by the Department, is an important source of advice and support to schools on financial matters, including budgeting and cashflow management. Contact details for FSSU can be found on www.fssu.ie.

The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered as part of the Department's ADAPT Programme. The Adapt Programme uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning to Tender and Construction.

The brief for this project is to provide a new permanent school building for the school referred to by the Deputy, and this project is designed to be delivered in 2 phases; Phase 1 will deliver accommodation for 425 students and Phase 2 will deliver the remaining accommodation to provide for a Long Term Projected Enrolment of 1,000 students, at the former Magee Barracks site in Kildare.

The project is currently at Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award. The tender report has recently been received by the Department and is currently under review by a multi-disciplinary team.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The major project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award.

The brief for the project is the development of a new 20 Mainstream Class primary school plus 4 classrooms for pupils with Special Educational Needs, along with one Home School Liaison Room (HSCL) on existing site.

My Department is currently reviewing Tender report no. 2 which is subject to due diligence by my Department which is a critical part of the overall completion of the Stage 3 process and is critical to ensuring quality and value for money.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.

Children are eligible for school transport where they satisfy the distance criterion and are attending their nearest national school or post primary education centre, having regard to ethos and language.

In accordance with the terms of my Department's School Transport Scheme, school transport services operate during the standard school year and facilitate a child's attendance during normal school opening and closing times. Transport to the facility as outlined by the Deputy does not come under the remit of the scheme.

Agreement is in place to acquire this primary school site, officials in my department are in discussions with the current owner of the site to finalise the transfer of the ownership of the site to the Minister.

You will be aware that a building project for the school in question is included on the Department's Capital Program to be delivered as part of the National Development Plan (NDP).

The accommodation brief for the project is being finalised and the Department will be in further contact with the patron as part of this process.

This acquisition is at an advanced stage but has not been completed. The department are actively seeking to advance the matter with the intention of finalising this acquisition as soon as possible. The capital project is progressing to the design stages while the acquisition is being finalised. It is not possible to provide a timeframe for the progression of the project to tender and construction stages until such time as the necessary statutory approvals have been secured.

Given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to comment further at this time.

I wish to advise the Deputy that requirement for school places is kept under on-going review in the context of available information on population, enrolments and residential development activity.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, my department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the CSO along with the engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes, at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the circumstances of each case and may, be provided through:

• Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

• Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

• Provision of a new school or schools.

If additional accommodation is required, the aim to try and facilitate this, as much as possible, by way of expansion of existing schools rather than establishing new schools. The expansion of existing schools is consistent with wider Government objectives under Project Ireland 2040 for an increased emphasis on compact growth. In respect of post primary schools, new post primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600-1,000 students and must be co-educational. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit (aonad) in an English-medium school.

New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase so as to ensure that every child has a school place.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. The Capital Programme details the school projects that are being progressed under Project Ireland 2040. The current status of large-scale projects being delivered under Project Ireland 2040, may be viewed on the Department's website at, www.gov.ie and this information is updated regularly. In addition, a list of large-scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website.

Land at Ballymastone, Donabate (as the Deputy has referred to) has been designated for the future development of school facilities to serve the Donabate area. A significant number of new houses have been developed in Donabate in recent years and many more are planned. The rate and pace of delivery of these developments and the associated impact on the demand for school places is being closely monitored. This will inform the timing of school requirements in the area. Officials from the Department will continue to liaise with Fingal County Council regarding the pace of developments in Donabate. The department will also continue to liaise with the local authority in respect of its county development plan and any associated local area plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements across school planning areas including Donabate .

The project to develop a new primary school campus in Donabate is included in the department capital programme. This development will project capacity for 500 primary school pupils.

The existing Donabate Community College was developed to accommodate over 1,000 pupils. There is spare capacity in this post primary school.

The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline for a project under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide one Multi-Media room, one Textiles room, one Graphics room, one Construction room, one Technology prep room, one Science lab & prep area and one Project store. The inclusion of a PE Hall or GP/Dining Hall depends on site feasibility, constraints, and input from the Local Authority and Heritage Officer. The project was devolved for delivery to the Cork Education & Training Board.

The Stage 1 report has been submitted and is currently under review. Once this review is complete, my Department will be in a position to provide clarity on the accommodation to be progressed. Given the complexities of this project, the evaluation will require a comprehensive review from both technical and cost perspectives to ensure full compliance with cost requirements, procedural standards, and the defined project scope. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines.? Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority of mine.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €382 million in school infrastructure across County Kildare. The department is continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools to ensure that every child in the State has access to a school place.

As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

The annual enrolment process for new Junior Infants at primary and new First Years at post-primary is a very large-scale operation that is transacted at close to 4,000 schools across the country, involving some 140,000 pupils. While my department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplications of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. Notwithstanding the above, in some areas, demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places.

Primary school enrolments at national level have been in decline for a number of years and this downward demographic trend is also now apparent at first year post primary level. There are, however continued pressures in some areas, including Kildare town where there is high demand with continued population growth and housing development driving the need for additional school places. However, while there may be slight enrolment pressure at local level, enrolments in Kildare town are projected to have peaked in 2024.

My department’s main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

I want to assure the Deputy that my department will keep the school place requirements in Kildare school planning area under review.

The school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for a Mechanical & Electrical project.

The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation.

An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

The EWS operates on the basis of the minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation. The EWS usually provides an interim solution until such time as a comprehensive solution can be provided under the Summer Works Scheme (SWS).

The school's EWS application was refused on the basis that works being sought did not qualify for funding under the EWS and were more appropriate to an SWS project. However, the option remains open to the school to appeal this decision. Appeals will only be considered if they are submitted through the Esinet system and should contain additional relevant information that was not provided as part of the original application.

The school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for a roof works project.

The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation.

An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

The EWS operates on the basis of the minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation. The EWS usually provides an interim solution until such time as a comprehensive solution can be provided under the Summer Works Scheme (SWS).

The school's EWS application was refused on the basis that works being sought did not qualify for funding under the EWS and were more appropriate to an SWS project. However, the option remains open to the school to appeal this decision. Appeals will only be considered if they are submitted through the Esinet system and should contain additional relevant information that was not provided as part of the original application.

The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline for a project under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide one Multi-Media room, one Textiles room, one Graphics room, one Construction room, one Technology prep room, one Science lab & prep area and one Project store. The inclusion of a PE Hall or GP/Dining Hall depends on site feasibility, constraints, and input from the Local Authority and Heritage Officer. The project was devolved for delivery to the Cork Education & Training Board.

The Stage 1 report has been submitted and is currently under review. Once this review is complete, my Department will be in a position to provide clarity on the accommodation to be progressed. Given the complexities of this project, the evaluation will require a comprehensive review from both technical and cost perspectives to ensure full compliance with cost requirements, procedural standards, and the defined project scope. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

Work by my department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to plan for the provision of further new special class and special school places for the 2026/27 school year and beyond is progressing.

As you are aware parents were asked to notify the NCSE of their requirement for a special educational placement for the 2026/27 school year by 1 October 2025. The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary to post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

The NCSE will assess what additional provision is required in local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate required provision. In order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible the NCSE prioritise working with medium and larger primary schools who do not already have a special class and have available accommodation to accommodate new special class. This approach maximises the use of existing space which can be reconfigured efficiently while also ensuring that new provision continues to be established. It also increases number of schools with special classes providing parents with greater choice and reducing the distances that some children are travelling to access a special class place.

However, as in other years where schools have no available accommodation, particularly at post-primary level and there is known demand in a local area, my department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places.

The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will be become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school.

The school referred to by the Deputy already has 3 special classes and any school willing to open further new special classes is to be commended. I can confirm that a request to meet with this school has been received by my office and remains under consideration.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and will continue to assess the requirement for new specialist provision.

School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of the school and are the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole.

My Department has been engaging with Fórsa and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Development over the past number of weeks under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission in relation to a number of claims including a claim for a comparable pension entitlement.

The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court, and a hearing will take place on 12th January 2026. The parties remain in process, and my department remains committed and ready to engage with Fórsa to reach a resolution on this important matter.

As with any industrial relations process, where engagement is sensitive and complex, the matters under discussion are confidential until this process concludes.

The project to which the Deputy refers is devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) as part of a programme of school building projects.

The project brief provides for the development of a New 12 Classroom Primary School with a 2 class Special Education Needs (SEN) base.

The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural process (post planning permission), which allows for detailed design/planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents.

The length of time a project takes to go through each stage varies and depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity. At this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of this project.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs.

In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government Departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In working to develop a more inclusive education system, 15,000 special education teachers have been provided to schools to support students to attend their local mainstream schools. In practical terms this means schools get a substantial additional teaching allocation to support students with special education needs such as dyslexia who are in mainstream classes.

Circular 0039/2025 informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time. This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year and provide certainty for families an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information including that provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

This new timeline was publicised widely and communicated to schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the timeline and process and consequently report a significant level of engagement and contact from families ahead of the 1 October closing date.

The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

As with other applications for support, it is important that those who come forward after the closing date are assured that they are not forgotten or excluded from the system. The NCSE remains available to provide advice and support to all families seeking specialist placement and will continue to examine where provision is required for the 2026/27 school year.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and the need for new specialist provision is subject to ongoing review.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process which closed on 1 October to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary to post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas.

The new timeline was publicised widely and communicated with schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the process and timeline, and consequently report a significant level of engagement from families before 1 October.

I would like to stress that the NCSE will continue to support all children and young people made known to them after 1 October in their existing placement with appropriate resources. However, it is critical that the NCSE has as much local information as possible, as early as possible, to effectively plan what new provision.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and will continue to review where new specialist provision is required.

The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved for delivery to Le Chéile.

The brief for this project is to provide the development of a new 500 pupil post primary school with a four class Special Education Needs (SEN) base.

The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural process which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. Le Chéile will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress on this important project.

In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The major building project referred to by the Deputy will be delivered as part a shared educational campus which will provide 2 new 1,000 pupil post primary schools each with 6 classrooms for children with special education needs, a new 8 classroom primary school with accommodation and 2 classrooms for children with special education needs and a new 20 classroom special school at the Swords Road campus in Whitehall.

The project is being delivered under my Department's ADAPT 4 Programme – Programme Innovate. This programme is led by Integrated Project Teams consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.

The project is currently at the initial stage of architectural planning – Stage 1, where a site and current building assessment is carried out, and initial design sketch schemes are created. The IPT currently estimate submission of their Stage 1 report to my Department late in Q4 2025, and upon review, the Stage 1 stakeholders meeting to be arranged during Q1 2026.

Until all statutory approvals have been secured, it will not be possible to estimate the timeline for this project to construction and completion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The school referred to by the Deputy is located in an OPW-owned property at St. Mobhí Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 pending delivery of the school's permanent accommodation.

To meet the school's accommodation needs, two additional classrooms were refurbished for September 2025. My Department will continue to engage with the school and its patron body regarding their accommodation needs for September 2026.

The project brief is for the construction of a 16-classroom primary school, on a brownfield site, purchased from Dublin City Council.

The site is in an area of archaeological interest and abuts a Protected Structure. A number of issues arose on site early in the project, which is not unusual given the nature of a brownfield city centre site, but this led to a delay. While all parties actively engaged to discuss and resolve the issues and to reduce any risk to the programme, these unforeseen matters did lead to a delay.

In response to issues on the site the Department sanctioned the appointment of a Project Manager on the project, who has engaged with both the Design Team and Contractor to minimise project delays on the programme and ensure clear lines of communication were in operation.

Good progress was initially made following the Project Manager’s intervention in the summer of 2024 up to year end with significant visible progress being made on the structure. Since Christmas however, the project issues have intensified. The Department has had ongoing engagement with the contractor and the Design Team to resolve these issues.

As a result, the Department entered a Conciliation hearing to try reach agreement on a solution to ensure the earliest possible delivery of the school while respecting its statutory obligations.

In accordance with standard practice and contractual requirements, the conciliation process is of a confidential nature. A temporary pause on works, under the suspension of works provisions of the contract, provided an opportunity to consider outcomes from the conciliation process. A notice of suspension of works was communicated to the contractor on 23 May 2025 in accordance with the provisions of the contract.

During the suspension, the Department carefully considered the best way to deliver a school building while also respecting its statutory obligations. A notice of termination was issued under the contract on 1 July 2025 following careful consideration of the need to ensure compliance with those statutory obligations.

Department officials are in regular contact with the School Authorities, meeting approximately every 6 weeks, or more frequently when required and are committed to continuing this support for the school.

As an interim measure, the department is providing accommodation more suitable to the current needs of the school nearby in Cathal Brugha St.

The department is assessing all options open to it to expedite the delivery of a new school building, and as set out above, is in very regular contact with the school authorities.

The department will provide a further update when we have clarity surrounding the timeline for completion of the project.

The school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for works to the school yard.

The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation.

An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

The EWS operates on the basis of the minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation. The EWS usually provides an interim solution until such time as a comprehensive solution can be provided under the Summer Works Scheme (SWS).

The school's EWS application was refused on the basis that works being sought did not qualify for funding under the EWS and were more appropriate to an SWS project. An appeals mechanism exists for the EWS, appeals will only be considered if they are submitted through the Esinet system and should contain additional relevant information that was not provided as part of the original application. The school in question recently appealed this decision and the EWS team will engage with the school shortly with an update.

The purpose of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme (CASWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis that, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The CASWS operates on a multi-annual basis across a number of categories of works.

It is envisaged that approvals in any given year will involve a spread of categories rather than the traditional single category at a time. This is aimed at managing market capacity and maximising value for money opportunities for school authorities.

The CASWS will operate on a multi-annual basis. In November 2025, my colleague the former Minister of Education and Youth, Helen McEntee TD, announced the first tranche of approvals under the new Climate Action Summer Works Scheme. 297 projects were approved to proceed and involve primary, post primary and special schools, along with projects in all counties and across all categories of works.

My Department can confirm an application was received from the school in question however the school was not on the list of approvals in the first tranche. Given that funding is limited in any particular year it is necessary to prioritise applications. Under the new climate action summer works scheme which operates on a multi annual basis, like previous summer works schemes, applications from schools that are not reached for funding or market prioritisation reasons in 2026 will qualify to be assessed for purposes of the funding available for climate action summer works in subsequent years.

It is anticipated that the next tranche of approvals will be in the latter half of 2026.

Full details of the of the announcement and the list of schools approved in the first tranche, the Circular (0029/2025) for the scheme and guidance documents for schools can be found at the below link;

gov.ie Summer Works Scheme

The Government takes revelations of historical sexual abuse in schools with the utmost seriousness and has established a Commission of Investigation chaired by Mr. Justice Michael MacGrath to investigate the handling of complaints and allegations of historical sexual abuse in schools. The Commission was the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders.

In addition, the Scoping Inquiry’s report recognised the significance of the issue of redress for survivors and their expressed wish that those running schools where child sexual abuse occurred should be held accountable financially and it recommended that consideration be given by the Government to establishing a redress scheme for survivors.

The high-level Inter Departmental Group (IDG) established to advise Government on the recommendations of the Scoping Inquiry recognised redress as an important element of accountability for survivors. The IDG recognises that consideration of a redress scheme may have far-reaching implications and has advised that further work needs to be undertaken to ensure that the Government is fully informed in any decision it may take. The IDG has commenced this work and aims to report within 18 months.

The work of the IDG on this issue will not impede the progress of the Commission of Investigation, which will begin its work in parallel. The Commission does not have a role in relation to redress.

The purpose of this further work of the IDG is to ensure that Government is fully informed before making a decision on redress and that, if it decides that a redress scheme should be established, those responsible for schools where historical sexual abuse happened meet their obligations to survivors.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, my department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the CSO along with the engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes, at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

In addition to ongoing demographic analyses, my department continues to liaise with Local Authorities in respect of potential longer-term requirements for educational provision. My department engages further on such matters with the Council through the review of the County Development Plan, preparation of Local Area Plans and other relevant statutory planning processes.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the circumstances of each case and may, be provided through:

• Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

• Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

• Provision of a new school or schools.

If additional accommodation is required, the aim to try and facilitate this, as much as possible, by way of expansion of existing schools rather than establishing new schools. The expansion of existing schools is consistent with wider Government objectives under Project Ireland 2040 for an increased emphasis on compact growth. In respect of post primary schools, new post primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600-1,000 students and must be co-educational. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit (aonad) in an English-medium school.

New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase so as to ensure that every child has a school place.

The pace of delivery of additional residential developments, along with updated enrolment data and demographic data will be kept under review and this will inform the timing of further school requirements across school planning areas.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, the department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the CSO along with the engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes, at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the circumstances of each case and may, be provided through:

• Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

• Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

• Provision of a new school or schools.

If additional accommodation is required, the aim to try and facilitate this, as much as possible, by way of expansion of existing schools rather than establishing new schools. The expansion of existing schools is consistent with wider Government objectives under Project Ireland 2040 for an increased emphasis on compact growth. In respect of post primary schools, new post primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600-1,000 students and must be co-educational. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit (aonad) in an English-medium school.

New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase so as to ensure that every child has a school place.

Duleek is located in the Drogheda school planning area. Based on analysis undertaken, it is deemed that there is not a sufficient unmet demand in the Drogheda SPA to establish a new post primary school.

There are currently less than 500 post primary school children living in the Duleek area. Primary school enrolment data indicates that the demand for post primary school places in this area is projected to reduces in the coming years. Capacity has been provided for these pupils in existing post primary schools.

The pace of delivery of additional residential developments, along with updated enrolment data and demographic data will be kept under review and this will inform the timing of further school requirements across school planning areas.

Dear Deputy Kenny,

My department did not engage Translink for translation services between 2020 and 2025.

Currently, there are 66 teaching positions allocated across 19 supply clusters in Co. Cork. This is an increase on 2020, when there were 29 positions across 11 clusters.

The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of the key supports provided by my department as part of the overall DEIS programme. Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) manage the HSCL scheme on behalf of my department. The scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.

All DEIS urban primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which currently serves 687 DEIS schools, catering for approximately 207,000 children and young people. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL coordinators assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools.

HSCL coordinators are released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life.

In addition to the above, a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, is in operation in four locations with one HSCL coordinator assigned in each location. A further ten HSCL coordinators support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across fourteen non-DEIS post-primary schools.

In the 2020/21 school year there were 40 HSCL coordinators employed across schools in Cork city and county.

In the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years there are 47 HSCL coordinators employed across schools in Cork city and county.

The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies, or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for pupils with special needs. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation.

An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

The EWS operates on the basis of a minimal scope works to address the emergency situation. The EWS is intended to remedy an emergency situation and usually provides only an interim measure until a permanent solution can be delivered under the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) which deals with upgrade works to the school.

Regarding applications received for Cork schools in 2025; there were a total of 187 applications received, 43 of which were rejected and 12 of which have requested a draw down of funds, the remaining 132 applications are in varying stages of assessment and officials continue to engage with the schools where required.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time. This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary to post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

This new timeline was publicised widely and communicated with schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the timeline and process and consequently report a significant level of engagement and contact from families ahead of the 1 October closing date.

The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and will continue to review and monitor the situation as to where new specialist provision is required.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, over 200 SEN Repurposing projects have been delivered maximising the use of existing accommodation while creating opportunities for inclusion and integration.

Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January 2026. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

My department has invested over €171m in capital expenditure since 2020 in County Tipperary. This investment in County Tipperary has supported the completion of 66 school building projects, including 2 new school buildings. Currently there are 8 school building projects in construction.

The current status of all projects is set out, under item number ten, at the following link (www.gov.ie). This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

The school to which the Deputy refers to was approved funding under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme 2024: Provision of Modular Accommodation under the Department’s Special Education Needs (SEN) Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme for reconfiguration works to provide 2 X SEN.

As the proposed annex building is not viable, the reconfiguration works were placed on hold until a more viable solution could be devised.

The DEY are currently working closely with the Project Management Team who are overseeing this project and a solution is currently in design stage.

The Project Management team are currently carrying out surveys in relation to this proposed solution & are also in contact with the Local Authority to ensure further progress.

My officials are working to consolidate the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the progress made over the past 12 months on each of my Department’s Programme for Government commitments. I will arrange to have the material compiled and forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for students with special educational needs.

The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) under the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, enables the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities/additional needs in the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE) programme. Its goal is to create a more inclusive environment in pre-schools, so all children availing of preschool, regardless of ability, can benefit from quality early learning and care. There has been a significant increase in resources and supports provided to children with additional needs accessing the AIM programme over recent years.

It is important to note that a diagnosis is not required in order to access AIM supports and that while some children require additional supports at preschool level, many will transition into mainstream classes thereafter. This trend has also been noted as students’ progress from primary level to post-primary.

Where the NCSE identifies need for an early intervention class, the class is sanctioned and supports are provided by my department to ensure the school can accommodate the class. Generally, these classes are resourced at a 6:1 student/teacher ratio and two special needs assistants are allocated to each class.

Early intervention classes are available in mainstream and special school settings for children aged 3 -5 years old with a diagnosis of autism. There is also a small number dedicated to children who are deaf/hard of hearing. These classes are intended to provide early support to children before they start school and can aid their transition to junior infants.

A list of schools with special classes, broken by location and class designation is published annually on the NCSE website. Also attached is a list of early intervention classes broken down by county for the school years 2020/2021 - 2025/26.

While the number of Early Intervention Classes continues to increase year on year, in some counties the number may have fallen. This normally reflects where the NCSE have redesignated the class as a primary special class to support the students transitioning from early years to primary school.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Classes

The School Transport Scheme is a substantial national operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.

The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services.

The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate services as part of the School Transport Scheme, provided they hold the requisite license and satisfy an annual medical examination until they retire at age 70.

Under the new Programme for Government, a commitment has been made to "Carry out an independent assessment on the feasibility of removing the exclusion of drivers aged over 70 from the School Transport Scheme".

There is ongoing engagement between the Department and Bus Éireann to advance this commitment as quickly as possible.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, over 200 SEN Repurposing projects have been delivered maximising the use of existing accommodation while creating opportunities for inclusion and integration.

Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published shortly and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January 2026. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The current status of all projects is set out, under item number ten, at the following link (www.gov.ie). This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

The school referred to was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for a project providing a 2 Class SEN Base. The project is devolved to Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) for delivery.

A Design Team was appointed in Q3 2025, and the Department is awaiting the Stage 1/2a report for review. Responsibility for progressing this project remains with DDLETB.

The rollout of Apply to School marks a significant step towards fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system.

In recent years, demographic shifts and increasing demand for special class provision for students with special educational needs have placed growing pressure on school admissions across the country. Duplicate applications, families choosing specific schools, and students applying from outside the local area can make it seem like schools are more full than they are. These factors can give an incomplete picture of how many places are available in schools.

In response to these challenges and a commitment in the Programme for Government to reforming the admissions process, my department is working towards a nationwide common application system.

As a first step, the Apply to School pilot was introduced to simplify and improve the admissions process for post-primary schools in five pilot areas. This new system provides families, for the first time, with a single online application and introduces synchronised, streamlined timelines for schools to manage admissions, issue offers, and update a central database to record accepted places. Other areas will be taken into consideration for future iterations of the pilot.

I wish to advise the Deputy that schools continue to operate in line with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and their own Admissions Policies. Under this process, some applicants may receive more than one offer, while others may not receive an offer until later in the process. The centralised system helps identify duplicate acceptances and supports families in achieving certainty on school places earlier.

The Department will closely monitor the outcomes of the admissions process to ensure that all local children are accommodated and to identify any required solutions if necessary. The Apply to School pilot will provide early clarity and robust data to support this commitment.

Learnings from the implementation of the pilot will inform the way forward for future iterations and deliver on the Programme for Government commitment, including for post primary level in Dublin 15.

I can assure the Deputy department officials will continue to work in consultation with stakeholders to develop an evidence-informed, tested, equitable solution for a nationwide Common Application System and to deliver this in an incremental way that ensures the admissions process safeguards the best interest of children.

The rollout of Apply to School marks a significant step towards fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system.

The Apply to School pilot was introduced to simplify and improve the admissions process for post-primary schools in five pilot areas. This new system provides families, for the first time, with a single online application and introduces synchronised, streamlined timelines for schools to manage admissions, issue offers, and update a central database to record accepted places. Other areas will be taken into consideration for future iterations of the pilot.

I wish to advise the Deputy that schools continue to operate in line with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and their own Admissions Policies. Under this process, some applicants may receive more than one offer, while others may not receive an offer until later in the process. The centralised system helps identify duplicate acceptances and supports families in achieving certainty on school places earlier.

As part of this process, a second round of offers issued on 4 December. This ensures that any places that become available after the first round are allocated fairly and that every child is considered.

I want to reassure parents that there are sufficient first-year places in each pilot area for local children seeking a place. The Department will closely monitor the outcomes of the admissions process to ensure that all local children are accommodated and to identify any required solutions if necessary. The Apply to School pilot will provide early clarity and robust data to support this commitment.

I can assure the Deputy department officials will continue to work in consultation with stakeholders to develop an evidence-informed, tested, equitable solution for a nationwide Common Application System and to deliver this in an incremental way that ensures the admissions process safeguards the best interest of children.

Enabling students with special educational needs to receive an education that meets their needs is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where students with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided.

This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which promotes that students will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

Almost 1,900 classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in the last five years, sixteen new special schools have been established and many more expanded. For the 2025/26 school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to over 3,700. Five new special schools were established and capacity is being expanded in a number of other special schools.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time.

This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

The NCSE will have a clear picture of the local demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year after they review and assess all of the information which has been provided through the parents' notification process which closed on 1 October.

The school referred to by the Deputy is located in interim accommodation on a rented site. The accommodation recently provided also includes for their junior infant mainstream intake for next year. There is no further room for expansion on this site and all of the accommodation now on site is required to cater for the schools mainstream intake until their permanent accommodation is delivered. It is not possible for any of the accommodation currently on site to be used to establish a SEN class.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Under the Assistive Technology Scheme, as set out in my Department’s Circular 0010/2013, funding is provided to schools towards the cost of computers and specialist equipment, which are required for educational purposes.

All equipment provided under this scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential specialist equipment. It must be clear that the existing I.T. equipment in the school is insufficient to meet the child's needs. Where necessary, schools may also purchase new or additional equipment or software for students from normal school resources or funds.

The Assistive Technology Scheme, provided by my department, supplements the overall funding approach for digital technology and equipment to support children for education purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children who require essential specialist equipment to access the school curriculum. For children with more complex disabilities who require such equipment to access the school curriculum, which they do not already have or which cannot be provided for them through the schools' existing provisions, schools can apply for this equipment under the terms of the Assistive Technology Scheme.

To do this, schools make applications directly to their local Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO), providing details of the student’s special educational needs or disability, including details of the approach taken by the school in making relevant interventions.

To qualify for equipment under the Assistive Technology Scheme, a student must have been diagnosed with a physical or communicative disability and must also have a recommendation in a professional assessment that the equipment is essential to allow the student to access the curriculum.

SENOs will review the application, and professional reports provided in support of same, to establish whether the criteria of the scheme have been met. They will then make a recommendation to my department as to whether or not assistive technology is required; and based on this recommendation, my department will decide on the level of grant, if any, to be provided.

The level of funding granted depends on the type of equipment requested and the information submitted by the school in support of the application, such as quotes and other documentation. In the vast majority of Assistive Technology applications, the Department sanctions sufficient funding to cover the cost of the required equipment.

Where an Assistive Technology grant has been sanctioned, but the school wishes to appeal the amount of the grant, or the specific equipment for which sanction has been granted, the can do so using the following appeal form: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/assistive-technology-appeal-by-school-form.pdf.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government announced the establishment of the Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools in July 2025 and Mr. Justice Michael MacGrath was appointed to Chair of the Commission, effective from 1 October 2025.

The Commission is independent in the performance of its functions. It is now in its establishment phase and is currently undertaking essential preparatory work. When it is ready to hear from those who may wish to provide it with information, this will be widely advertised.

The Deputy may wish to note that the Chair of the Commission has recently published the following update: www.gov.ie/en/commission-of-investigation-into-the-handling-of-historical-child-sexual-abuse-in-schools/publications/commission-of-investigation-into-the-handling-of-historical-child-sexual-abuse-in-schools/#an-update-from-the-chair-of-the-commission-mr-justice-michael-macgrath-4-december-2025.

The establishment of a Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools was approved by Government in July 2025. Mr. Justice Michael MacGrath was appointed as Chair of the Commission, effective from 1 October 2025.

Under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2024, the Commission is independent in the performance of its functions and it is a matter for the Commission to determine the approach it will take to investigating the handing of historic child sexual abuse in schools within its terms of reference. The Commission will have a five-year timeframe in which to complete its investigation and furnish a report to the Minister for Education and Youth.

The Commission is now in its establishment phase and is currently undertaking essential preparatory work. When it is ready to hear from those who may wish to provide it with information, this will be widely advertised.

The Deputy may wish to note that the Chair of the Commission has recently published the following update: www.gov.ie/en/commission-of-investigation-into-the-handling-of-historical-child-sexual-abuse-in-schools/publications/commission-of-investigation-into-the-handling-of-historical-child-sexual-abuse-in-schools/#an-update-from-the-chair-of-the-commission-mr-justice-michael-macgrath-4-december-2025.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 497 and 498 together.

Tackling educational disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for the Minister for Education and Youth. The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative of Government to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level.

Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over €180 million. Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16.5 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy and introduce the DEIS Plus scheme.

The DEIS strategy will set out the Department of Education and Youth’s strategic vision, goals, and objectives to tackle educational disadvantage in all schools. The strategy will focus on improving disadvantage in all schools, developing more innovative approaches to tackle educational disadvantage and working towards a more flexible system of support to ensure that schools can receive the right support at the right time.

Any changes to the allocation of resources will be considered within the context of the new DEIS Strategy which will be published in early 2026.

The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved for delivery to Louth County Council.

The brief for this major school building project is to provide an 8-classroom school with an additional 4 classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base included. The project has been devolved for delivery to Louth County Council.

The project is currently at stage 4 (construction) of the delivery process. The length of time a project takes to deliver depends on several factors, including scale and complexity and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the various design stages, and the statutory approval process.

The Department has been actively engaged with the Design Team and Louth County Council throughout the process and will continue to engage to provide practical advice and assistance on this important project.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.

Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline for a project under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide one Multi-Media room, one Textiles room, one Graphics room, one Construction room, one Technology prep room, one Science lab & prep area and one Project store. The inclusion of a PE Hall or GP/Dining Hall depends on site feasibility, constraints, and input from the Local Authority and Heritage Officer. The project was devolved for delivery to the Cork Education & Training Board.

The Stage 1 report has been submitted and is currently under review. Once this review is complete, my Department will be in a position to provide clarity on the accommodation to be progressed. Given the complexities of this project, the evaluation will require a comprehensive review from both technical and cost perspectives to ensure full compliance with cost requirements, procedural standards, and the defined project scope. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines.? Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 501 and 520 together.

As the Deputy is aware, Greystones is one of the areas participating in the Department’s Apply to School pilot for post-primary admissions. This new system provides families, for the first time, with a single online application and introduces synchronised, streamlined timelines for schools to manage admissions, issue offers, and update a central database to record accepted places.

I wish to advise the Deputy that schools continue to operate in line with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 and their own Admissions Policies. The availability of places is a matter for each individual school in the context of their Admissions legislation. Enrolment data for previous school years is available on the Department website. Enrolment data for the 2024/25 school year is available on the Departments website at www.gov.ie.

Each post-primary school is required to publish an Annual Admission Notice, which sets out the number of places available for first year for the relevant academic year. These notices are published by the schools themselves and are publicly accessible.

I want to reassure parents that there are sufficient first-year places in each pilot area for local children seeking a place. The Department will closely monitor the outcomes of the admissions process to ensure that all local children are accommodated and to identify any required solutions if necessary. The Apply to School pilot will provide early clarity and robust data to support this commitment.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 502 and 521 together.

The rollout of Apply to School marks a significant step towards improving the school admission system and fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system.

As the Deputy will be aware, Greystones was one of five areas involved the pilot Apply to School system. The pilot provides a single online application form for parents or guardians who want to apply for a first-year place for their child in participating schools, including for special classes. Parents will be able to apply to any or all schools within their pilot area on one online application.

It is important to note that while the Apply to School system facilitates applications, the issuing of offers remains the responsibility of each individual school in accordance with its admissions policy. The Department does not issue offers and does not hold a centralised record of the offer outcomes for each school.

The Department is engaging with the participating schools to review the pilot and gather any necessary data in order to evaluate the system. At this point, the Department does not hold the specific breakdown requested by the Deputy in relation to the 2026/27 intake.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 503 and 522 together.

The rollout of the pilot Single Online Application for Schools marks a significant step towards improving the school admission system and fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system. The Apply to School pilot was introduced to simplify and improve the admissions process for post-primary schools in five pilot areas. This new system provides families, for the first time, with a single online application and introduces synchronised, streamlined timelines for schools to manage admissions, issue offers, and update a central database to record accepted places.

I am aware of the Common Application System (CAS) in Limerick City. My department is taking lessons from the implementation of the system and other such systems as well as feedback from the ongoing Apply to School pilot to inform development towards the full Programme for Government commitment for a national system. Measures such as the expression of preference for school(s) require comprehensive examination and consultation to ensure that any new system is equitable and transparent. There are multiple potential approaches for the implementation of a preference system, particularly given the complexity of admissions legislation. Different implementations would have different outcomes in terms of maximising the proportion of children who secure a place in a preferred school. Implementations may also vary significantly in their outcomes across different areas, where the numbers of schools, flow into and out of the area, and school of choice factors could all have a major impact on the likelihood of children securing a place in their preferred local school. It is important, therefore, that any proposed new system that impacts on a child’s school place is robustly scrutinised and tested before being rolled out.

My department is committed to ensuring that any new system produces the optimal outcome for children and I can assure the Deputy that officials in my Department will continue to work in consultation with stakeholders to develop an evidence-informed, tested, equitable solution for a nationwide Common Application System and to deliver this in an incremental way that ensures the admissions process safeguards the best interest of children.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 504 and 523 together.

The rollout of the pilot Single Online Application for Schools marks a significant step towards improving the school admission system and fulfilling the Programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system. The Apply to School pilot was introduced to simplify and improve the admissions process for post-primary schools in five pilot areas including Greystones. This new system provides families, for the first time, with a single online application and introduces synchronised, streamlined timelines for schools to manage admissions, issue offers, and update a central database to record accepted places.

The development of the pilot single online application system including for the Greystones area was undertaken with existing resources from across various areas of my Department. This included ICT and administrative staff to support stakeholder engagement and support parents and schools in operating the new system. The work undertaken by the team also included preparatory and planning work towards the future nationwide common application system. The total cost for the roll out of the full pilot across the five areas is estimated to be in the region of €60,000, acknowledging the overlap between work to deliver the pilot and work to plan for future developments. The pilot cost includes a small amount on targeted communications to parents in the relevant areas. The work was carried out by staff in conjunction with other duties over the course of 2025 leading up to the system going live on 1 October.

My department is committed to ensuring that any new system produces the optimal outcome for children and I can assure the Deputy that officials in my Department will continue to work in consultation with stakeholders to develop an evidence-informed, tested, equitable solution for a nationwide Common Application System and to deliver this in an incremental way that ensures the admissions process safeguards the best interest of children.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 505, 506, 524 and 525 together.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time. This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. The NCSE will also consider vacant places in existing special classes and places that will become available through the regular transition of children from primary to post-primary schools. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will be equipped to engage with schools to open new special classes in relevant areas. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

This new timeline was publicised widely and communicated with schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the process and timeline. Consequently, the NCSE report a very significant level of engagement and contact from families ahead of the 1 October closing date.?

The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

It is important that those who come forward after the closing date are assured that they are not forgotten or excluded from the system. I would stress that the NCSE will continue to support all children and young people made known to them after 1 October in their existing placement with appropriate resources. However, it is critical that the NCSE has as much local information as possible, as early as possible, to effectively plan what new provision.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for children with special educational needs and the need for specialist provision is subject to ongoing review.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 507 and 526 together.

The school building project referred to by the Deputy is planned to be delivered as part of Phase 2 of my Department's ADAPT Programme which uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Integrated Project Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning, to Tender and Construction.

This ADAPT 4 Programme – Programme Innovate will be led by Integrated Project Teams (IPT’s), consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.

The Project Manager was appointed in Q3 2023 and is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of IPTs for the Phase 2 bundle of projects.

This major building project will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post primary schools with 6 classrooms for children with special education needs, at Fassaroe, Bray, Co Wicklow.

It is not possible to provide a timeframe for the progression of the project to tender and construction stages until such time as the necessary statutory approvals have been secured.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

My Department will keep the school and patron body informed of the progression of this project.

School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of the school and are the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff.  Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members, we also support the school community as a whole.

My Department has been engaging with Fórsa and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Development over the past number of weeks under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission in relation to a number of claims including a claim for a comparable pension entitlement. 

The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court, and a hearing will take place on 12th January 2026. The parties remain in process, and my department remains committed and ready to engage with Fórsa to reach a resolution on this important matter.

As with any industrial relations process, where engagement is sensitive and complex, the matters under discussion are confidential until this process concludes.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas (SPA) and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, my department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the CSO along with the engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes, at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

Laurel Lodge and Carpenterstown are in the Carpenterstown_D15 SPA. According to Child Benefit data in this School Planning Area (SPA) there are approximately 2,273 year old and 2,354 year olds that are likely to require junior infant places in the coming years. Porterstown is located in the BlanchardstownVge_D15 SPA. According to Child Benefit data there are approximately 3,443 year olds and 4,024 year olds living in this SPA likely to require junior infant places in the coming years.

The availability of places is a matter for each individual school in the context of admissions legislation and their admissions policies. Enrolment data for previous school years is available on the Department website. Enrolment data for the 2024/2025 school year is available on the Departments website at www.gov.ie.

Each school is required to publish an Annual Admission Notice, which sets out the number of places available for first year for the relevant academic year. These notices are published by the schools themselves and are publicly accessible.

This government is fully committed to supporting students with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.

In 2026, over €3 billion will be spent supporting students with special educational needs. It will ensure that specialist capacity continues to grow by providing 3,000 specialist places. The majority of these places will be available in special classes within mainstream schools. It will increase our special educational posts by 860 special education teacher and over 1,700 special needs assistant (SNA) posts. This will mean we will have almost 46,000 professionals dedicated to supporting students with special educational needs in our schools. This is one of the highest annual increases in posts to date and is a firm reminder of this government’s commitment to supporting students with special educational needs.

Almost 1,900 classes have been sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in the last five years, sixteen new special schools have been established and many more expanded. For the 2025/26 school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to over 3,700. Five new special schools were established and capacity is being expanded in a number of other special schools.

Budget 2026 has also afforded a number of new initiatives such as funding for the roll out of the Education Therapy Service (ETS), the introduction of extra special education teaching hours for post-primary schools to support coordination and transition efforts and indeed a special school package to support the unique challenges these schools face.

The Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE will also, this year, look at the profile of existing special schools. This work will ensure children and young people with complex educational needs can apply to their local special school and not have to travel long distances to access an education that meets their needs.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

Primary Curriculum

Published in September 2025, the redeveloped Primary School Curriculum is the first major update since 1999 and applies to all primary and special schools. It covers five key areas:

• Arts Education (including Art, Drama and Music)

• Language (including Irish, English and Modern Foreign Languages)

• Social and Environmental Education (including History and Geography)

• STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education)

• Wellbeing (including Physical Education and Social, Personal and Health Education).

The redeveloped curriculum marks a major milestone in primary education. It provides inclusive, evidence-based learning, teaching, and assessment. It builds on existing strengths in primary and special schools while richer, more engaging experiences for every child.

During 2025, additional resources were provided to An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) to support the new department policy on Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht and the new department plan for Irish in English-medium schools. COGG has developed and published further resourses to support the teaching and learning of Irish on its digital hub “An Tairseach”, including resources for teaching PE through Irish for Junior Infants to 2nd class.

The department provided funding to Foras na Gaeilge for the development of an Irish/Irish dictionary which was launched recently. The department also provided funding for the Gaelbratach programme and for a review of the Seidean Si programme with a view to future redevelopment. Further funding will be provided to the Gaelbratach programme in 2026 under the department’s Plan for Irish in English-medium schools to further increase the opportunities for students to engage with and use the language outside the Irish class.

ESD to 2030 is Ireland’s 2nd National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development. During 2025, a 2nd progress report on the implementation of ESD to 2030 was published. €460k was delivered to 20 organisations and almost €560k was delivered to primary schools across the country for ESD projects in schools. The new primary curriculum “Social and Environmental Education” was published in 2025 for roll out in primary schools on a phased basis from September 2026, further embedding ESD themes and principles at primary level.

Modern Foreign Languages was introduced as part of the Primary Language Curriculum/Curaclam Teanga na Bunscoile (PLC/CTB) on a phased basis for 3rd?to 6th?classes from September 2025.

• For stage 3 (3rd?and 4th?classes), the focus will be on language awareness, which is already part of the PLC/CTB, but additional focus will now be placed on foreign languages.? This will progress to a language competence model in stage 4 (5th?and 6th?classes) where children will learn to communicate at a very basic to basic level in a third language (L3). This includes Gaeltacht schools and Gaelscoileanna.

• Schools may choose any L3 they wish based on their available resources, the current language competencies of their teachers and the home languages in the classroom.

• An hour per week is the suggested minimum time allocation provided in the Primary Curriculum Framework. Teachers can also use flexible time, recognising a school’s individual context.

New Primary Curriculum • as a support resource.

• Over time, with supports from Oide, NCSE and PPLI, Initial Teacher Education providers will ensure that newly qualified teachers have the necessary skills to teach MFL.

• In 2026, we will deliver foreign language upskilling programmes for primary teachers to support the roll-out of the Modern Foreign Languages specification of the Primary Languages Curriculum. Provide support to primary schools to implement the new MFL specification of the PLC.

As a precursor to this development, the “Say Yes to Languages” 10 week module will be delivered in over 1,300 primary schools across the country in 2025/26 with teacher upskilling as part of the initiative. Now in it’s 5th year, Say Yes to Languages aims to give teachers and pupils a taste of what it means to integrate additional languages alongside English and Irish in the primary classroom. Over 250,000 primary pupils have participated in Say Yes to Languages to date.

Exceptionally Able/Gifted Students Saibhriu is a pilot project currently underway to develop a suitable approach of policy and practice for students who are exceptionally able or gifted. Actions undertaken include commissioning bespoke research on international best practice, consulting with relevant stakeholders, and running new initiatives in a number of schools and education centres.

These initiatives include the Saibhriú pilot itself, which is led by an academic expert, and fosters local collaboration between primary and post-primary schools to establish how they can most effectively work together to support the needs of exceptionally able students. A launch event for the programme took place in March of this year, involving stakeholders from a number of schools and educational organisations. Work is ongoing to develop and embed a suitable approach. Year 1 of the project will wrap up in March 2026 with a ceremony presenting the report and the work done by the schools involved.

Another initiative that took place this year was the Summer Course for Teachers, hosted by Mayo Education Centre, to support educators in appropriate pedagogy for this cohort. A further initiative, the Summer Programme for Students pilot, ran in two schools this year, focussing on enrichment opportunities for these learners. It was funded through the existing Summer Programme scheme and was operated in addition to the existing programmes running in the schools.

Irish Sign Language Curriculum

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has commenced work on the development of an ISL curriculum for primary and post-primary schools. Appropriate resources were recruited to the NCCA in Quarter 3 of this year to carry out this work. An ISL Expert Working Group has been established, and the first meeting was convened in Quarter 3 of this year. Initial scoping on curriculum requirements has been carried out andwork will continue into 2026.

Wellbeing

In April 2025 the Department launched Neart, the new national programme of mental health and wellbeing resources and training for post-primary schools, delivered in a partnership between the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) and Jigsaw - The National Centre for Youth Mental Health. The first Cineáltas Implementation Report was published in July 2025. Cineáltas is our whole-education approach to preventing and addressing bullying behaviour in schools. In its first year of implementation, work on of 51 of the 61 actions commenced and five of these actions were fully implemented.

The “Bí Cineálta Procedures to Prevent and Address Bullying Behaviour for Primary and Post-Primary Schools” began implementation in schools from the beginning of the 25/26 school year.

Special Education

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) sanctioned over 400 special classes for the 2025/26 school year. Over 300 new special school places have been created.

• In March 2025, the Department of Education and Youth published a new circular, “Review of Enrolment in a Special Class” was published to support schools with the review process for children and young people enrolled in a special class. Alongside this development, the criteria for enrolment in special classes for children with Developmental Language Disorder or Speech Sound Disorder was updated.

• In April 2025, the department announced the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) Redeployment Scheme will be operated by the NCSE and, for the first time, allow SNAs in posts which may no longer be required for reasons such as falling enrolments, reduced care needs or changing demographics, to be redeployed to a school which has a vacant post.

• In May 2025, the Department of Education and Youth announced new measures to support forward planning for special education provision for the 2026/2027 school year and beyond.

• Also in May 2025, the department published the Report on Focus Groups with Teachers on the role of the Special Needs Assistant (SNA).

• In June 2025, my department published the review of the Education of Person with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2024. The review comprised of over 28,000 responses to online surveys, including 900 responses from children and young people to an innovative easy access survey, and participation in focus groups by 91 adults and 94 students and young people from mainstream, special and Irish medium schools, as well as adults who had left school. The process of reviewing the EPSEN Act brought to light areas where participants considered that changes or developments in existing legislation, policy or practice were required and a total of 51 recommendations are presented in the report.

• In June 2025, the department announced government approval to establish the Education Therapy Service. This new service is currently being developed for roll out in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025/26 school year.

• In October 2025, as part of Budget 2026, a further special school package was announced to support increased investment in teacher professional learning in special education, additional funding for assistive technologies and enhanced capitation which will benefit, in particular, children in special schools.

• In November the Department of Education and Youth published a circular to advise schools regarding the revised criteria to access support under the enhanced Irish Sign Language (ISL) Scheme.

Support for school principals

This year my department has begun a trial of new administrative supports and arrangements for principals and boards of management to reduce the non-educational aspect of their workloads. These new posts have the title of Administrative Executives and are being introduced in three primary and three post primary schools.

Capitation

The Department secured €39 million in Budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding for primary, post-primary and special schools to provide additional financial support towards their running costs. This will see an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to schools of €50 per pupil for primary schools from €224 to €274.

This will also allow for an increase of €20 in capitation rates for Urban Band One DEIS primary schools, increasing the mainstream pupil rate in these schools to €294.

The increased capitation rates will also see special schools now receive the same rates of mainstream capitation, for young people aged 12 and over, as for their peers in mainstream post-primary schools. These increases will take effect from September 2026. This funding will benefit schools around the country in managing their day-to-day running costs.

These increases in Budget 2026 are in addition to the increases announced as part of the capitation package in Budget 2025 where over €30 million was secured as a permanent increase in capitation funding. This represented an increase of circa 12% on current standard rates and enhanced rates of capitation effective from September 2025.

Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS)

The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative of Government to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. The Department of Education and Youth provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. In addition to this, over €180 million of additional staffing, funding and other resources are allocated annually, by the Department of Education and Youth, to almost 1,200 schools and 260,000 children and young people in the DEIS programme.

Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027 to introduce the DEIS Plus scheme and support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy. This the single biggest full year investment in tackling educational disadvantage since the DEIS programme was established. The new DEIS Strategy to be published in early 2026 will set out the Department of Education and Youth’s strategic direction for improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of educational disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, and working towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.

School Completion Programme (SCP)

The School Completion Programme is delivered under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme and provides support to over 800 schools, arranged in clusters, referred to as SCP Projects. SCP is an integral part of the three-strand integrated service of the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) alongside the statutory Education Welfare Service (EWS) and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL). These services provide a robust continuum of support and intervention aimed to improve the education experience and outcomes for children and young people at risk of early school leaving and educational disadvantage.

A programme of work to advance the development and implantation of a new employment framework model for workers currently employed in the SCP is underway. This will ensure that the future employment and governance framework for the SCP is robust, sustainable and supports the further development of this programme with TESS.

The purpose is to establish a clear and consistent governance and employment structure that drives consistency and supports a sustainable valued workforce to deliver a cost-effective, quality assured service to some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our schools.

Traveller and Roma

A TRES (Traveller and Roma Education Strategy) Oversight Group was established in January 2025 and has met three times to date. The group is responsible for monitoring progress and overseeing the implementation of actions contained within the TRES over the six-year period. It also oversees the implementation of education-related actions from the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2024–2030 (NTRIS II). Membership includes representatives from Traveller and Roma organisations. The first progress report was published in March 2025 and the second in July 2025. The third progress report will be published shortly.

The recruitment process for the appointment of 15 community link workers to support Traveller and Roma children and young people and those most at risk of educational disadvantage is well underway. Once appointed, the community link worker will work in DEIS and non-DEIS schools with high Traveller and Roma enrolments.

School books

The Primary Schoolbooks Scheme eliminates the cost of schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for parents of children and young people enrolled in recognised primary and special schools. €46.9 million has been allocated for the third year of the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme and over 540,000 children and young people in primary and special schools are benefitting from the scheme in the 2025/26 school year.

School Attendance

School attendance is everyone’s business and is important to support children and young people’s achievement, wellbeing, and wider development. The latest data published by Tusla in September shows that in the 2023/2024 school year, more than 1 in 5 of all students (22% in primary and 21% in post-primary) missed 20 or more days of school. A multimedia campaign launched in September to raise awareness of the impact of casual nonattendance among children in typical Irish households and to influence attitude and behaviour change among parents, guardians and grandparents with respect to the value of school attendance. The media campaign highlighted the importance and benefits of school attendance. Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) are rolling out Anseo to 60 additional primary and post-primary schools from the start of the new school year and the model will be expanded to additional schools in early 2026. Anseo is an evidence-based framework to help schools analyse and respond to attendance data.

Gaeltacht and Irish language education

In November, my department launched a new Policy for Irish-Medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht, which will support the growth and development of the Irish-medium sector. The policy outlines the department’s vision that Irish-medium education will be available to all in settings that are inclusive and multicultural, and that an ecosystem of appropriate supports will be available for schools and their communities. The policy identifies actions to progress towards this vision across a range of action areas.

Also in November, my department published a new Action Plan for Irish in English-Medium Schools. This plan is informed by national consultation, research, and policy and practice for minority languages in other jurisdictions.

Digital policy and AI

In June 2025, the Department of Education and Youth issued a circular about advising primary schools of the requirement to implement a policy to ban the use of, and access to, personal mobile phones for the duration of the school day.

The Department published Guidance on AI in Schools in October. This serves as an initial step toward the safe, effective and responsible use of AI in schools, with further development anticipated from Ireland’s partnership with the EU Commission in the multi-country project to develop strategies and tools for AI implementation in school education, as announced in April this year.

As part of the Council of Europe Year of Digital Citizenship 2025, important work is being undertaken by the Department through the Digital Citizenship Champion Programme. Delivered by the Department in partnership with Oide TIE and Webwise, the programme has provided training to 75 primary teachers as Digital Citizenship Champions. The initiative equips teachers, pupils and school communities with the knowledge and confidence to engage responsibly and safely online. The programme will continue into 2026.

Convention on Education

In July 2025, the Department announced that it would host a Convention on Education, bringing together all stakeholders in education. The Convention on Education will be a once in a generation opportunity for children, young people, parents, educators and wider society to help shape Ireland’s education system for decades to come. The Convention will comprise 150 participants across four groups: 1) children and young people, 2) parents and guardians, 3) school staff and early years educators and 4) Education stakeholders.

The Convention will meet four times over weekends in March, May, September and November 2026 to discuss key issues and make recommendations on the future of education. The focus will be mainly on primary and post-primary education but will include the transitions children make from early childhood education to primary and from post-primary to further and higher education. The report of the Convention will inform the department’s long-term strategy, “Our Schools, Our Future”.

It is a goal of this Government to reduce educational disadvantage and promote equity across Irish schools, focusing particularly on vulnerable groups including children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, children living in homelessness, Travellers, and Roma and migrant communities.

DEIS Programme

The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative of Government to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. The Department of Education and Youth provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. In addition to this, over €180 million of additional staffing, funding and other resources are allocated annually, by the Department of Education and Youth, to almost 1,200 schools and 260,000 children and young people in the DEIS programme.

Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027 to introduce the DEIS Plus scheme and support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy. This the single biggest full year investment in tackling educational disadvantage since the DEIS programme was established. The new DEIS Strategy to be published in early 2026 will set out the Department of Education and Youth’s strategic direction for improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of educational disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, and working towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.

School Completion Programme

The School Completion Programme is delivered under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme and provides support to over 800 schools, arranged in clusters, referred to as SCP Projects. SCP is an integral part of the three-strand integrated service of the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) alongside the statutory Education Welfare Service (EWS) and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL). These services provide a robust continuum of support and intervention aimed to improve the education experience and outcomes for children and young people at risk of early school leaving and educational disadvantage.

A programme of work to advance the development and implantation of a new employment framework model for workers currently employed in the SCP is underway. This will ensure that the future employment and governance framework for the SCP is robust, sustainable and supports the further development of this programme with TESS.

The purpose is to establish a clear and consistent governance and employment structure that drives consistency and supports a sustainable valued workforce to deliver a cost-effective, quality assured service to some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our schools.

Free Schoolbooks Scheme

Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. In Budget 2025, the department announced that the schoolbooks scheme would be further extended to include students in Senior Cycle years, including Transition Year, in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. In total, €170 million has been allocated to provide free schoolbooks for some 940,000 children and young people enrolled primary, post-primary and special schools in the Free Education Scheme, from the start of the 2025/26 school year. This means, 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.

The funding removes the cost of schoolbooks and core classroom resources for parents/guardians at post-primary level and schoolbooks workbooks and copybooks for parents/guardians at primary level. Schools retain autonomy to choose books that meet curricular requirements. As part of Budget 2026, over €160 million is allocated to continue the schoolbooks schemes for the 2026/27 school year.

School Attendance

In September, my colleague Minister McEntee launched a national multimedia campaign to promote the importance of regular school attendance to students and parents, and Anseo a new evidence-based framework to help schools analyse and respond to attendance data. The multimedia campaign is to encourage parents and of children, who take them out of school for reasons other than illness, to send their children to school every day. The campaign positively communicates the importance and benefits of school attendance and outlined to parents about when a child should and can attend school from a health perspective.

Anseo is a Multi-Dimensional Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MD-MTSS) approach to addressing school attendance problems and it was announced in May 2025. 60 schools have been offered Anseo from the start of the 2025/26 school year. Tusla Education Support Service staff will work with the 60 schools throughout the 2025/26 school year, promoting and supporting the implementation of the model which will enable schools to develop effective and appropriate strategies to respond to the drivers of school absenteeism. An additional 125 schools will be offered Anseo from February 2026 and ‘Anseo’ will be gradually scaled to all schools by September 2028.

Traveller and Roma Education Strategy (TRES)

The Traveller and Roma Education Strategy (TRES) 2024-2030, alongside the Plan for Implementation and Action for 2024-2026, was published in July 2024. This is a six-year strategy which aims to build on ongoing work across the continuum of education, including early learning and childcare, school (primary and post-primary) and further and higher education, to improve outcomes and ensure equity of access, opportunity and outcomes, as well as meaningful participation, for all Travellers and Roma. The strategy contains a number of actions grouped under four themes which include Participation and Experience, Access and Outcomes, Partnership and Delivering Change.

Some of the key actions include increasing the number of young people remaining in school to 6th year and achieving a Leaving Certificate, promoting training on inclusion and diversity through teacher professional learning, addressing racism and discrimination by developing more targeted cultural competence training and teaching Traveller culture and history through the curriculum. The strategy will also promote diversity in the education sector workforce.

Funding was secured to establish 15 Community Link Worker roles to support Traveller and Roma children at risk of educational disadvantage. The Community Link Workers will work across a number of schools in areas where there are high numbers of Traveller and Roma children and young people. Their roles will focus on fostering greater engagement with Traveller and Roma families to facilitate successful communication, promote positive relationships and to support the learning of Traveller and Roma children and young people by linking them to resources within their area. The link workers will provide vital engagement on the ground between schools, families and communities.

A progress report on the actions in the Plan for Implementation and Action was published in July 2025 and the next progress report will be published shortly. A new Plan for Implementation and Action for the years 2026 to 2028 will be published in 2026.

There are more qualified teachers than ever working in our education system with the most recent data showing over 79,000 qualified teachers are employed in the State.?

The teaching profession is highly attractive, with strong demand for teacher education programmes with over 3,600 newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2025 with over 127,000 on the register. Salaries are competitive, starting at €44,879 (primary) and €46,448 (post-primary) and rising to €85,000 under the current pay deal.????? Few teachers resign: less than 3% of the teaching workforce resign or retire annually from contracted teaching posts.

Around 6% of first-choice CAO applications from 2017–2024 were for teaching, showing steady demand. In 2025, first preferences rose by 9% for primary teaching and 5% for post-primary. 85% of newly appointed primary teachers in 2024/25 are on full-time, mostly fixed-term contracts, 75% of new post-primary teachers are full-time and 93% of teachers with 5+ years’ experience hold permanent full-time or pro-rata contracts.

In April 2025, Minister McEntee announced a reduction in the period of time for a teacher to become eligible for the award of a CID. The reduction, from a period of continuous employment of two years to a period of continuous employment of one year, is a significant improvement to the employment conditions of teachers.

The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants and new entrant pay has been gradually restored over the years.

The Public Service Pay Agreement 2024-2026 (PSA) builds on improvements to pay for teachers that were made in previous pay agreements. It provides for further baseline increases of 9.25% for over 100,000 staff in the school sector with lower paid workers receiving higher percentage increases.

By the end of this agreement, these increases would increase the pay of a teacher on the top point of the teacher pay scale to around €85,000 per annum. The starting pay for a teacher will be around €46,000 per annum, which is almost €20,000 higher than the 2011 rates. Two increases to pay were made to teachers this year as follows:

• A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 2% or €1,000, whichever is greater, on 1 March 2025.

• A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% on 1 August 2025

The Government is committed to the delivery of quality public services and will continue to approach public service pay in a balanced way that is reasonable and fair to both public servants and to the taxpayer. Any further amendments to Teacher Terms and Conditions, including pay and allowances, can only be achieved through engagement and collective bargaining agreements between the Government and the public service unions or through the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) forum.

In addition, to assist teacher supply, recently regulations were approved to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State.

My Department will continue to engage with the Education Partners to ensure that teaching remains a highly attractive profession with high levels of newly qualified teachers entering the provision and low levels of resignation from the workforce.

The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools and the Programme for Government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs.

The commitment in the Programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years. The Department has secured €39 million in Budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding for primary, post-primary and special schools to provide additional financial support towards their running costs. This will see an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to schools of €50 per pupil for primary schools from €224 to €274 and of €20 per student for post-primary schools from €386 to €406. This will also allow for an increase of €20 in capitation rates for Urban Band One DEIS primary schools, increasing the mainstream pupil rate in these schools to €294. The increased capitation rates will also see special schools now receive the same rates of mainstream capitation, for young people aged 12 and over, as for their peers in mainstream post-primary schools. These increases will take effect from September 2026. This funding will benefit schools around the country in managing their day-to-day running costs.

The increases announced in Budget 2026 are in addition to the 12% increases as part of Budget 2025. The last three Budgets have resulted in an increase in the level of capitation grant rates of 49.7% (€91) paid to primary schools and 28.5% (€90) paid to post-primary schools.

The Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for the employment of relevant secretaries as per Circular 0036/2022.

The current standard rate of capitation grant is €224 per pupil in primary schools and €386 per student in post-primary schools. Primary schools with fewer than 60 pupils are paid the capitation and the ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils. Enhanced rates are also paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs and Traveller pupils.

OGP frameworks are available to schools for a number of categories including facilities management, managed services, professional services, and utilities. Schools should ensure that they are availing of these available OGP procurement frameworks in order to get the best value for money for all school expenditure, in accordance with Circular 0060/2013. The benefits arising from these frameworks include cash savings, administrative savings from reduced duplication of tendering, greater purchasing expertise, improved consistency, enhanced service levels and legal certainty. Schools Procurement Unit (SPU), funded by the Department, is an important source of advice and support to schools on procurement matters- www.spu.ie

The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU), funded by the Department, is an important source of advice and support to schools on financial matters.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of special educational needs organisers (SENOs), for fulfilling the functions of the NCSE Council in relation to the identification of, and delivery and co-ordination of, education services to children with disabilities.

As a result of significant investment by this government in the NCSE the number of SENOs has increased to 120, an increase of 47 from the previous sanctioned. The SENO plays a crucial function in the framework of special education, charged with a variety of responsibilities to ensure that students with special educational needs (SEN) receive individualised support and services, aligned with the continuum of support.

SENOs assess and identify students with SEN at primary, post primary and special school levels. The role involves significant interaction with parents/children, teachers and school leaders, health care professionals, school authorities, Health Service Executive and other relevant government agencies.

At local level, the NCSE has increased the number of support teams available to parents and schools, throughout the country, from a 10-team structure to a 20-team structure. All SENO grades are now assigned on a county basis and undertake caseloads associated with that county only, and on a reduced caseload basis.

Local SENOs are available to offer advice, support and guidance as required to ensure students with special educational needs are supported to achieve their full potential.

Enabling students with special educational needs to receive an education that meets their needs is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for me, my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The vast majority of students with special educational needs attend mainstream classes with their peers, supported by special education teachers (SETs) and special needs assistants (SNAs). Where students with more complex needs require additional supports, special class and special school places are provided. This is in keeping with policy on an inclusive education, which advocates that students will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.

The process for allocating SNAs has been in place since 2014 and has not changed this year. SNA allocations for the 2025/26 school year were notified to schools in June 2025. The NCSE Guidelines for the Review of SNA Allocations 2025/26 https://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NCSE_SNA_Guidelines.pdf issued to schools on the 12 September 2025. In response to concerns raised the NCSE subsequently published the Clarification Document to be read in accompaniment with NCSE SNA Guidelines. https://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Clarification-Document-to-be-read-in-accompaniment-with-NCSE-SNA-Guidelines-8.10.2025.pdf

The NCSE continues to respond to increased demand for SNA support as is reflected growing SNA workforce which now numbers more than 23,000, an increase of 43% in the last 5 years alone. Some review requests can be concluded as an office-based exercise, whilst others require a school to be visited in order to observe the current deployment of SNA support in the school setting.

The timeframe for concluding a review can vary depending on the school context or the nature of the information provided. Where the review results in an increase in SNA resources the provisions of DEY Circular Recruitment and Appointment Procedures for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/circulars/recruitment-and-appointment-procedures-for-special-needs-assistants-snas/ must be followed.

My department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 517 and 518 together.

The Assessment of Need (AON) process is provided for under the Disability Act 2005 and is under the remit of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

It is important to note that children and young people in mainstream schools do not require an AON or a diagnosis of disability to access mainstream supports from the 15,000 special education teachers in our school system. The Department has removed the need for health-related information to support special education teaching allocation (SET), to transition from a primary to post primary special class, for assistive technology supports and/or for additional SNA requirements.

There has been a very significant growth in demand for special school and special class places in recent years. This has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of children and young people enrolled in special classes and the opening of 16 new special schools.

There is evidence that, in areas where disability services are unable to meet the full range of needs of children and young people, such as for early intervention, therapy supports and/or respite, many families are choosing to apply to all local services, regardless of whether this is the appropriate route for provision for their child. In these circumstances, provision of education services is viewed by some, as being a driver for the AON process with families seeking an AON to secure a diagnosis, which is currently required to access a special school/class placement.

Additionally, while a diagnosis is currently required to access a special class or a special school, this does not have to be linked to an AON.

The Department of Education and Youth will bring forward a proposal through a Memorandum for Government early in 2026 to agree a process which is intended to result in the removal of the requirement for professional reports, such as Assessment of Need reports, from entry requirements for special schools and special classes and the adoption of a needs-based approach, subject to the availability of necessary resources.

There will be a comprehensive consultation process with the full range of education stakeholders and advocacy groups in respect of this proposed measure.

The AON process as it applies to schools and as outlined in DEY Circular 0069/2025 will remain in place. For clarity, there is no change to the AON process as it applies in schools.

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.

The scheme has expanded significantly over the past six years. In that time, the numbers of children and young people using the service have grown from under 120,000 pupils in 2018 to over 180,000 pupils in 2025, which equates to an increase of close to 50%.

Under the current terms of the schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest primary school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Any pupils/students who do not meet these criteria are deemed not eligible, or otherwise known as concessionary applicants, and are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat when all eligible children have been catered for. Where demand exceeds available tickets, Bus Éireann will allocate tickets using an agreed selection process.

Bus Éireann has advised that pupils in the Aughrim and Annacurra areas are considered concessionary to Coláiste Bhríde Carnew. Currently there are 3 services operating from these areas.

The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024 following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommended changes to the schemes include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for money to the Exchequer. It is proposed to expand access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030. It was outlined at the time of the review’s publication that due to the scale of the scheme it would be prudent to implement the changes on a phased basis.

A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations began at the start of the 2024/2025 school year in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann.? A total of 14 pilot projects took place that year and will continue for the 2025/2026 school year.

Following the closing date for payment for the 2025/2026 school year the Department, in collaboration with Bus Éireann, assessed where dedicated school transport/pilots may be successfully delivered, and a further 11 pilots were approved. The Department has asked Bus Éireann to review where additional capacity may be available for concessionary pupils who paid on time and would become eligible if the revised school transport scheme criteria was rolled out in full.

Due to ongoing challenges in the wider transport sector, including availability of drivers and vehicles, any expansion of services must be carefully planned and phased. While pilot projects are being considered in select areas to test revised eligibility criteria, these pilots are limited in scope and capacity.

All pilots – including those which commenced in the 2024/2025 school year – are being monitored and a further evaluation will take place at the end of the 2025/2026 school year. Findings from these evaluations will guide the planning and implementation needed for a national rollout of a revised School Transport Scheme.

Implementation of the recommendations of the review will continue to be planned subject to resources being available to meet the increased demand.

I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority of mine.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €1.6 billion in school infrastructure across Co. Dublin and the Department is continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools to ensure that every child in the State has access to a school place.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

The annual enrolment process for new Junior Infants at primary and new First Years at post-primary is a very large-scale operation that is transacted at close to 4,000 schools across the country, involving some 140,000 pupils. While my department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplications of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. Notwithstanding the above, in some areas, demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places.

Data available to my department highlights there are more first year places available than 6th class children in the Rathfarnham school planning area. In 2024/25 academic year, 4.39% of first year places were unfilled. In addition, previous capacity data submitted by schools to the department identified that 4 out of 5 post-primary schools had capacity for places across various year groups.

With regards to projects in train that will increase post-primary capacity in Rathfarnham school planning area, there is a capital project currently at Stage 2b for Sancta Maria College which when complete will increase capacity to 750 pupils.

My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

I can assure the Deputy that my department will continue to keep the school place requirements in the Rathfarnham school planning area as with other areas across the country, under review.

The school building project referred to by the deputy will provide a new 1000 pupil post-primary school building and accommodation, including classrooms for children with special educational needs.

Department officials and the external project management consultants are currently reviewing the works and site-specific requirements to ensure the tender documents are up to date and in line with my Departments’ technical guidelines documents.

Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs

The Department will continue to keep the school and its patron body updated as the project progresses.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the statutory body responsible for the provision of special education and allocating supports for children with special educational needs.

In order to support the NCSE and forward planning my department published Circular 0039/2025. This circular informs school management and patrons of measures introduced to support forward planning and reiterates the need for parents to inform the NCSE through the Parent Notify process that they are seeking a special educational placement for their child.

This notification process will provide the NCSE with critical information on children who continue to need a special class as they progress to post-primary level as well as details on students who require a place for the first time. This year to facilitate earlier sanctioning of classes for the 2026/27 school year, an earlier date of 1 October was set for parents to complete the process.

The NCSE is undertaking analysis of information including that provided through the Parents Notify process to plot demand for special class places for the 2026/27 school year. Once this analysis is completed the NCSE will engage with schools to open new special classes. It is expected that these special classes will be sanctioned in the coming weeks.

This new timeline was publicised widely and communicated with schools and special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. The NCSE also undertook a lot of work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the process and timeline. Consequently the NCSE report a significant level of engagement and contact from families before 1 October.The NCSE advise that the majority of children and young people coming to them through the Parent’s Notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants.

As with other applications for support, it is important that those who come forward after the closing date are assured that they are not forgotten or excluded from the system. The NCSE and special educational need organiser (SENO) are engaging with the school and family of the student named. SENOs are available to offer advice, support and guidance as required to ensure students with special educational needs are supported to achieve their full potential and may be contacted using the contact details available on the NCSE website.

My department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements are available for children with special educational needs and the need for new specialist provision is subject to ongoing review.

The Complex is a multidisciplinary arts and creative venue in Dublin’s North Inner City, governed by a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. The Complex has been leasing its building from a private landlord on a site ringfenced for redevelopment.

Proposals for the development of local arts centres are a matter in the first instance for the relevant local authority. County and city development plans are drawn up by local authorities in accordance with their functions under the Planning and Development Acts. This would include policy objectives for development in that county, including the arts.

Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to arts and culture centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport provides grants as a contribution towards maintaining and enhancing existing arts and culture facilities but does not provide funding for the purchase of buildings.

Officials from my Department met with the Chair of The Complex and other members of the team in December 2024 and advised them of this position. Further communication in June 2025 reiterated that position. No funding was sought from this Department for the purchase of the building by the Complex and any refurbishment support would require chargeable title to be in place.

I intend to publish an update on progress in relation to the progress made in relation to my Department’s Programme for Government commitments on my Department’s website (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-culture-communications-and-sport/) shortly.

In 2025, the revised National Development Plan reiterated the Government’s commitment to the continued development of the Sport Ireland Campus, including the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre (NVBC).

The delivery of the NVBC is in keeping with key Government priorities as set out in the National Sports Policy 2018-2027 and in my Department’s Statement of Strategy, which includes a high-level goal to continue to invest in new sports facilities, high performance athletes and the hosting of major events.

Government approved, on 3 September 2025, both the funding and the appointment of Walls Construction as the principal contractor for the project. Sport Ireland subsequently entered into a formal engagement with Walls Construction on 22 October 2025, following the required standstill period in accordance with procurement procedures and initial contract discussions. The final contractual arrangements were concluded on 26 November 2025.

A three-month design development period is currently underway with the contractor and construction is expected to commence in early 2026. It is expected that the NVBC will be completed and in use by Q2, 2028.

The project will deliver a 250-metre cycling track, the standard required length for hosting major international events. The NVBC will also deliver up tb 12 badminton courts in the in-track area, seating for 1,000 spectators and ancillary facilities.

The NVBC will address the need to provide world-class track cycling facilities for our athletes as well as providing the sport of badminton with integrated training, gym and medical facilities. This state of the art facility will afford our track cycling athletes the opportunity to train in Ireland and should have a positive effect on future international performance levels in both sports.

Funding for sports facilities in schools is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Youth.

Third level colleges, Education and Training Boards and schools are eligible to apply to my Department's Community Sport Facility Fund (CSFF) jointly with sports clubs. Such applications must provide evidence of facility-sharing arrangements that will allow sports clubs to use the proposed facilities throughout the year when not in use by the school.

In line with previous rounds of the Fund, a review of the current funding round is being undertaken. I have asked my Department to prepare for a further round of the CSFF in 2026.

The estate referred to in the question is in the BLUE area on the broadband map which is available on www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/.

The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high-speed broadband services. The Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload.

The activities of commercial operators delivering high-speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and the Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard.

As per information available at https://bbchecker.comreg.ie/ the estate in question is currently capable of receiving High-Speed Broadband from open eir’s local High Speed Broadband cabinet.

As per information available at www.openeir.ie/fibre/broadband-checker the estate is also included in open eir Full Fibre deployment programme.

If a person lives in the BLUE area and after contacting their Retail Service Provider are told they cannot get access to greater than 30Mbps, they should raise a query via the Department’s webform which can be accessed by clicking on “contact us” in the Contact section on www.gov.ie/en/publication/5634d-national-broadband-plan-map/ and the department will escalate with the commercial operator to investigate this matter further.

The Department is aware of some evidence emerging, based on conversations with ComReg and commercial operators, that a portion of premises that do not form part of the intervention area may prove not to be commercially viable in terms of being connected to a gigabit network by 2028. The Department are currently investigating reasons for why such instances may arise with a view to identifying solutions.

The Complex is a multidisciplinary arts and creative venue in Dublin’s North Inner City, governed by a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. The Complex has been leasing its building from a private landlord on a site ringfenced for redevelopment.

Proposals for the development of local arts centres are a matter in the first instance for the relevant local authority. County and city development plans are drawn up by local authorities in accordance with their functions under the Planning and Development Acts. This would include policy objectives for development in that county, including the arts.

Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to arts and culture centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport provides grants as a contribution towards maintaining and enhancing existing arts and culture facilities but does not provide funding for the purchase of buildings.

Officials from my Department met with the Chair of The Complex and other members of the team in December 2024 and advised them of this position. Further communication in June 2025 reiterated that position. No funding was sought from this Department for the purchase of the building by the Complex and any refurbishment support would require chargeable title to be in place.

The information requested by the Deputy on translation services provided by specified company for the years 2020 to 2025 to date is set out in the table under

These services were procured from the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) Framework for Irish Language Translation Services in line with public procurement guidelines.

The report ‘A Safe and Respectful Working Environment in the Arts’, was produced by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media in September 2022 and was born out of public oral hearings and written submissions from stakeholders across the arts sector.

Based on the findings of the Speak Up: A Call for Change Report, which was funded and supported by the Department, and the Joint Oireachtas Committees report ‘A Safe and Respectful Working Environment in the Arts’, the Safe to Create Programme was launched in October 2022. The Safe to Create Programme addresses the recommendations highlighted in the Joint Oireachtas Committees report which relate to the functions of the Minister and the Department.

Safe to Create set out to put in place a collaborative programme of supports looking to transform workplace culture and practices, and to provide safe and respectful working conditions for those working in the arts and creative sectors. Through the Safe to Create programme, the goal is to transform culture and practices through training, information, voluntary compliance and certification, and provide key support for victims / survivors in the areas of reporting, counselling, and legal advice.

Funded by this Department and managed by the Irish Theatre Institute under the leadership of ITI Director, Niamh O’Donnell, in partnership with the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and Minding Creative Minds, the Safe to Create programme is now leading on a number of actions under the following recommendations from the Speak Up: A Call for Change’ report:

• Recommendation 1. Build cross-sectoral support for change (Correlates with Recommendation 4 & 5 of the JOC Report)

• Recommendation 2. Strengthen reporting and support systems (Correlates with Recommendation 1 of the JOC Report)

• Recommendation 3. Pursue consequences for non-compliance (Correlates with Recommendation 2, 3 & 8 of the JOC Report)

• Recommendation 4. Build capacity to promote a dignified workplace culture (Correlates with Recommendation 7 of the JOC Report)

• Recommendation 5. Invest in further research (Correlates with Recommendation 6 of the JOC Report)

Actions under Recommendation 3 are being led by funding bodies the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. Organisations that are found not to be providing a safe working environment for workers risk disallowing themselves from future funding streams.

The Arts Council have introduced a special condition that all organisations in receipt of Strategic and Arts Centre funding are required to fully adopt and implement the Safe to Create Code of Behaviour, including requiring all staff to undertake the three online training courses, developed for the sector in partnership with Screen Ireland. Screen Ireland similarly require full legal compliance to all health and safety in the workplace and employment legislation. In addition, they require their funding recipients to maintain Dignity at Work policies that include appropriate action and grievance procedures to address employee complaints and grantees must undertake relevant Dignity at Work online, self-led training.

Recommendation 5 of the Speak Up report called for investment in further research, noting that without a full picture of the size and demographics of the sector, accurate and worthwhile analysis of issues – and progress – is difficult to achieve around Dignity at Work. As a result of this recommendation, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and Irish Theatre Institute re-engaged the research team to undertake a significant research programme from 2022-2025 to examine the prevalence and impact of harmful behaviours in Ireland’s arts/creative sector, and to measure the impact of the Safe to Create programme. Both research reports, AMPLIFY: A Call for Transformative Action and Influencing Change, were initiated following this recommendation.

In June 2023, Safe to Create launched Inform to Transform, an anonymous information gathering tool for the arts and creative sector. In the first year over 100 reports (June 2023 – Sept 2024) were submitted from individuals across art forms including theatre, visual art, literature, comedy, film, circus, craft and design. The analysis of the submitted information provided insights on harmful behaviour in the workplace, highlighting areas of concern, informing the development and focus of Safe to Create supports and feeding into recommendations for the sector.

Further research and work continues to be developed as part of the Safe to Create Programme. For further information on the Safe to Create Programme and all of the resources available to both individual artists and arts organisations, please visit the Safe to Create website: www.safetocreate.ie/.

There are currently 3 FTE Keeper of Manuscripts currently employed by the Department to date.

These staff support the National Archives of Ireland working with the Director and senior management team to deliver on the strategic direction of the institution as well as contributing to the delivery of the statutory functions of the National Archives of Ireland.

My Department in its current configuration was established in June 2025. Details in respect of Data Protection included any breaches are published in my Department's Annual Reports and the most recent report in respect of 2024 can be found at the link under

assets.gov.ie/static/documents/d0ac3582/DTCAGSM_Annual_Report_2024_EN.pdf

Details of any data breaches in agencies under my Department's remit are operational matters for those agencies.

As set out in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030- An Action Plan on Housing Supply and Targeting Homelessness, we will publish a National Planning Statement in H2 of 2026 that will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing, based on the high level policy framework set in the NPF. The new Housing Plan also contains an action to publish a National Planning Statement for housing in Gaeltacht areas in the first half of 2027.

Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provided that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage could issue guidelines to planning authorities regarding any of their functions under the Act and planning authorities were required to have regard to those guidelines in the performance of their functions.

That section was repealed on 2 October 2025 as the planning system transitions to operate under the new legislative provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024.

Section 25 of the Act of 2024 provides for a new form of planning policy and guidance known as a National Planning Statement. This provision was commenced on 2 October 2025 and therefore future planning policy and guidance from the Minister will issue to planning authorities in the form of a National Planning Statement. It is intended that existing section 28 Guidelines, which will continue to operate until replaced or revoked, will be replaced over time by National Planning Statements, along with any new guidance that the Minister intends, with the approval of Government, to issue.

Rural Housing Guidelines were last issued in 2005 as Ministerial Guidelines under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. These Guidelines provide that people who are an intrinsic part of the rural community, on the basis of an economic or social need, should be facilitated in all rural areas. In areas under strong urban influence, the policy is to direct urban generated housing into cities, towns and villages. In a rural area suffering persistent and substantial population decline, the policy is to accommodate anyone wishing to build a house, subject to normal planning and environmental considerations.

Historically there has been a strong tradition of rural housing construction in Ireland, with approximately one-quarter of all delivery nationally for the last 30 years falling within this category. Rural housing continues to be an important component of new housing delivery with on average c.4,000-5,000 new rural dwellings being built annually.

Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the National Planning Framework) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change have become more central to the operation of the planning system.

Updated policy direction and guidance in respect of rural housing, initially in the form of a section 28 Guideline which will now be reviewed and prepared as a National Planning Statement, is currently being considered by my Department.

The Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended, sets out mandatory objectives for local authorities, which must be addressed in the drafting of their Development Plan governing local development policies. Where there is a Gaeltacht area within the planning authority’s administrative area, the development plan must include provisions and objectives for “the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the promotion of Irish as the community language”.

The Development Plans Guidelines for Local Authorities published in July 2022 give further guidance to local authorities, including reflecting the Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas (Limistéar Pleanála Teanga – LPTs as required under the Gaeltacht Act 2012) as well as the inclusion of further policies such as ensuring that development proposals in Gaeltacht areas have a positive impact on the linguistic and cultural heritage that can be robustly assessed at planning application stage.

An Interdepartmental Group (comprising my Department, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (DRCDG) and Údarás na Gaeltachta) is still continuing its work in developing specific planning guidance for Gaeltacht areas. There is also a separate Working Group made up of both Departments and Údarás na Gaeltachta and the relevant local authorities with Gaeltacht areas. Interdepartmental Group and Working Group meetings took place in 2023 and bilateral Departmental engagement continued into 2024 and into 2025, with the most recent meeting taking place in July 2025.

Having regard to the need to consider the complex matters involved and further to engagement with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, a finalised draft National Planning Statement will be assessed for the purposes of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA).