I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on children and education oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the area of children and education. It receives detailed reports on identified policy areas such as child poverty and well-being and education. The membership of the Cabinet committee on children and education comprises the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Minister for foreign affairs and Defence, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, the Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Social Protection, the Minister for Education and Youth and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The programme for Government contains many important commitments intended to improve the lives of all children, and especially those children who need our help most. One of the key areas relates to Government ambitions to reduce child poverty and enhance child well-being. The programme for Government commits to retaining the child poverty and well-being office in the Department of the Taoiseach to break down silos between Departments and drive delivery of measures aimed at reducing child poverty. The programme for Government also contains many commitments directly relevant to reducing child poverty and promoting child well-being. These commitments include setting an ambitious child poverty target, progressively increasing the child support payment, expanding eligibility for the fuel allowance to families in receipt of the working family payment and exploring a targeted child benefit payment. Investment in education is central to this work to address child poverty and disadvantage. The Government’s vision for education is to deliver a world-class education system which breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve their full potential. That is why we remain committed to building on the work of the DEIS programme, which since 2006 has been operating to tackle educational disadvantage. The Cabinet committee meets quarterly and will meet for the second time shortly.
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So, counselling does not fall under it.
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There is quite a substantial number of questions there. Deputy Bacik raised the establishment of the commission of inquiry.
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I pay tribute to Mark and David Ryan for what they did in providing a catalyst for the establishment of this inquiry and the scoping inquiry before it. It would be unprecedented to have a redress scheme in advance of a commission of inquiry.
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That is difficult as well. One has to make an assessment of what is happening. That said, the Department is working on this. Fundamentally, those who have committed the crimes and those responsible for them should pay. That is the religious orders, in particular. A significant degree of work is under way in the Department to identify various scenarios. In previous times, the State went first and got roundly criticised by everyone in this House. I am particularly thinking of the institutional abuse case, where the State got criticised even though it moved quickly to avoid people having to go through the courts and provided a redress scheme for survivors of institutions. In this instance, many of the orders have resources that they can allocate. In any event, that work is under way. As well as setting up the inquiry, the Minister and her Department are working on that issue. Deputy O'Meara raised the teacher refund scheme. I will talk to the Minister in that regard. I think that is an omission. Counsellors in schools are teachers, predominantly. Deputy Connolly spoke of teacher vacancies. I want to make the point to everyone in the House that the annual education indicators report for the 2023-2024 school year was presented to Cabinet today. It is published jointly by the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. We have more teachers than we ever had. Total teaching posts rose to 76,223 in the last year; that is up from 69,221 in 2020. The pupil-teacher ratio is declining. Class sizes have decreased from 23.3 to 22.5 since 2020. Dividing the number of teachers in schools by pupils gives extraordinary outcomes. The pupil-teacher ratio is 12.8 in a primary school, down from 14.5. It is 12.2 in post primary. That is dividing the number of teachers crudely into the number of pupils. That has created challenges as we seek to expand special classes this year. Some 400 special classes have been confirmed. We need to assess it again. There are particular issues in particular locations with housing and so on but the overall story when you stand back and look at what has happened in recent years is more and more people have come into teaching. Listening to some of the commentary, one would imagine it was going in the opposite direction. There needs to be balance and perspective in the debate. I just thought I would make that observation. I will come back to the Deputy on recruitment of teachers for the 400 extra classes. Deputy Ó Murchú raised class places for children with special educational needs. Some significant work has been undertaken by the Minister with responsibility for special education, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister for education, Deputy McEntee. Both are working hard on special education and securing places for children in advance of the school year. They have made good progress. Some schools will need structural work. Some may not be ready in September but will certainly be ready at some stage in the next school year. We are doing everything we can to ensure that in future years planning starts earlier. Trials are being conducted on a common application system to streamline that. When we provide additional places, it is important they are for children on the waiting list, primarily. That is why they are being secured and the NCSE is working hard on that. In response to Deputy Coppinger, what is significant in terms of third level education is that we are now third in the OECD for tertiary attainment. In Ireland 54% of adults hold a third level qualification which is well above the European Union average of 35%. The national access plan, SUSI grants and the fund for students with disabilities have significantly widened access for disadvantaged, disabled and under-represented students. That is a story of progress that does not get highlighted at all. The share of higher education entrants with a disability rose from 12.4% in 2022 to 14.7% in 2024. Over 14,800 learners with disabilities are now in further education. A Fianna Fáil Minister introduced DEIS more than two decades ago. Norma Foley in the last Government dramatically expanded it. The good news is that progression from DEIS schools to further and higher education has risen to 64%, closing the gap with the non-DEIS schools, which stands at 80%. These are real achievements at third level and we should not lose sight of them in all the other commentary. I dealt with that issue earlier. The budget and the Estimates will deal with the provision for third level education for the next academic year. I think I answered Deputy O'Rourke's question on the commission of investigation, in that the Minister and the Department officials are working on that issue. They have a bit more work to do. They will come back to the House when that is completed. I am not quite clear what Deputy O'Sullivan was referring to in respect of the Department of children and equality not reconciling pay and numbers between the HSE and the Department of children. I will check that with the Minister for children and come back to the Deputy. On Deputy's Heneghan's issue, is it that the school has privately resourced a teacher?
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I will have to look into the background of that and come back to the Deputy with an answer from the Minister. On Deputy McDonald's question about special needs assistants, the numbers are growing exponentially.
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I do not know what is happening with individual schools' allocations but the numbers are growing exponentially. We are close to 23,000 SNAs now. It has been a story of increases and increases. I acknowledge the numbers of children who have been identified with a disability has increased as well. It was quite high in the most recent census, much higher than the previous census. Demand is rising but so are the allocations.
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I do not have the specifics of those schools and the Deputy has identified them-----
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----but maybe the Minister can respond to the specifics of that. On Deputy McGuinness' question, as he knows there had been a previous industrial relations issue about secretaries' salaries. That was settled with Fórsa trade union. The term used at the time was full and final settlement. I acknowledge pensions is a separate issue. First of all, school secretaries are an extremely important part of the entire staff of a school and are key. I welcome the fact we were able to arrive at a settlement on the pay front. The Minister is keeping this issue under review. Obviously, this is an issue that at some stage has to get into a process to get resolved.
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 27, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on infrastructure last met on Monday, 28 April and is due to meet again on Thursday, 17 July. The committee oversees programme for Government commitments in relation to infrastructure delivery and its work reflects the importance this Government is placing on the issue. The delivery of growth enhancing infrastructure is a key enabler for our national competitiveness, fostering regional development, delivering on our housing commitments and meeting social needs. The new infrastructure division is now up and running in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. It is examining the means by which infrastructure development can be accelerated. The division includes experts who have been deployed from EirGrid, ESB Networks, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Uisce Éireann and An Coimisiún Pleanála. These experts are working with officials in the Department to develop impactful policies that improve the speed and efficiency of critical infrastructure delivery. The new division is currently engaging with experts, consulting with stakeholders and the public and reviewing international best practice. Through this process, it is identifying the most critical barriers to delivery and will develop a set of high impact reform measures to address these barriers. To oversee the work of the division, an accelerating infrastructure task force has also been established, chaired by the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and is comprised of independent experts along with representatives from commercial, semi-State bodies at the front line of infrastructure development. The Cabinet committee on infrastructure is also overseeing the review process for the national development plan, which will be completed in the coming weeks. The review will set our investment priorities for the next five years, ensuring focus on programmes which will enable economic and social development, with a particular focus on housing, energy, water, grid infrastructure and health digitalisation.
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I thank all the Deputies for the contributions. Deputy Bacik raised the greater Dublin drainage project. As she said herself, it was quashed by the High Court, for some technical reason or whatever. The Government is not responsible for that. I do not know what the issues were that led to-----
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I know but the Deputy asked a very interesting question: what will be done at the highest level? Is she saying we should interfere with An Bord Pleanála? I am not being facetious.
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We want it out of An Bord Pleanála as quickly as we can but, given the experience of the High Court the last time, I presume those concerned do not want to end up there again. We have the commission, An Coimisiún Pleanála, which will over time be given mandatory timelines to deliver on planning positions. It is a very serious issue. One wonders why we have had serial objections to wastewater treatment plants over the past two decades. Even those who are for the environment oppose water treatment plants even though they are designed to treat raw sewage going into the harbour. This has been a feature of Irish society for quite a while. Then we end up with judicial reviews. The new planning legislation seeks to streamline the practice of judicial reviews but it was opposed by everyone in the House bar those on the Government side in the last Dáil. There is no point in coming in here and asking me what will be done at the highest level. We all agree in here that there has to be separation between An Bord Pleanála’s decision-making process and the Government and Oireachtas. If we started interfering in various decisions, it would be a problem. I do believe there is an issue. I take the Deputy’s point on being honest in our conversation on infrastructure that is vital nationally. Water is an essential existential resource for the citizens of a city or country. Wastewater treatment is like this. Therefore, these are issues we should keep under review. We have the Constitution and legal frameworks, and people have rights and there are societal rights. In any event, I hope a decision comes through quickly because we do need to get the work under way. The provision of water, to me, has to be the number one priority. On Deputy Moynihan’s point, public transport is extremely important. There will be significant investment in public transport under the national development plan. I take the point on sustainable communities. I travelled around Lucan and Clondalkin with the Deputy in respect of a very serious issue concerning access to playing facilities and what I would see as poor provision by local authorities in respect of existing land and pitches for clubs, restrictions on them and so on. We do not experience that in other counties. Dublin has particular problems in that regard. I was at a pitch with the Deputy and noted it could not be accessed at all by the club for three months of the winter because it had no floodlights. The councils in Dublin need to get a move on. In Kerry and Cork, there are facilities everywhere. They are not owned by the councils. In many cases around the country, the councils offer long-term leases. In Dublin, a lease is about five years, ten years or 20 years; in Cork, it is 100 years. I am being provocative but if I were a Dublin TD, I would really be kicking someone regarding this issue because there is a paucity. Some clubs have great sports facilities but in others, as in the Deputy’s locality, access is restricted. I never actually recovered from the 60 m sprint I did with the Deputy. Every joint of the body was suffering afterwards as a result.
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I actually won it but at great cost subsequently, I can say. In response to Deputy Coppinger, as I indicated earlier there actually is a European directive.
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The Irish Aviation Authority has responsibilities here.
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The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will publish a policy framework in the summer in respect of drones. I do think there are issues. There is a balance in respect of the growth of technology and Enterprise Ireland supports up-and-coming technology companies. Drones will be used everywhere in different contexts.
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I do not agree with it for fast food. I was going to come to that. The Deputy is implying a criticism of Enterprise Ireland for supporting a technology company.
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I do not criticise Enterprise Ireland for supporting a technology company or a drone company. There are applications of drones that would be particularly legitimate. Why someone has to get a drone for a cup of coffee is beyond me. You need to walk around to the local shop and get your coffee, or make the cup of coffee, or green tea or whatever your poison is. I have to agree with the Deputy there. We need balance and perspective but we cannot all control human behaviour. There is an issue in terms of regulation. If it gets to a stage where there are 2 million flights, clearly there is a danger and a health and safety issue if nothing else. Deputy James O'Connor raised the major solar installations across the country. There are competing issues there. The various climate reports show that Ireland is falling significantly below the targets in terms of the 51% or in terms of the European Union target. One of the most effective routes for us to try to achieve targets is through renewable energy, be it offshore wind, onshore wind or solar. There are competing interests against that. We are not achieving it at the level we should. Equally, agriculture is extremely important and is vital to local communities in its economic impact and so on. There is a third factor, by the way; private individuals' property rights are enshrined in the Constitution. That cannot be ignored either. There has to be a planning framework governing the use of land. There was a recent study done on land use in the context of climate change, which is a very significant issue. That will cause its own controversy when it is published towards the end of the summer. It will endeavour to say that some lands can be used for this and some can be used for that. It is not simple. However, at the moment we have an opportunity to get a regulatory framework in place. While it is growing, solar is not at any huge level yet. Rooftop solar is vital. That should be done and facilitated. Rooftop is improving dramatically. For example, at PepsiCo in Carrigaline, 25% of its plant is now done by its rooftop solar. I do get the point about whether, if it is very rich agricultural land, it should remain to be used for agricultural purposes. I envisage that in the future, in less productive areas, we need to incentivise more alternative revenue streams for farmers. We definitely need to do that into the future.
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I apologise. To Deputy Ó Cearúil, I absolutely agree on the need for social infrastructure to be considered alongside expansion, schools, creches and other social infrastructure. I agree with Deputy Heneghan on the detention ponds and all that. There are mechanisms that are low cost that can be used and should be deployed. On Dublin Bay more generally, we want to clean up our waterways and estuaries significantly. To Deputy Fleming, we have a target date of the end of July for publication of the national development plan. The Apple windfall, as it is called, will be allocated in the context of the NDP. The big priorities are housing, water, the grid, health digitalisation and public transport and roads. Deputy Ó Murchú referred to the EPA report. I do not have the exact specifics of the ones he referenced. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy James Browne, who is responsible for the wastewater treatment plants and so on.
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I was intrigued by the Deputy's commentary that he has very good local contacts with Uisce Éireann and that occasionally he has very good engagement with the corporate level but suddenly it seems to have fallen into a lull at the moment.
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You want us to step in and resuscitate----
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----oil the wheels of your engagement process with Uisce Éireann. I will take an opportunity to refer them to your comments.
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I will remember that.
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