St. Mary of the Angels and St. Francis Special School in Beaufort in the heart of County Kerry is a very special place. The special needs community in Kerry has a major respite crisis. The families do not have the time to wait. The ground and the campus at St. Mary of the Angels should be made accessible now. Families do not have time to wait. They need help. They are not asking for full-time residential care but respite care, a break and a helping hand. Having more respite will cost the Government far less than full-time residential places. The Doyle family, who so generously donated these lands many years ago for children with profound disabilities and special needs, should have their wishes followed through. There are services there, empty buildings and 30 acres of prime development land. A one-size-fits-all approach has to be taken into consideration as many of the children who attend St. Francis Special School or many of the children in the county with profound needs need a safe haven where they can roam the grounds freely. St. Mary of the Angels offers this. Houses in the community, while they are necessary, do not meet the needs of all the children who are by and large young adults or adults today. A number of Ministers have visited the campus in recent times, including the Minister, Deputy Foley, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and, more recently, the Minister of State Deputy Naughton. Others will be visiting the campus in the near future. The time is opportune to push this on and develop it for respite. Families are crying out for help. They are at the end of their tether, to be honest about it. They are only getting one or two weekends in the year. A working group is being formed. St. John of God, the HSE and representatives of the residents, St. Mary of the Angels and St. Francis school and others need to sit down and get respite provided there as soon as humanly possible. Parents are worn out and they need help. There are very few positions in respite available in our county. It is in the programme for Government to make disability a key factor. Now is the time; it is opportune. We have the site, the campus, the buildings and the services there. Please help these people. They need all our help. They have been forgotten about for far too long. I have met with the parents individually and collectively. Their stories are harrowing. I am pleading again tonight to help these people. It is a small ask. They are doing tremendous work at home but there is only so much they can do.

Thar ceann an Aire Leanaí, Míchumais agus Comhionannais, an Teachta Foley, is mian liom mo buíochas a ghabhail leis an Teachta as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú agus as deis a thabhairt don Aire – is mé atá ag labhairt ar a son – freagra a thabhairt. This Government acknowledges that demand for respite services across the country remains high and is working together with the HSE and service providers to increase provision. Increasing the provision of respite services is a key priority area for this Government and for people with disabilities and their families, as the Deputy has outlined. The HSE advises that a range of respite models for children and adults is provided in Kerry. These include residential respite centres, after school-clubs, in-home support, outreach supports and holiday breaks. These options ensure that respite is provided in the manner which best meets the needs of people with disabilities, their families and carers. It is acknowledged that while there has been significant additional investment in respite, there remains an unmet need. The Deputy will be aware that St. Mary of the Angels campus, operated by St. John of God Services and funded by the HSE, is currently home to just over 50 people. Day services are also provided there. Furthermore, St. Francis Special School, funded by the Department of Education, is located on the campus grounds of St. Mary of the Angels. The Deputy is no doubt aware that in May 2005, services and ownership of St. Mary of the Angels was transferred from the Franciscan Sisters to the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. Currently St. Mary of the Angels is operated by St. John of God Services Limited. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the HSE and St. John of God Services are working on expanding a working group to explore the future use of the St. Mary of the Angels site. The Department The Department, along with the HSE, will continue to work with service providers and families to develop additional respite services.

Historically, the respite at Cúnamh Iveragh respite centre in Cahersiveen has been offered from Friday to Sunday. It is only running at half-capacity. There were four beds there. It is two adults per night instead of four. I am reliably informed the issue is that the HSE is not releasing the funding. I cannot understand or accept that. I ask the Minister of State to address this issue. The facility should be available to the parents who are crying out for overnight respite. This should be done sooner rather than later. In every corner of our county there are parents begging and it is not good enough and not fair. Again, I am pleading here tonight. I have raised this matter several times since I was elected to Dáil Éireann on 1 December at 10 o'clock. It is a top priority for me and my constituents in Kerry, and especially the families. As I mentioned earlier, I have met parents individually and collectively. Their stories are harrowing and would break your heart. That is not good enough. We have a facility in the heart of the county, in mid-Kerry not far from where I live. It is a beautiful top-class campus. To see what St. Francis special school is doing for the children there. There is a big gap when the children reach 18 years of age and go on to adulthood. We need to address this sooner rather than later.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú inniu. We hear the passion Deputy Cahill brings to this issue. The future use of the site is currently under consideration by a working group. The Minister, Deputy Foley, wants to assure Deputy Cahill that this Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities, which will empower them to live their lives, provide greater independence in accessing their services and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. The Department and the HSE are aware of the demand for respite services in Kerry. The Deputy has outlined that with great passion and vigour, in terms of what the constituents are saying in Kerry, and they are right. As outlined in the programme for Government, in response to this the Government is committed to increasing funding and the provision of respite services. Significant investment has been allocated to respite in recent years. It has gone from €6.4 million in 2019 to €12.4 million in 2024, which is an almost 100% increase in a six year period. The HSE advises that further regional respite services are being developed throughout Kerry to meet the needs of people closer to home, in locations that best meet the needs and minimise travel to services. The HSE will continue to work with service providers and families to develop the needs that Deputy Cahill rightly outlines in Kerry.

I ask the Minister of State to relay the importance of this issue to his Cabinet colleagues. I cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of this issue and how difficult it is for all the families concerned in Kerry. I have no doubt it is similar in other counties and throughout the country. I am pleading again. It is an opportune site and an opportune location for the Department of children, the HSE and St. John of God to make a plan and not shove the can down the road any further. They are sick to death of hearing this over many years. It is time for action. It is in the programme for Government. It is supposed to be a priority of Government. We need it to happen now.

My question relates specifically to the ask for a new special school in Dublin 1. In response to a recent parliamentary question, which I submitted to the HSE about the number of children's disability network teams, CDNTs, that do not have special schools in their catchment area. We learned that, of the 93 CDNTs across the country, 16 are not in the catchment area of a special school, namely, west Limerick, west Cork, north-west Cork, east-central Cork, north Cork city and Blarney, south Cork city, Thomastown, Clonmel, New Ross, Gorey, mid-Wicklow, south Wicklow, Portarlington, Edenderry, Coolock, Blakestown and the north inner city. It is the north inner city and my own constituency in Dublin 1 in which I have a particular interest. There are very serious consequences and impacts for those children who are currently attending CDNTs who do not have a special school in their area. We know that most special schools have an enrolment policy which will have a catchment area. Those children outside the catchment area are automatically disadvantaged. The most appalling thing about this is we are pitting kids against one another by virtue of their postcode. There is another horrible reality in Dublin in that many families are living in accommodation that is not suitable and not appropriate to their needs and not necessarily in places where they should be living or that are outside of where they want to be. They are doubly disadvantaged. The other key impact of not having a special school in the CDNT is that children are ending up in inappropriate school places. For a child with autism and co-occurring with a mild intellectual disability, they may be best suited to an autism class but they end up being put into a mainstream class and having to make do there. Alternatively, somebody with moderate autism co-occurring with moderate intellectual disability may end up in an autism class when, really, a special school is what they need. What then happens is we have an enormous stress for the child in terms of his or her ability to learn. We know of parents sitting outside during the school day because their child is not toilet trained and the parent has to come in and help with the toileting. Notwithstanding the brilliant effort of the schools and the teachers and the SNAs in Dublin 1, some of them are not equipped to deal with the level of needs they are currently having to cater for and are responsible for in their schools. The real risk is that when we have children in inappropriate places, they are put on a reduced school day, they may be suspended or, indeed expelled. That is not what we want for these children. My particular interest in Dublin 1 is borne out of the fact I have had so much contact with the mammies - some daddies, but mainly mammies - in the Dublin Central equality in education campaign. I refer to the number of children, both those wanting to start preschool who cannot find a special school place and, even more particularly, the other cohort of children we do not speak enough about, namely, those coming out of the primary school system who need to go into a special school and simply cannot find that place. We know that some special schools across Dublin city and county are discriminating based on age against those children. They are telling those children they are simply too old and prioritising those children who are younger. My plea to the Minister of State is that we need to have a special school in the Dublin 1 area. There is a special school in Dublin 7, An Cosán Community Special School, which is fantastic, but the reality is children in Dublin 1 are not being prioritised for the school in Dublin 7. They need to have their own special school.

The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with more complex educational needs. Over 300 new special school places are being provided for the coming 2025-26 school year. Five new special schools are being established in addition to the 11 new special schools that opened over the past few years. Of these 16 new schools, six have been established in Dublin, bringing the number of NCSE-supported special schools in the county to 42. Special school capacity is also being expanded across a number of existing special schools. This means capacity across Dublin city and county will increase to over 2,700 special school places. Of the 399 special classes sanctioned for September 2025, 98 are in County Dublin and these will be added to the existing 602 special classes currently in operation in the county. There continues to be an increasing need to provide additional special school places to support children with complex needs. The new special schools established in recent years have focused on providing additional places in our largest urban areas, namely, Dublin and Cork. The Department of Education and Youth and NCSE have already begun planning with regard to further expanding special school capacity for the 2026-27 school year. It is estimated that a further 300 new special school places may be required each year in the coming years. When looking to provide additional capacity, the Department’s preferred option is to increase provision in existing special schools, if possible. Where this is not possible in a region, the Department and NCSE will consider the need to establish a new special school. In planning for increased special school places, the Department and NCSE review all the available data on the growing need for special school places across the country. This involves a detailed analysis of enrolment trends and the potential for existing special schools in a region to expand. The NCSE continues to monitor demand for special school places at a local and national level and is committed to ensuring that adequate provision remains nationwide.

I thank the Minister of State. I am conscious that he is relaying the message from the Department. It is not very heartening to see that the Department has completely ignored the specific request with regard to Dublin 1. The reality is that schools in the Dublin 1 area are having to make do in the context of a declining ratio of special needs assistants to children because the number of children needing an SNA is going up and the number of SNAs is staying the same. In addition, children are having to leave their CDNT in the Summerhill are and move to a CDNT area elsewhere in order to go to a special school or special class. The critical point here is that we know education is best when it is closest to home. We know that care is best when there is continuity of care. These children are being failed on both counts because many children who stay within the Summerhill CDNT in Dublin 1 are being put into inappropriate school places, notwithstanding the brilliant effort of the schools locally. If they have to be moved outside of the CDNT catchment area, they need to up sticks and get their care elsewhere in another CDNT. That is frankly not acceptable. My specific and direct plea to the Minister of State, which I ask him to convey to the Minister, is that we need a special school for Dublin 1 and, indeed, for all 16 of the CDNTs that currently do not have a special school. These children are being put at a further disadvantage to the disadvantage they are already experiencing. Parents are in desperation and have to submit 20 or 30 applications to try to find a school place. My ask is that we make sure there is a special school in every CDNT.

The Deputy took what I said as bad news. I think I gave constructive news, if she heard what I said, which is that there are 300 new special school places, which it is acknowledged are needed for those who need them, and that the Department and the NCSE in particular have proceeded to decide where they are going. I have no doubt the Department will listen to what the Deputy said in the Dáil tonight. It will look at this, as I am sure the Deputy will understand, taking a holistic and analytical approach to see where places are needed. That is going to happen. I am glad that under the previous Government we restarted the reopening of special schools. That continues apace. We know the demand that is there at the moment. The NCSE will look at where those schools should be located. I have no doubt it will look at areas where there are no special schools if existing schools in the region cannot accommodate. To be clear, the Department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements are available for children with special educational needs. They will continue to review and monitor the situation in County Dublin, which includes Dublin 1, and nationwide as to where new special schools are required.

The figures released by the HSE this week to my colleague, Deputy Quaide, reveal a truly shocking level of waiting times for essential primary care services for children. My constituency of Dublin North-West has recorded the longest waiting time in the country for psychology services for a child, with one waiting 706 weeks, or 13 and a half years, for psychological care. I cannot understand how a child whose parent probably contacted the HSE and was probably referred by a GP in need of psychological supports, be that for mental health trauma or developmental need for intervention, has been left waiting for 13 and a half years for that support from the State. The longest wait time in the country for speech and language therapy is over six years, or 313 weeks, also in my constituency of Dublin North-West. What is going on here? Everything we know about children and psychology is that early intervention is absolutely key. From speech and language to behaviour to dealing with trauma, early intervention in children is absolutely essential so they can develop and grow and reach their potential and the issue they face is addressed and does not leave lifelong impacts. I am not surprised by these figures because I have been contacted by many parents in my constituency who have children with additional and developmental needs. While working with them, they have told me they have been stuck on waiting lists for primary care supports, therapies and interventions. They have told me about the stress and anguish they face, their frustration and experience and the negative impact on their children of being unable to get the vital services they need. One particular case in my constituency concerns a mother who contacted me about her young son. He received an autism diagnosis in April 2024 and the diagnosis report indicated that follow-on psychology, occupational therapy and speech therapy were required. When looking for these services, however, she has been left utterly heartbroken by the lack of availability of services. Over a year later, she has not been able to secure any therapy for her son, particularly occupational therapy, which she was advised he would need and from which he would really benefit. Like so many others, she has had to pay privately for speech and language therapy. Many children are being impacted by this in my constituency and across the country. They are being denied the right to see therapists and get speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological support when they need it most. The crisis is one of a lack of staffing. There is a number of reasons for this, particularly the HSE primary care strategy known as pay and numbers, as well as the recruitment embargo, but also issues with retaining and attracting staff and Dublin is a particular issue. We know the cost of housing is a major issue, but other issues raised with me by staff in these services include childcare and a lack of maternity care. We do not see staff being replaced. Will the Minister of State explain why the waiting lists for psychology and speech and language therapy in my constituency of Dublin North-West are the highest in the country? What is he going to do to ensure these wait times are reduced and that children and their families have access to the primary care services they urgently need?

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this issue. It gives the Minister the opportunity to update the Dáil on this important issue. What the Deputy has set out is not acceptable. Primary care services, including primary care psychology, play a central role in providing care and treatment to both children and adults in the community. Per the implementation of the national policy on access for children and young people with a disability or developmental delay, children and young people with complex disabilities are seen within the children’s disability network teams, whereas those with less complex needs are seen within the primary care services. The HSE has advised that increases in the numbers of referrals and an increase in the complexity of presentations requiring more intensive interventions have resulted in increased pressure on primary care services, including primary care psychology. As the Deputy outlined, primary care services are facing staff shortages and ongoing recruitment challenges for health and social care professionals working in general and specialist services in the community. These factors have all contributed to an increase in waiting lists for services across the country, including Dublin North-West. This Government recognises, however, the central role that primary care therapy services play in offering the opportunity for early and cost-effective interventions for children and young people. In budget 2025, the Government continued its investment in initiatives aimed at addressing long waiting times for children and young people, including in child psychology. This year, funding of €4.75 million to continue this initiative will target the removal from the waiting list of 2,933 people under the age of 18 who have been waiting longer than 52 weeks to access the service, with almost 900 people already removed at the end of the first quarter of this year. The Minister for Health fully acknowledges there is an urgent need to reduce waiting times and waiting lists for primary care services and to improve consistency of patient experience regardless of location. In line with the programme for Government commitment to build capacity in primary care therapy services, a programmatic approach to address primary care waiting lists has been developed jointly by the Department of Health and the HSE. The aim of this programmatic approach is to put in place considerable standardised infrastructure to support systematic responses to primary care waiting lists and to facilitate a greater understanding of the scale of demand, which we all know about and the Deputy has outlined, as well as the drivers of demand and to allow for more timely access, improved planning, interventions, investment considerations, enhanced productivity and the most efficient use of capacity. This approach involves three main workstreams which aim to improve access to primary care therapy services by analysing activity and maximizing capacity, developing national measures to reduce long waiting times, and creating a consistent management protocol for referrals and waiting lists to these services.

I thank the Minister of State for that. I appreciate the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is responding by saying she will address this and take action. I am disappointed there was not a specific response to the constituency of Dublin North-West or the rationale for why that area in particular has such high lists. The Minister of State might take that back to the Minister to ask what specific interventions will be addressed for this in my constituency. Again, that length of time is truly shocking when we think that the child in question, who is waiting for responses and services, must have been two or three years of age and now would be 16 or 17 years of age. It is absolutely unacceptable. I did not hear or read in the response any increase in recruitment of staff. Again, this is a key issue. The lack of staffing is clearly identified. The Minister of State identified in his statement the increase in complexity of need and number of referrals so clearly there is an increased need for staff. Existing staff cannot cope with that increase in either. References to workstreams, analysing capacity and aims of developing plans do not say recruitment of staff. I would like the Minister of State to address that in his response. What is the Department going to do to increase the number of staff so it can provide the services needed? Even producing these high-level waiting times does not address the other issue of people waiting six months, a year or two years. This issue, in a matter of weeks and months, has lifelong impacts on children.

We fully recognise the frustration of people in the Deputy's constituency with long waiting times for certain services. Much more needs to be done, particularly to fill vacancies, as he has said, to address waiting lists and to ensure consistent, equitable and timely access. As I said, we have a child psychology waiting list initiative alongside a joint Department and HSE programmatic approach. We are committed to building capacity within primary care, particularly by recruiting additional staff numbers, promoting advanced practice roles in the community for health and social care professions and increasing - this is critical and goes to the Deputy's point - the number of college training places for health and social care professions. Each of the six health regions and each national service has been provided with a specified number of whole-time equivalents and can replace, recruit and prioritise staff within that number. This gives them more power and control to focus resources where they are needed and informs decision-making at a local level regarding prioritisation and filling of waiting lists. There are challenges, particularly with local vacancies, which the Deputy has outlined and these are impacting on waiting times. Each of the health regions now has its own budget. The leadership team with responsibility for local decision-making continues to work towards the Sláintecare objectives. The Government remains committed to the development of the primary and community healthcare services as outlined in the programme for Government and we will certainly take those points the Deputy has raised here in the Dáil back to the Minister.

It is 11.45 p.m. now and it is right and proper that we are discussing the situation in Gaza. With our long-standing commitment to human rights and neutrality in global conflicts, Ireland is well positioned to play a constructive role in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We must now use whatever leverage we have in a diplomatic capacity on the international stage. We have a moral obligation to act on the genocide that is unfolding. We know all too well in Ireland the devastating impact an artificial famine on the scale seen in Gaza can have. Ireland still has not come close to its population of the 1840s, however, these Palestinians have nowhere to go; no coffin ships for them. They are trapped on a narrow strip of land to starve or die of thirst. It is impossible to know how many are dead. Most estimates agree on at least 50,000 people, though many are buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings and Palestinian homes. The programme for Government makes many commitments when it comes to Gaza. I suppose the acid test - whatever it is - will be whether it translates into something successful. Where stands the commitment to continue to work with partners in the region to advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of all hostages and the surge of humanitarian aid? Israel killed 60 people in Gaza yesterday. It is shelling what are charitably being described as refugee camps. These small collections of sheet metal, plastic or tarpaulin offer little comfort when artillery shells and missiles rain down from the sky. Aid workers are being shot dead and left at the side of the road. There has been no surge of aid or relief from the brutal starvation that has been imposed on the Gazans. The world watches as vital aid trucks pile up at the border and children starve just a few miles away from food. It is appalling. Ireland must push for a united European stance which ensures sustained humanitarian corridors into Gaza, specifically designed to allow aid convoys safe and unhindered passage. Some of the commitments are admirable but risk becoming irrelevant. The Irish Government will seek to grow the international coalition of countries supporting a two-state solution through recognition of the State of Palestine. The Israeli defence minister is talking about building a concentration camp in southern Gaza on the ruins of the Gazans' own homes. Israeli forces continue to launch raids into the West Bank and seize hundreds of acres of land for their settlers to take over. My concern is that it will be too late to seek support for a two-state solution when there are no Palestinians left, bar those filling the graveyards or dying in their thousands on the sides of the roads. Children are being wiped out by a murderous Israeli military which is hell-bent on clearing Gaza of every Palestinian and which views hospitals, schools and people queuing up for food and bread as legitimate targets. Netanyahu is using this opportunity to wipe out the Palestinians' future and erase any possibility of statehood. Israel is corralling people like cattle, using tank shells as crowd control weapons and machine-gunning people queuing for food and water. It is happening every day. Ambulance workers are being murdered and buried at the side of the road. The collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the genocide they are being forced to endure while the world watches on must end. What can we do to make the killing stop and get the vital aid trucks through? We have to show leadership on this issue. There are great powers arrayed against us and we need to find a way to end this slaughter.

I genuinely and sincerely thank Deputy Crowe for tabling this very timely Topical Issue. Even though it is a late hour, it is the most appropriate opportunity to talk about a key aspect of a vicious and bloody conflict that has seized the Irish and global body politic for quite some time, particularly since the horrific events of 7 October, followed by the brutal and unacceptable response of the Israeli Government. The latest statistics are even worse than the Deputy laid out. The humanitarian situation worsens daily with more than 57,000 reportedly killed and more than 134,000 - probably 135,000 by the time I sit down - injured. After a total Israeli blockade from 2 March to 27 May, and only a trickle of aid in the last few weeks, my Government colleagues and I share the UN’s concerns that Israel’s new model for delivering aid into Gaza through private contractors, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is not in accordance with humanitarian principles. Ireland stands ready and is more than standing ready. Ireland has acted, both in the form of our Government but also more collectively in this Parliament, not just to show our solidarity with the people of Palestine in Gaza, but also Jerusalem and the West Bank, which perhaps does not get the mention it deserves at times. Ireland has provided over €88 million in support to the people of Palestine since January 2023. In 2025, we have provided €22 million so far and a further €4 million will be provided this month. Our support this year includes €20 million in core funding to UNRWA, which brings Ireland’s support to UNRWA to €58 million since the beginning of 2023. I continue to urge our partners to increase their support to UNRWA and I welcome the EU’s payment of €52 million to UNRWA in June. I encourage the rapid payment of the balance of the EU’s 2025 funding, amounting to €30 million. Despite the expulsion of many international aid workers, there are still over 3,000 local staff working for UNRWA on the ground and providing vital humanitarian aid. To respond to the Deputy’s specific questions and for the interest of the House, when he talks about the commitment in the programme for Government to work with partners, the Tánaiste met the Prime Minister of Qatar just last week and the Taoiseach has been in constant engagement with regional partners. The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and I have attended countless meetings at EU, UN and multilateral levels to work with partners, including to see if we can partner with the United Arab Emirates to get an element of humanitarian surge. On the first day that humanitarian aid was let back into Gaza, just 91 trucks were let in and, of those, 60 came from the UAE. Ireland has had two trucks of aid stuck in Jordan for over 70 days at this point. When I talk about aid, it is important to break down what we are talking about. We are talking about tarpaulin and ground sheets. We are not talking about anything advanced. It is simply a bit of shelter, food and medicine - the basic elements. In relation to building a coalition, when Ireland proposed over a year ago the review of the EU-Israel association agreement by reviewing Article 2, based on human rights abuses, only two EU member states backed that, those being, Ireland and Spain. At the meeting I attended six weeks ago, that number was up to 19 member states and the review subsequently and obviously found vicious human rights abuses. Equally, regarding the coalition to build towards a two-state solution, there was to be a large conference co-organised by the French and the Saudis in New York at the start of last month. Unfortunately, the escalation of violence involving the Iranians led to its suspension. Consistently at an EU level, however, Ireland puts the case about why, over a year ago, Norway, Spain and Ireland recognised the State of Palestine and why we are encouraging and working with other EU partner member states to do likewise this year.

My message is that we must use every lever at our disposal. I know Ireland is an outlier in relation to the occupied territories Bill, for example, but I respectfully believe that we must include services. Otherwise, it is tokenistic and only goes to soothe our own conscience. We need to turn off the tap of trade from the occupied territories and finally sanction Israel and its ministers for their actions. Then let us utilise our history and expertise in developmental aid and crisis aid that we in Ireland have built up over the decades, and get food and water to those children who are dying as we speak. I know all of us in this House share the same fundamental commitment to human dignity, justice and the protection of innocent life. We all believe that everyone has a basic right to live free from violence, oppression and fear, but simply holding that belief is not enough. A moral imperative extends beyond statements of condemnation. It has to include delivering humanitarian aid and ensuring that the international institutions uphold their responsibilities. We must risk losing friends if that is what it takes to do the right thing. My question is this: are we doing all we can on this issue? Are we doing enough? That is the question we are all trying to answer. We are here at 11.50 p.m. talking about Gaza but are we doing enough as a country and a people? Are we using the strong voice that we have on the international stage to say “No” and that enough is enough?

I do not know. I do not think we are doing enough. I do not think any of us are doing enough because, ultimately, there will be scores of Palestinian children killed tonight. I think we accept that with heavy hearts, but I wonder what more we can do than what we are doing. It is important that we constantly have this debate. That is why I repeat my genuine gratitude to the Deputy for tabling this debate and giving us this opportunity to discuss what has been done and what more can be done. The Deputy is right to talk about the moral imperative. There is also a legal imperative based on the International Court of Justice, ICJ. Ireland has acted on that and become a party to the case. The Deputy understandably mentioned the occupied territories Bill, which is with the committee at this point. I can confirm to the House that I have already had engagement with the Slovenian foreign minister and just last week with the Norwegian minister, who said that if we managed to pass legislation that sought to do what they wanted us to do in terms of the occupied territories Bill for goods and, indeed, services and if that was feasible, they would replicate that legislation. That is how we build the coalition the Deputy spoke of in his opening intervention. I think about the review of the EU-Israel association agreement that Ireland secured, but it is now up to the EU to act. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, has raised this repeatedly at the General Affairs Council to make sure there is real action. We are looking at how other states have sanctioned Israeli ministers and at what options there are to also do that at an EU level. I will conclude by referencing humanitarian aid, Ireland's track record and the work of bodies like Trócaire and many other aid agencies in Gaza over many years, aid programmes that are now suspended. We are at a very delicate time in global history, when far too many actors are cutting their overseas development aid. Against that, Ireland increased its overseas development aid budget. When the rest of the EU suspended funding to UNRWA, we increased our funding to UNRWA. Of course, we can do more, and we will absolutely do more for the people of Gaza.

Before I speak on the substantive issue, I commend and thank my colleague, Deputy Crowe, for raising the previous issue and add my support to it. We need to do all we possibly can and more to halt, as best we can, the genocide that is taking place in Gaza. It is truly an affront to our collective humanity. My Topical Issue relates to the provision of a premises in Tramore for Naíonra Philib Barún. We have there a thriving Irish-medium early years facility, full to capacity on a Department of education-owned site adjacent to a Gaelscoil. The Government has failed and is continuing to fail to fund a proper building, seemingly because the naíonra, as the vast bulk of naíonraí do, serves ECCE-aged children. Naíonra Philib Barún has been at the heart of early years education in Tramore since 1983. It is rooted in the community and, as I alluded, affiliated with Gaelscoil Philib Barún, and it is central to the development of Irish-medium education in the town. Tá an naíonra seo ag feidhmiú i seomra amháin i seanprefab gan an spás ná an caighdeán atá de dhíth nó atá tuillte ag na páistí. Tá sé lonnaithe i suíomh atá faoi úinéireacht na Roinne oideachais. Tá an tseirbhís lán go béal. Tá liosta feithimh ann. Tá suíomh nua ina seilbh acu, ach toisc go dtosaíonn an naíonra le páistí ó dhá bhliain agus ocht mí faoin scéim ECCE, tá siad eisiata ó mhaoiniú caipitil faoin scéim building blocks extension. Tá sé sin míréasúnta agus déanann sé dochar don earnáil Ghaeilge, sna luathbhlianta go háirithe, ar an taobh sin de Chontae Phort Láirge. Twenty-two children attend the naíonra daily. The service also includes a morning and an afterschool service for children attending Gaelscoil Philib Barún. It is operating out of a single room in an old prefab that has long passed its sell-by date. With an extra room, they could double their capacity since the demand is there, as shown by the waiting list. They have secured a new and better site right beside the Gaelscoil but because they deliver the ECCE programme and do not take children from one year of age, they are blocked from accessing capital support. I raised the matter in a parliamentary question last week and, if I am honest, the Minister's reply did not inspire much confidence. It was a stock answer and simply referred the naíonra to the local childcare committee, suggesting it might be able to point them in the right direction. If we are honest, that is not a solution. It was so weak, I am not sure if it even qualifies as a cop-out. The question is simple: if a naíonra like Naíonra Philib Barún, with its record, capacity, demand and a new site, which is ready to go, cannot access capital support from the Department, then who can? What does it say about the Department of children and the Government's approach to Irish-medium early years education? I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, to relay my disappointment and the long-standing disappointment of those involved in the naíonra to the Minister for children. I ask that she would look again at how her Department chooses the projects it will fund, and that she will make the right call by providing the capital necessary to build a new premises for Naíonra Philib Barún.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil thar ceann an Aire leanaí, an Teachta Norma Foley, leis an Teachta McGuinness as an ábhar tábhachtach seo a ardú ar maidin inniu. Is sprioc tábhachtach don Rialtas é rochtain a chur ar fáil do luathoideachas agus cúram leanaí. Tá maoiniú caipitil curtha ar fáil ag an Roinn faoin bplean forbartha náisiúnta chun spásanna nua lánaimseartha a chruthú sna háiteanna ina bhfuil an t-éileamh is airde i gcomparáid leis an soláthar. Tá €25 milliún ar fáil anois chun níos mó spás a chur ar fáil faoin scéim deontais, building blocks extension, ag tacú le tograí tógála de chuid na seirbhísí atá ansin cheana féin. The priority of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality has been the delivery of additional capacity for the types of provision for which there is the greatest need. The scheme is therefore focused on supporting the creation of additional full-time places for children aged from one year to three years through extensions to existing buildings or, in the case of not-for-profit community services, construction or purchase of buildings. Osclaíodh an scéim seo do sheirbhísí a bhí ag cur áiteanna lánaimseartha cheana féin nó a bhí sásta áiteanna nua-aimseartha a chur ar fáil agus a chruthú. I am advised by the Minister that 50 early learning and childcare providers have been shortlisted for funding under this scheme and that these services are working closely with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality to deliver more than 1,500 new quality and affordable places throughout the country. In the case to which the Deputy refers, níor chuir an tseirbhís sin iarratas isteach faoin scéim seo, but I am advised that the Waterford County Childcare Committee has been working with the service to provide them with support and identify opportunities to meet their particular circumstances. The Minister is considering the approach to capital investment in future years within the context of the programme for Government commitments and the revision of the plean forbartha náisiúnta agus tá sé sin ag dul ar aghaidh faoi láthair. The focus will be on the types of provision and the areas where there are the greatest capacity deficits.

With respect, if Government policy excludes a thriving, oversubscribed naíonra providing the only service of its type in a large urban catchment area, that already has secured a site and that has huge community backing, then the policy is not working and the prioritisation is not right. I ndáiríre, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an tAire Stáit ag tabhairt na teachtaireachta seo thar ceann an Aire, an Teachta Foley, ach níor fhreagair sí an cheist sa mhéid sin. I understand the response is from the Minister and is not necessarily the response of the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, but it sidesteps the issue. In one breath, it says that Naíonra Philib Barún did not apply for funding, but in the previous line it says the naíonra would not qualify for it in the first place. Of course it did not apply for a fund for which it was categorically told it would not qualify. I thought I made my point clear: it is that the priority of the Department in regard to the scheme is wrong in that it excludes from funding facilities like Naíonra Philib Barún, other naíonraí and early years facilities that do not cater to one-year-olds and two-year-olds, but start at the ECCE starting age of two years and eight months upwards. Níl ach cothromaíocht á lorg ag Naíonra Philip Barún. Is seirbhís ECCE a chuireann an naíonra seo ar fáil, mar a dúirt mé, a chuireann ar chumas na bpáistí foghlaim trí Ghaeilge agus a bheith in ann freastal ar an nGaelscoil máguaird. Tacaíonn sé le teaghlaigh áitiúla agus cuireann sé le líon na ndaltaí sa Ghaelscoil sa cheantar, chomh maith leis an nGaelcholáiste istigh i gCathair Phort Láirge atá taobh léi. Is dócha, mar Ghaeil, tá muid ag iarraidh go mbeidh daoine in ann freastal ar naíonra, Gaelscoil, Gaelcholáiste agus ollscoil trí mheán na Gaeilge. Muna bhfuil muid ag tacú leis sin, tá teip á déanamh ag an Rialtas. The response reinforces the problem and shows the policy is inflexible and out of step with the real world needs. I welcome that the Minister is considering changing the policy. I ask that the message goes back very clearly that it must happen without further delay.

I dtosach báire, aontaím leis an Teachta go bhfuil tábhacht faoi leith ag baint leis an nGaeilge agus leis na naíonraí trí mheán na Gaeilge. D’fhreastail mé ar naíonra in 1980 agus tá mé fós anseo ag labhairt Gaeilge. Tá suirbhé foilsithe ag an Roinn, the annual early years sector profile. I gcomhthéacs Chontae Phort Láirge, taispeánann an suirbhé go bhfuil líon na bpáistí ar an rolla tar éis méadú agus go bhfuil laghdú tagtha ar líon na ndaoine ar na liostaí feithimh. Beidh 1,500 áit nua an bhliain seo chugainn faoin building blocks extension scheme, lena n-airítear seirbhísí i gContae Phort Láirge. The programme for Government outlines a wider ambition to deliver an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system with State-led facilities adding capacity. This will include additional resources for forward planning, the development of a capital programme of investment for State-owned early learning and childcare facilities, co-ordination with the school building programme, supports for services within schools and developing planning guidelines to ensure that early learning and childcare buildings are provided at the point of use. The Government is committed to delivering on this vision over the term of office.

I thank the Minister of State. I apologise, as I hit the bell in my haste.