I thank Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn for raising this issue. I understand the apology made by our colleague, Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher. I recognise the Deputies' dedication to the people of Donegal and to the issue. I will first address the issue of locations for the surgical hubs. The programme for Government commits to establishing six new hubs, in south Dublin, north Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, and exploring the provision of an additional surgical hub for the north west. The programme for Government also committed to developing new elective treatment centres in Cork, Galway and Dublin, significantly increasing our capacity to deliver elective care and driving down waiting times for everyone. Developments at the named surgical hub sites are well under way. Building on the success of the Reeves day surgery unit in Tallaght, the Minister for Health opened a new surgical unit in Mount Carmel in south Dublin in February and we expect the rest to become operational over the next 18 months. The Minister is clear that no matter where these new facilities are located, everyone should have access to sufficient and appropriate elective surgical capacity. The hubs, along with the new elective treatment centres, will form a national network of elective care. This will enable the delivery of care for all patients, not just those living in a particular location or catchment area. No decision has yet been made on the location of the north-west surgical hub and the Minister is taking time to consider and understand the situation in Donegal. This includes engagement with local representatives, doctors and consultants. I know she was due to meet some of them last night. She remains committed to positively engaging with everyone who is interested in delivering the best healthcare for the people of Donegal. Turning to Letterkenny University Hospital in particular, the Government is committed to the ongoing development of the hospital and has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients there. This has included an increase in the hospital's budget by 57% over the last five years. In that time we have also seen staffing grow by 25% and 28 new beds have been opened. Recent capital projects completed at Letterkenny University Hospital include an extension to the laboratory and works in the acute mental health unit. Several capital projects are under way, including the expansion of the renal department, a pharmacy aseptic unit, a new heating centre and a range of projects to increase capacity. Construction is also under way of a 110-bed community hospital in Letterkenny, representing an investment of €52 million for the enhancement of services for older people. Letterkenny University Hospital has also expressed plans for four key infrastructural projects, which form part of a development control plan within the HSE west and north-west health region. These projects include bed expansion, emergency and urgent care capacity, critical care capacity and an ambulatory care block. We understand these plans are being developed by the hospital and will need to be further considered by the HSE before a decision can be made on their inclusion in the capital programme. I hope the Deputies can see we are committed to the people of Donegal. I look forward to continued engagement on these issues.

Sentiment score: 0.26

Again, I thank Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn for raising the issue. I will take back exactly what they have said regarding Letterkenny University Hospital. The information I have is very clear. No decision has been made on the location of the north-west surgical hubs. I understand meetings were held and there was engagement with the Minister last night on this issue. I hear what the Deputies are saying about the challenges in Letterkenny and Donegal, and I will bring that back to the Department and the Minister. I cannot be clearer than what was in the statement I have in front of me from the Department. I understand the issues the Deputies have raised. Without labouring the point, I will take the points the Deputies raised back to the Department and seek clarification for them.

Sentiment score: 0.12

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, and I fully accept and understand the genuineness with which it is raised. I fully accept the Deputies' bona fides in respect of this issue. The Government is fully committed to supporting all children with additional needs to achieve their full potential. It is a core priority of the work of the Department of education that every child should receive a school place that meets their needs. There is a significant body of work being undertaken to ensure that this is the case. This includes the creation of more than 2,000 new special school classes in mainstream schools and 16 new special schools established since 2019. Both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I meet with Department of education officials and the NCSE on a weekly basis to track the progress of the provision of special classes and special school placements. An additional 399 new special education classes have been sanctioned for this school year. Of these, 287 are at primary level and 112 are at post-primary level. These will be added to the existing 3,335 special classes nationwide, increasing the number of special classes by 103% since 2020. In addition, I also directed a school in County Kildare to open two new special classes under section 37A of the Education Act 1998. In total, therefore, from the next academic year, there will be more than 3,700 special classes and 129 special schools in operation throughout the country. In recent years, the NCSE has advised the Department that after it had sanctioned new special classes, some of the children being offered places in these new special classes were not known to the NCSE. This was having a significant impact on the NCSE's ability to forward plan for the provision of new special classes. To address this issue, the Department of education issued a circular to all schools in October 2024 advising that parents of children seeking special classes or special school places for the 2025-2026 school year would need to notify the NCSE by 1 February. Schools were also asked to ensure that parents of children with special educational needs in mainstream classes who may require a special class were aware of the need to register with the NCSE by 1 February. This circular letter was developed after consultation with school management bodies, special education advocacy groups and the National Parents Council. The NCSE has advised that just under 3,300 valid notifications were received by mid-February last via their new parent notification system. The priority for the NCSE and for the Department has been to ensure that these children and young people are prioritised for enrolment in special classes and in special schools. Sixteen new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in schools in the Dublin 15 local school planning area for the coming school year. These are part of the overall 98 new special classes being provided across schools in Dublin. This is the single largest provision of new special classes in both Dublin 15 and across Dublin. Two of these new special classes have been sanctioned in St. Mochta’s in Dublin 15. As the Deputies know, this is a large primary school serving the needs of the community in Clonsilla and the surrounding areas. These are the first special classes to be established at this school and they have been warmly welcomed by all in the local community. I commend the school leadership, the board of management and the school patrons on working closely with the NCSE and my Department to provide these much-needed classes. Regarding the admission of children into the new special classes, the NCSE continues to work closely with the school to try to progress the matters. The Deputies here, as well as Deputy Emer Currie and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, have been highlighting the issue. As highlighted by the Deputies, an issue has arisen where students already enrolled in mainstream classes in the school but who may require a special class place were brought to the attention of the NCSE after the 1 February timeline. I can confirm that the Department and the NCSE are making arrangements to meet the school and the school patron bodies today on this matter. I will refer to other matters in my supplementary response.

Sentiment score: 0.48

There is a meeting taking place today with the school and school patrons to try to resolve the issue. Without putting words in anybody's mouth, I know the school authorities and the Department have been in contact and they will have a meeting today. Let us see what happens with that. I would be only too delighted to bring back any information to the Deputies by email or otherwise when we have that information to hand. I accept the seriousness of the issue the Deputies have raised, and there are a number of other issues across Dublin 15 regarding school places and school classes. There is one thing that I would ask the Deputies. The new circular has set 1 October 2025 as the date for the 2026 school year. I ask the Deputies to get the message out there that we need the information early in the school year in order to plan properly, so we are not in a situation next year where we are heading into the school holidays and do not have places. We need the information earlier. All of the Deputies are working on the ground and know the families. I ask them to get the message out there that the NCSE has to be notified of the information early so we can carry out proper planning and ensure that families are not in a stressful position. To go back to the issue of St. Mochta’s, a meeting is taking place today. I give an undertaking that, subsequent to that meeting, we will keep all the Deputies informed of how things are progressing.

Sentiment score: 0.20