I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. First, I will discuss the Department of Education and Youth school energy retrofit pathfinder programme. The Department is leading an ambitious sustainable agenda and has progressed a number of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings as part of our work towards the 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Its performance has been recognised at national and international levels with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design, specification and delivery. The Department's policy is supported by a strong research programme, with 56 research programmes at various stages. It is a priority for the Government to deliver on Ireland's ambitious climate agenda and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Department's school sector technical climate action roadmap which was published in 2023 and updated again last year, 2024. In that regard, the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment have developed a joint-funded school sector decarbonisation pathfinder programme. It is administered by the planning and building unit in the Department of Education and Youth and the SEAI in partnership with devolved delivery support from the Cork, Limerick and Clare, and Longford Westmeath education and training boards, ETBs. The pathfinder programme facilitates research into a range of typical retrofit options for schools which will be tried and tested. It is providing valuable development information for a solution-driven strategy which will be founded on a solid evidence base that has proved the robustness and scalability of renewable solutions in the school sector. In this context, the pathfinder programme operates on a selection basis, rather than through an application process. The pathfinder programmes for 2025 have already been committed to. The general principles of the approach to school selection include that schools comply with their annual reporting obligations to the SEAI in respect of energy usage and energy monitoring and reporting scheme and that secondary schools demonstrate a strong holistic commitment to energy management practices through participation in the energy in education website portal and advice programme operated by the SEAI in collaboration with the Department of Education and Youth. The programme selection also seeks to include various cross-sections of school types and sizes, energy consumption profiles and different elements of construction type and heritage conservation requirements where specific learning is being targeted. I should explain that applications for the provision of funding for issues related to an existing school can fall under a number of delivery mechanisms, which most frequently include the summer works and emergency works schemes. The purpose of the emergency works scheme is specifically to provide funding for unforeseen emergencies, thereby ensuring availability of funding for urgent works for schools in need of resources as a result of emergency issues. Regarding the specific school in question, the emergency works team in the Department of Education and Youth is currently engaging with the school on a number of issues and the option remains open to the school to apply for funding for a number of areas of immediate concern through this mechanism. I urge the school and the Deputy to continue to liaise with the Department on the emergency works so we will be able to help the school with the issues the Deputy outlined.

Sentiment score: 0.32

I again thank the Deputy for raising these issues. I note the concerns she has regarding the building in respect of damp, leaks, the toilet facilities and the other issues raised. I take them on board and I will be liaising with the Department in relation to what she outlined. It is greatly important. I understand and accept that St. Joseph's CBS in Drogheda is liaising with the emergency section of the Department. I emphasise it is important this communication channel is kept open so the best possible applications are made in relation to the immediate work we need to do with the challenges in the school. The Deputy mentioned issues with the boilers and their efficiency. She also mentioned the BER rating, and sometimes an awful lot of work must be done in this regard in schools. I do take on board, however, what she has said and I will liaise with the Department on the points she has raised with me. I encourage St. Joseph's CBS to continue to liaise with the Department on emergency funding to ensure we at least tackle the emergency issues in the school in the first instance and then continue to work with the school to try to find solutions to all the issues it has at the school gate.

Sentiment score: 0.21

I thank the Deputy for the question. I will outline the AIM programme although I understand the Deputy is well aware of it. The AIM programme is the model of support designated to ensure children with disabilities can access the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. The main supports are grouped into universal or targeted supports. The universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in early education and care settings through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child to ensure that the child can meaningfully participate in ECCE programmes, targeted supports are available, such as specialised equipment, appliances or capital grants toward minor building alterations. Additional funding is available for ECCE settings where a child requires extra support either to reduce the child-to-adult ratio in the room or to fund an additional staff member as a shared resource with other children in the setting. Crucially, access to AIM is based on the need of an individual child and does not require a diagnosis. In line with the commitment in First 5: A Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families 2019-2028, an independent evaluation of AIM was undertaken. The purpose of this evaluation was to inform an extension of AIM beyond the ECCE programme as well as any potential enhancements to the model. The findings of the evaluation were published in January 2024 and informed the phased extension of the AIM programme. Additional funding was allocated in budgets 2024 and 2025 to support this development. From September 2024, children with a disability who are enrolled in the ECCE programme are now fully supported to access and participate in the ECCE settings beyond the time they spend in that programme, both in term and out of term. This allows children to access the AIM programme for an additional three hours a day during the ECCE term and six hours outside of the term. The programme for Government commits to examining and expanding the AIM programme to make it available to younger children. This comes back to the question the Deputy asked. We are committed to working to ensure the programme expands. The AIM programme has been hugely beneficial in addressing the need of children within the early education setting but as with everything, there are challenges. The case outlined by the Deputy is one of the types of cases that I frequently meet throughout the country in the context of the challenges young families face. They have stark choices in what support they can reach out for. We are looking at bringing down the eligible age for the AIM programme. That would be a positive step. As for practical supports, the Deputy mentioned the incapacitated child tax credit. While that is a generous benefit and it has increased incrementally over the previous two or three budgets, which is to be welcomed, it should be kept under review. It still is not adequate for the challenges faced by many families, particularly those with young children. Families face enormous challenges during that very stressful period of dealing with the difficulties a child may have. We also need to be very careful of the emotional trauma around this and make sure we are addressing the needs of both the child and the family.

Sentiment score: 0.31

I thank the Deputy again for outlining the facts. The challenge we have, particularly in respect of the AIM programme, which has been very successful for a good number of families, is that when there is a closing-off date, there is always a challenge therein. As we go forward looking at how we can expand the AIM programme, in the evaluation of it that was announced last year, because of its success, it is important we are mindful that we are making meaningful change. It is not a case of just making the change for change's sake. We have to make sure it is evidence-based and that we have the facts to make decisions into the future on the AIM programme, to try to meet the needs of every child. The Deputy has outlined a group of parents, particularly the constituent he referred to and her family. There is a cohort of people who are outside of it and are finding it very difficult to get support from the State. We will reflect on that and will certainly ensure it is brought to discussion in respect of expanding the AIM programme into the future.

Sentiment score: 0.40