I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton, who sends her apologies that she cannot be here to today. I thank Deputy Scanlon for his strong advocacy on behalf of St. Patrick’s National School. The primary staffing schedule is a long-standing feature of the primary allocation system which ensures fairness and transparency in the allocation of mainstream class teachers across our primary schools, regardless of location. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing arrangements for primary schools for the 2026-27 school year are set out in Circular 0025/2026. St. Patrick’s National School has a current mainstream staffing of an administrative principal and seven mainstream class teachers based on an enrolment of 177 pupils as of 30 September 2024. The mainstream staffing of the school is due to stay the same for the 2026-27 academic year based on the returned enrolment of 182 pupils as of 30 September 2025. The staffing arrangements include an appeals mechanism for the school to submit a staffing appeal under certain published criteria. The school’s staffing appeal was unsuccessful. The primary staffing appeals board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. The staffing arrangements also include a projected enrolment process whereby schools experiencing significant increase in enrolment may apply for additional mainstream staffing. I acknowledge what the Deputy said and commit to him that I have taken it on board. He mentioned that further information has been submitted in relation to the exceptional circumstances. There is capacity within the school with an existing free classroom that can be used, putting no additional demand for capital resources, and many of the additional students are siblings of existing pupils of the school. While I cannot commit to overturning any decision this evening, I will relay to the Minister the strong case Deputy Scanlon has made on behalf of the school and ask the Minister to reply directly to him as a matter of urgency.
Sentiment score: 0.09
Teacher numbers at primary schools have reached the highest ever level in the current school year. Currently there are over 43,000 teaching posts allocated across the primary school system. This represents an increase of just over 5,000 teachers when compared to the 2019-2020 year. This has led to a steady improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio and to average class sizes reducing in this period. The Government has significantly invested in our schools and in our teacher workforce in recent years. Deputy Scanlon will be aware that the programme for Government commits to making further progress in this area with an aim to reduce the general pupil-teacher ratio at primary level to 19:1 over the term of the Government. That is all very well but it does not answer Deputy Scanlon's point here this evening. The Deputy makes a very strong case in relation to the enrolment for this year, the projected enrolment next year, the high number of junior infants that will be in the school, and the challenges that presents. The Deputy said there is existing capacity within the school and there is no capital requirement for putting on additional space. I am taking on board all of these points here this evening and I commit to the Deputy that I will relay them back to the Minister, Deputy Naughton. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy urgently with a reply to the points he has raised on behalf of his school here this evening.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. I thank the Deputy for raising it. I pass on the apologies of the Minister for Defence that she cannot be here in the Chamber this evening. I acknowledge Deputy Wall's advocacy in this area. During his contribution the Deputy referred to the seriousness of this issue, which is demonstrated in the cross-party support for trying to get this addressed. I addressed this very issue with my colleague Senator O'Loughlin in the Seanad earlier today. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl has also raised this point in the Dáil. It demonstrates the seriousness of the issue and how we are working together to try to have it addressed. Since earlier this year the Curragh has seen several different illegal encampments, including one containing approximately 100 caravans. This has caused a great deal of disruption and anxiety to local stakeholders. The Department of Defence does not accept that those occupying the encampments have any right to reside on the Curragh Plains and it has engaged regularly with the Chief State Solicitor's Office to ensure that all legal steps are taken to promptly protect the plains. The Department initiated legal proceedings in April for relief for trespass in the High Court, and in the preceding months a number of other parties were served with notices and added to the proceedings before the court. On 5 June Mr. Justice Jordan granted an interim court order against 35 named individuals and other persons unknown in occupation on the Curragh. These orders were served on the occupants by bailiffs on the evening of Monday, 8 June with orders to vacate, and the order was served on the occupants of the large encampment on the evening of Friday, 12 June. Further notices to quit were delivered to the encampment on Saturday, 20 June. In terms of addressing these challenges in the longer-term, the Department of Defence is working to ensure that we move to a modern and sustainable regulatory model in managing this historically important landscape. In collaboration with Kildare County Council, the Curragh consultancy project was published in 2024, as the Deputy referenced, which identified the need for a review of the Curragh bye-laws and the Curragh of Kildare Act, and potential amendments to provide effective solutions to challenges faced. The report also identified the need to consider a dedicated agency responsible for the Curragh, or to assign responsibility for the site to an existing agency with the necessary expertise to maximise the potential of the plains. This Government is committed to the implementation of these recommendations to address both the opportunities and challenges, as can be seen by its inclusion in the programme for Government. To this end, Department officials are continuing to engage with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, which has undertaken an initial scoping of their likely requirements. I am informed that officials from the Department's property management branch met with officials from the NPWS on Wednesday last, 17 June, at the Curragh, and undertook a tour of the plains. I am informed this was a very positive engagement and that the appropriate next steps will be identified in the near future. I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter and would like to assure him that it is the Department’s intention to ensure that the Curragh Plains, as an important element of our shared heritage, are protected into the future, while also ensuring maximum benefit to the local population and to those who come to visit the area.
Sentiment score: 0.35
I thank the Deputy again for his contribution. The Minister for Defence is the custodian and the guardian of the Curragh lands, pursuant to the provisions of the Curragh of Kildare Act 1961. Under that Act, the Curragh Plains are recognised as a working environment for the State's Defence Forces, as well as being a place of historical and cultural importance, as the Deputy alluded to. As I have already stated, the Minister remains fully committed to pursuing a modern and a sustainable regulatory model in managing the historically important landscape that is the Curragh. The Curragh Plains conservation management plan will provide the foundation for implementing the recommendations identified, including the progression of proposals for the future management of the plains. Any such proposals will be brought before the Cabinet to decide on a future management structure. It is right and proper to say that the situation needs to be addressed. It is something that has been raised multiple times. As somebody who is not from the area but has heard it raised in the Order of Business both in the Seanad and Dáil, I give the Deputy a guarantee that I will impress upon the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the urgency of this situation. Plans and proposals are all very important, but what is plain to be seen now is that public representatives who represent the area want to see the implementation and delivery of the plan. This is something that has gone on for too long. I will certainly impress upon the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the urgency of bringing those plans to Cabinet and agreeing an implementation plan as quickly as ever is possible.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I thank the Deputies for raising this important matter and providing me an opportunity to update the House. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. The funding system for local authorities is a complex one, as authorities derive their income from a variety of sources, including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and local property tax, LPT, as well as funding from Government Departments and other bodies. Central government funding of local authorities is made up of transfers, both current and capital, coming from a wide range of Departments and offices for a variety of purposes. The Department is an important source of this funding, and it provided €99.8 million in 2023, €114 million in 2024 and €149.3 million in 2025 to Galway County Council across a number of schemes and funding sources. The amount of funding provided under housing programmes and voluntary call schemes such as the URDF is largely determined by individual local authority ambition and activity. In 2025, a sizeable portion of funding to Galway County Council from this Department, almost €93 million, was in respect of a range of capital and current housing programmes. It is crucial to note that the Department does not provide specific funding allocations to local authorities for housing delivery, but rather recoups the relevant local authorities as projects advance and claims fall due for payment in line with the relevant scheme conditions. With regard to the URDF calls 1 and 2, Galway County Council secured funding for the one project applied for, and under URDF call 3, Galway County Council secured €3 million. This is close to the average funding provided to all of the non-metropolitan area local authorities, of which the council still has €2.91 million available in its fund. In respect of LPT funding, an important determinant of this allocation for Galway County Council is the baseline, which is the minimum level of funding available to each local authority from LPT. Following a review in 2023, the baselines for each local authority were adjusted in accordance with five criteria: population, area, deprivation levels, an authority’s locally raised income and the achievement of national policy priorities. Galway County Council received the second largest increase of any authority. There has been a further increase in the overall baselines in 2026, in line with the expected increased yield from the revaluation. As a result of both of these changes, Galway County Council’s baseline has seen a significant increase of over €7 million, or almost 50%, in a three-year period. While Galway County Council has the second largest area and the tenth largest population of any authority, on balance, this would appear to be fairly reflected by the fact that Galway County Council now has the fifth highest baseline in the country. Apart from housing funding and LPT, in 2025, Galway County Council benefited from many other funding streams across the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, including allocations from the Local Government Fund to cover the impact of national pay agreements and the stranded costs associated with water transformation. While I appreciate the challenges faced by Galway County Council, I am confident that every effort has been made to assist the sector in recent years.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I again thank the Deputies for raising this issue. As acknowledged by the Deputies across the Chamber, I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Browne. I will conclude by acknowledging the current financial environment in which all local authorities, including Galway County Council, are operating and the pressures facing them in respect of general inflation and higher costs. I get that from my own local authority as well. Recently, the Department has received representations from the Galway County Council executive and elected members in relation to its LPT allocation and baseline. The baseline has been increased twice in just three years, as I mentioned in my earlier contribution. The intention is that baselines will be reviewed every five years in line with the updated census data, as well as periodic reviews in line with LPT revaluation cycles. It would not be appropriate or equitable to examine the baselines of individual authorities outside these sector-wide reviews. Furthermore, it is important to note that the LPT allocation represents just 12% of Galway County Council's revenue income in 2025. It is a finite income source, being dependent on the level of LPT collected in Galway and across the State. Therefore, the scope for significant increases is limited. With this in mind, Galway County Council must ensure that it is effectively leveraging all funding opportunities at its disposal and identify where it can increase its allocation by seeking more funding for projects that are ready to be delivered from the range of available funding calls. It is important also to focus on locally raised income sources. I know the council has made significant progress in this area in recent years.
Sentiment score: 0.23