Yes, we will. I thank Deputy Doherty and Deputies across the House, including on the Government benches, for raising this issue. We will reopen the portal. The Deputy is right; on occasions we can agree in this House. This is a vital programme that plays a very important part in the lives of children with additional needs, be they special educational needs or children from areas of economic disadvantage. The summer programme is a vital support for families. It is specifically designed to support children with complex educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage. We are very much committed to continuing to expand and grow the programme, and the facts will show this is exactly what has happened, which I will get to in a moment. The Minister for education has very much listened directly to the concerns of schools, principals, teachers and parents. I am pleased to confirm the portal will be reopened to allow further schools to apply. The Minister will announce details of the extension shortly because everyone in this House knows the summer programme is an absolutely crucial support for families over the holiday period. It has huge benefits for children in their social and emotional well-being. We are absolutely committed, as I believe everybody across this House is, to growing and supporting that summer programme. You only have to look at the numbers to show the growth in the programme. In 2020, 545 schools and nearly 23,000 children took part in the programme, and just five years later, last year, more than 1,800 schools and almost 71,000 children participated. That is a 210% increase. This is a scheme that is rightly growing year-on-year. The intention and continued emphasis of that programme is to mitigate the impact of learning loss, if you like, on those children while the school is closed. All schools can participate in the programme, with a particular focus on increasing participation in special schools. As the Deputy correctly said, the online portal for the summer programme, including the home-based summer programme which is another element of it, was open from 6 to 15 May. I am told all stakeholders were made aware of the timeframe for the portal but I am also very aware that it is a particularly busy time for schools and the community. There is a lot going on as you get towards the end of the school year. A reminder was sent to schools but that is somewhat missing the point. The point is there is a need for a longer period of time for schools to apply to get this up and running. For the information of the House, I also understand the Department has received more applications this year across primary, post-primary and special schools compared to last year. In addition, the number of home-based applications has also significantly increased on last year. Perhaps because of that, we want to make sure the children who need this programme get it. That is why my colleague, the Minister for education, will announce that short extension shortly, so that schools that have missed the deadline for very genuine reasons - and the Deputy has highlighted some of those reasons, such as it being a shorter window than previous years - will have the opportunity to reapply.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I do not want to mislead the House. On the last issue, I need to talk to the Minister for education and ask that she comes back to the Deputy, as I am sure she will. I take the seriousness of the point he makes. Schools will be contacted today because the Deputy is right that they need that clarity. My understanding is that, while the schools will be contacted today, the portal will open next week. This is a programme that is growing very significantly in terms of the numbers of children. We all know in our own constituencies and in our own communities the very significant difference it is making to children as well. Looking back, in 2016, 8,767 children benefited from that scheme. Like I said, last year it was over 70,000. That is a sign of a programme that is working, and I thank all those around the country who provide this programme. It is also a sign, though, of the need, the fact that there are now so many children with those complex additional needs. I share the Deputy's view that this is not a discretionary extra or a nice-to-have but a vital part of education provision and family support.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I believe in honest politics as well, and I think everyone in this House engages in good faith on behalf of the people they represent, as the Deputy does too. I reject the assertion that this is in any manner of means a cut because that would suggest that the budget of one Department will be lower than it currently is. The budgets of all Departments are growing. I do not need to remind the Labour Party, which served in government at a very difficult time, what cuts are like, when we had to make extraordinarily hard decisions to get this country out of the depths of an economic crisis. The level of public expenditure in Ireland has risen. Voted expenditure the year before Covid was €67.4 billion. Voted expenditure is now due to be €147.2 billion by 2030 and €125.5 billion next year, so the budget for every Department - he referred to the Department of Health - will be higher in 2027 than it is in 2026. It is higher in 2026 than it was in 2025. I do not believe there is anybody in Ireland watching in on these proceedings who does not believe that savings, efficiencies and reforms can be found in the public service. People do this in their own lives all the time. I think people remember the times when the Deputy and I were in government and we were asking people to find savings with less. We are now asking people to find savings with a hell of a lot more. Even if there were not a need for a levy, I think that is prudent, good management of the public purse. Every week, whether you go to the PAC or certain other committees, you can find examples of where the public service can do more and do better in terms of the expenditure of the public purse. This will not impact 2026 allocations, and the Minister has been very clear about that. As to what Government colleagues are being asked, the Government is a collective. If we decide to do more here, it does not fall from a magic money tree; it has to be found somewhere. That is how the world works. That is how budgeting should work. That is how our medium-term fiscal plan works. Colleagues are being asked, though, in the context of 2027 budgets, where every Government Department's budget will increase, to find efficiencies and reforms. It is a very important moment of truth for the public service as well. This will not impact the 2026 allocations. As the Deputy also rightly says, we have been very clear that the levy must not impact important areas. For example, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is here. It must not impact the social protection Vote, people with a disability, carers or those weekly payments. It must not impact Department of Health pay allocations - in other words, staffing - or Department of justice staffing. It must not impact housing, disability services or a number of other carve-outs. This is a levy that ranges from about 0.02% to 1.4%. In the context of a budget this year of over €118 billion and a budget next year of over €125 billion, people are being asked to find that level of efficiency. We should and we will, of course, continue to engage honestly and transparently on all these matters.
Sentiment score: 0.13
Respectfully, Ministers not being held to account is baloney. We had a budget oversight committee meeting the other day. In fairness, the Deputy was at it, he contributed and he asked all his questions. Others did not bother turning up. The meeting ended 40 minutes early. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I were there looking for questions to take, and the Chairman-----
Sentiment score: 0.11
I just want to be clear. The budget oversight committee met. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I were there to answer every and any question anybody wanted to ask, and it ended with 40 minutes to spare, which the Chairman then filled.
Sentiment score: 0.15
It does not matter who did not turn up.
Sentiment score: -0.02
People can come back in with further questions as well. There were 40 minutes of unallocated time there. We are very accountable to this Oireachtas, and I want people at home to know that. I also want people to know that the rising of the Dáil has nothing to do with this at all because these are figures that will affect 2027, when there will be a significant opportunity. We will have a summer economic statement, a national economic dialogue and plenty of opportunities. I believe in good, honest politics. So does Deputy Nash. I fully accept that. It is important we are transparent in relation to all these things, but it is also important, in the spirit of honesty, that we make the following point, and people at home know this. Public spending is growing very fast in this country relative to pretty much any other European economy. It is a prudent and sensible thing to say to those charged with expending that money, "Can you do better? Can you reform? Can you get value for money?" That is what households and small businesses do; it is about time the public service did it.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is good to see his colleague Deputy Ennis settling in well beside him. I think I have been in touch to arrange to meet them. I will be meeting them in June. The Taoiseach has also met them, as have the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. When I say "them", I mean the Before We Die group. I thank them for their work and advocacy and for shining a spotlight on this situation. Sometimes you just have to stand up in this House and admit that where we are is not where we need to be. This is one of those occasions. I have a load of figures here and can tell the Deputy that we are going to do more residential placements this year, which we are. I can tell him we have increased the disability budget, and we have. None of that takes away from the point he has made, which is valid, accurate and reflects the lived experience of far too many people in this country. We had a good meeting of the Cabinet committee on disability a couple of weeks ago in respect of housing specifically. This was motivated by the campaign of the Before We Die group. At that meeting, a number of things were agreed. I acknowledge the role the Ministers, Deputies Browne and Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, will play in respect of this matter. We need everybody to pull together on it. A number of principles were set out in the context of shifting away from a crisis response to commissioning specialist residential places and towards a planned approach. The Deputy is right. There are far too many emergency situations whereby if the State had planned earlier and better, would not have needed to arise. Second, we need a rebalancing towards more placements with non-profit providers and social housing and away from privately funded housing. The Deputy's point is right. If it is a criticism, it is right. We are using quite a lot of private for-profit providers. It is better to use them than not to have any option available, but the direction of travel is to ensure that local authorities, as the housing authorities in communities, are stepping up to provide housing for persons with disabilities in the same way they would when it comes to broader social housing. We can and should be doing more to support non-profit providers to build homes. This used to happen. I can think of where in my community there is a small housing estate with a relatively small number of homes and specialist staff in place, and it works. The points the Deputy makes are valid. We will need a plan. I take the point about targets. We want to house people, but at the same time we need targets. The Deputy stated that there needs to be specificity around them in the context of funding and timelines. That is a fair point. Whatever is the best way to do this, whether it is at an Oireachtas committee or in this House, I am happy to have debate on how we get this right. This group is putting it up to us as a country to do better, and we simply have to.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I am going to commit to meeting the group in June. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy on this matter after that. This is an interesting area in respect of which extra funding is 100% required but where monitoring the impact of that funding on the systems in place also matters. For example, we are increasing respite funding by €25 million this year. We are also increasing funding for home support and personal assistance hours this year. I can say that, and it is true, but then there are demographic and planning issues and the issue of how the money is deployed. If it is deployed in an emergency capacity, it ends up having less impact because it costs more than in a planned capacity, which, I think, at a high level, is the point the group is making. We need a housing plan when it comes to people with disabilities. It will need to have targets and specific timelines and the Government will need to fund it, but I want a better shared understanding of what the direction of travel looks like. Not every person with a disability is the same, and no one is suggesting they are. Some might be able to continue to live in the community and the family home, some might need a specialist residential service and some might need local authority housing. For some individuals, none of these options might work at all. A plan that tries to address that breadth is important. We should facilitate detailed engagement in this House on that.
Sentiment score: 0.22
What was definitely not on my bingo card for 2026 was Aontú quoting Friends of the Earth, but politics throws new things at you every day. The issue relating to the cost of electricity and the energy crisis in Ireland is a serious one. That is why this Government, through the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is expanding the fuel allowance. We extended the allowance for a further month in order to help people like those the Deputy referenced. It is also why we have taken a number of decisions to reduce excise on diesel and petrol. The benefit of that from an inflationary point of view is worth about 0.5% in keeping general downward pressure on a rising inflation rate. It is also why we need to accelerate the move towards renewables. There have been some constructive suggestions from Opposition and Government Deputies around how we can do more in relation to making it easier for people to make that transition in terms of their homes or businesses. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has already introduced a range of measures that are helping make their homes warmer. Hundreds of thousands of homes have now benefited from direct Government grants to retrofit and replace windows and doors. Of course, there have also been changes regarding electric vehicles. I am interested in the Deputy's position on data centres. It is easy to say that data centres are bad or to make them the bogeyman. I am the Minister for Finance, and the evidence available to the Government is that across the six sectors in Ireland that are identified as being most dependent on data centres, it is estimated that of the order of €100 billion in annual gross value added, 875,000 jobs and €14.6 million in annual employment-related taxes were enabled by data centre capacity located in Ireland. It has also been identified that the hyperscale data centres sit at the heart of Ireland's global digital competitiveness. When I make all these changes the Deputy is calling on me to make in relation to data centres, what does he want to do when we do not have the benefit of the taxes? What does he want to cut? What does he not want to fund? It is so easy to come in here and ask us to spend more. It is easy to slice up the pie, but it is a hell of a lot harder to bake the pie and bake a bigger pie in terms of economic success for this country. It is also important to say that in the context of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities' large energy user connection policy, we have been very clear that data centres above a certain threshold will be required to meet at least 80% of their annual demand with new additional renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland. Government policy firmly aims to enable the twin transitions of digitalisation and decarbonisation. We cannot pick and choose; we have to address both of them. We are talking about AI. We are talking how about how we support AI jobs and how we deal with the fact that there is going to be a significant churn in the labour market. Data centres play a very important role in having a competitive digital economy. We cannot just dismiss that or ridicule it. If we are going to do so, we must at least be honest with the people about the economic and tax impacts that could have on Ireland. If the Deputy puts it out there that a data centre is about four or five lads sitting around with a dog or something and nothing else in terms of economic activity, that is an economically illiterate point to make in relation to data centres.
Sentiment score: 0.14
The Deputy is ignoring the point I am making. It sounds very good in short clips and sound bites, but the reality is that he is ignoring the economic benefit of the data centres. He is ignoring the economic benefit in terms-----
Sentiment score: 0.02
I am sorry. Deputy Tóibín is giving Deputy Lawless a chance today.
Sentiment score: 0.22
He is giving him a chance today.
Sentiment score: 0.53
I did not think that the weekend went so badly for Deputy Tóibín that he has had a leadership heave against him. Anyway, he should give the man a chance.
Sentiment score: -0.18
The rules are that the Deputy asks the question and I get a chance to answer it. For people sitting at home, I want to outline the reality of the situation. Aontú, on behalf of Friends of the Earth, is suggesting that data centres are costing all of this money. That ignores the fact that I put on the record of the House the economic analysis available to me, as Minister of Finance, in terms of the benefit to this country in terms of taxes and employment. The Government does not have the luxury of ignoring that. If we did ignore it, the Deputies would be the first to come into this House and condemn the loss of jobs.
Sentiment score: -0.02
I want to say this. The Friends of the Earth report will be considered. That report says things the Deputy did not mention. It concedes that under the high renewable growth scenario, we actually see a situation where accelerated renewables are presented as sufficient to displace significant reliance on gas. The message the Deputy should have taken from the report is that we need to accelerate the move to renewables. That is what this Government is committed to. If Aontú is willing to finally step up and accept that climate action is needed, I welcome that conversion.
Sentiment score: 0.29