I thank Deputy O'Reilly very much. The Minister, Deputy Browne, passes on his apologies that he could not be here and asked me to take this on his behalf. Tenancy sustainment, which includes the purchase of private homes where a social housing tenant is in situ, is not a stand-alone programme or scheme. However, it is a priority category of the Department of housing’s social housing second-hand acquisitions programme, which helps prevent social housing-supported households in the private rental sector from becoming homeless, as the Deputy said. Tenancy sustainment, or tenant in situ, is an option for local authorities to support households who are in the most precarious housing situations. Such acquisitions are, and will continue to be, available to local authorities for use as a last resort when other options have been exhausted. They are not the sole, or indeed the primary, option. The default first option should always be securing the sustainment of the tenancy with the landlord, securing alternative accommodation through the tenancy sustainment and place finder services, or allocating a local authority or approved housing body tenancy via a new build home or relet. Where acquisitions are deemed necessary in terms of a tenant in situ, local authorities have delegated sanction to pursue individual priority acquisitions without recourse to the Department of housing, where these acquisitions are in line with the broad parameters and criteria of the second-hand acquisitions programme. Along with the clear focus of Government on increasing the supply of new build social and affordable homes, a targeted social housing acquisition programme has been and will continue to be an important policy response to priority needs. At the end of February, so about two weeks after the first email Deputy O'Reilly quoted from 18 February, the Minister, Deputy Browne, secured funding to a total of €373 million to fund acquisitions under the Department of housing’s social housing second-hand acquisitions programme. That funding will be available for drawdown by local authorities and approved housing bodies under the 2026 programme priorities. Those priorities include: exits from homelessness, with €150 million allocated; AHB priority delivery to support older persons, persons with disabilities and care leavers, with €50 million allocated; and local authority priority acquisitions, which includes tenancy sustainment or tenant in situ acquisitions, with €157 million allocated. A contingency fund of €16 million will also be retained to be there to top up where local authorities have drawn down and fully exhausted their initial allocation, because we want to continue to enable them to be ambitious and to continue to drive these acquisitions. Fingal County Council has been given an initial allocation of €30.7 million of this funding. That is a 54% increase on its allocation for last year. This funding is now available to the council. I note the second family in question made contact with the council on 28 April, so I am not sure why it is giving them that response given it now has its initial allocation of €30.7 million of this funding. Ultimately, the delivery of new additional social homes is the only strategic solution when it comes to long-term homelessness, with allocations from new and existing local authority and AHB social homes the primary means through which social housing-qualified households should be accommodated. I appreciate what the Deputy is saying about how the tenant in situ programme is really important for many families and that is why Fingal County Council has been given a 54% uplift in this year's allocation. I hope it will use that to support families in the Deputy's constituency like the ones who contacted her.

Sentiment score: 0.29

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising her constituents' experience with us here today. It is really important that everybody remembers that behind the statistics we read out in here are families. They are families exactly like that. It is for this exact reason the Government is allocating funding. According to the Department of housing, last year the Department funded a total of 68 second-hand acquisitions for Fingal County Council. Of those, 61 were for tenancy sustainment, allowing for these private tenancies to continue in preventing homelessness, and others were tenant in situ acquisitions. So far this year Fingal County Council has only seven second-hand acquisitions in the pipeline. That is the information I have from the Department of housing. It has been given €30.7 million to fund acquisition of housing. This is a 54% increase on its allocation last year. I will certainly bring the Deputy's feedback to the Minister for housing because, ultimately, what I am being told is that there is funding there and Fingal County Council has that funding, but only seven second-hand acquisitions are in its current pipeline. Perhaps that is because there was a pipeline from last year that it is still working its way through. I do not know the detail of that but the people who do are in the local authority, and they are who the Deputy needs to engage with on this. I know and respect that the Deputy has already done that but I think we need to do that further. There is funding there for this. With this funding we want to support families who are at risk of homelessness. The funding has been allocated to the council and the Deputy has given us an example today of the kind of family for whom we need to do that.

Sentiment score: 0.15

I thank Deputy Lawlor for raising this important issue on behalf of St. Aidan's school community in Enniscorthy, and not just on behalf of the student or the students attending school in special classes, but indeed the entire school community, including teachers, parents, special education teachers and SNAs. I hear the Deputy's frustration. His frustration was mirrored earlier by one of the Deputy's constituency colleagues who also raised this with the Tánaiste today on the floor of the House. In case the Deputy missed that debate, I will just say that the Tánaiste committed to raising this with the Minister for education directly, asking her to arrange that either the Minister herself or the NCSE would make contact with that Deputy. I will certainly add Deputy Lawlor to that list to ensure he gets that same information and that same contact. I am very glad to hear that the Deputy has been in contact directly with the head of the NCSE and that he is working proactively to help to resolve this from a rationale perspective to give the information the school wants and should have gotten much easier than this. I appreciate that the issue here is not just for St. Aidan's and that the issue is with the process. I will absolutely provide that feedback to the Minister for education. As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Special Education has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision and care support for children and young people with special educational needs in our schools, including the allocation of SNA support to schools. In relation to the appeals process itself, on completion of an SNA review the NCSE communicates the outcome to a school. If the school is not satisfied, it may submit an appeal of the outcome to the NCSE. The school has ten days to do so. Information, including guidance on the appeals process, is available on the NCSE website. The NCSE is currently processing a number of appeals and the outcomes of these will be communicated to schools shortly. The Department and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality, where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. I will provide the Deputy's specific feedback on the rationale. I note this is what was advised in the information on the website to show this is how one should submit the appeal.

Sentiment score: 0.19

To be told that this is the correct way to be able to gain the information and then to be frustrated through the process and not get it, I can understand that this is not efficient for either the school or the NCSE. It does not set the school up for success in terms of being able to put forward a coherent and comprehensive appeal. I appreciate what the Deputy is saying in that this information should have been made available in a timely fashion to the school.

Sentiment score: 0.26

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving us this opportunity to discuss it on the floor of the House. The NCSE allocation and review processes are essential to ensure that SNA support is provided where it is most needed. An appropriate appeal mechanism is an important part of the review process, and this has always been the case. I fully appreciate that schools need to be given whatever information needed in order to put forward a thorough appeal. If schools are not satisfied with the outcome of a SNA review, they can then submit the appeal. As I said, details on how to do that are available online. The NCSE is available to support schools and discuss the deployment of SNA resources allocated to support their students. With regard to the appeal, it might be helpful to outline some of what is taken into account in terms of the rationale. Special education needs organisers engage with schools, including school leaders, teachers and SNAs, and a national review panel reviews decisions to ensure consistency across the country. Among the factors taken into account are changes in student numbers, changes in individual care needs and students moving from primary to post-primary schools. Sometimes, those factors form part of the rationale. While I do not know the specific details in the case of St. Aidan’s Parish School, the information should have been made available to it in a timely fashion.

Sentiment score: 0.34

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Teachta. I congratulate Deputy Neville and the school communities. I know that he attended one of the schools. I am sure this is a big day for both he Deputy and the school communities. I thank him for raising this issue and for his strong and consistent advocacy on behalf of families in Leixlip. I know he worked very closely with the school community on this issue. His engagement and that of the school community with the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton, both on the ground locally and in the House, has been important. I compliment Deputy Neville on his hard work because he has been instrumental in bringing this matter to a positive outcome. Providing school places for every child, including those with additional needs, is a top priority for the Government. While we are seeing a general decline in enrolments nationally, we know that growing communities like Leixlip are facing real and immediate pressures. Behind every statistic are families who simply want a place for their child in a local school. While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplications of applications, applications from outside an area and school-of-choice factors. In Leixlip, there has been particular pressure for junior infant places for September 2026. Department officials have been working closely with local schools, analysing the data and responding directly to the concerns raised by parents and the Deputy. Today, I am pleased to confirm a clear and practical step forward. Following direct engagement with Scoil Mhuire on Green Lane, the Department of education has, as the Deputy outlined, now approved the opening of a second junior infant class. This additional class will be in place for September 2026 to accommodate local children. I am sure the Deputy will agree that this is a real and tangible outcome that will make a difference for families in the area. It will mean more local children will now have access to a place in their community. While places are available across the wider Leixlip area, we recognise that families want to stay local, wherever possible. That is why targeted, local actions like this matter. The Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. For planning purposes, the Department examines urban areas as a whole and does not recognise parish boundaries in the review. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and, where the school has places available, the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process may be necessary. This selection and enrolment processes must be non-discriminatory and applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. In accordance with the provisions of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, schools are required to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools. It is an important feature of the act that schools can only make a decision on an application for admission that is based on the school’s admission policy. I am pleased to be putting positive news on the record of the House today. I again thank the Deputy and the local school community in Leixlip who have engaged in a constructive and successful campaign.

Sentiment score: 0.26

I thank the Deputy for outlining the steps he has taken and the positive and proactive engagement he has had with the Minister for Education and Youth and departmental officials and the collaborative way in which he has worked with the school community. That matters and doing that work matters. It is hard and tough work, but as the Deputy can see it gets results. It has got results in this instance. The message here is very simple. The Government has listened, engaged and delivered. A new junior infant class has now been approved for Scoil Mhuire. Critically, that class will be ready for September of this year. The Deputy mentioned other schools in similar situations. The annual enrolment process for new junior infants at primary level and new first years at post-primary level is a large-scale operation. It is transacted with close to 4,000 schools across the country involving 140,000 pupils. In order to plan for school places and need, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and data on residential development activities is used for this purpose. In addition, the Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform the Department's projection of school place requirements. The Deputy mentioned constituents in Celbridge and other areas. It is important that they are aware that the Department is looking at this from a holistic perspective and is making sure that the Department is able to provide classes, classrooms and schools where demand exists. Scoil Mhuire and the Green Lane schools very clearly demonstrated that the demand is there, and the Department responded accordingly.

Sentiment score: 0.18

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which provides an opportunity to outline the position of the Office of Public Works, OPW, in regard to the potential acquisition of the Martello tower at Sandymount Strand, although I would suggest that there are other State bodies, Departments and local authorities that will have an interest in this matter. At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the significant historical and cultural value that this tower represents as part of Ireland’s built heritage. These early 19th century defensive structures form an important element of our coastal landscape and are closely associated with our architectural, social and literary history, with approximately 50 located around the country. The OPW has responsibility for the care, management and presentation of a large portfolio of heritage sites across the State, as the Deputy will be aware. These include many of Ireland's most significant national monuments, currently numbering approximately 780 sites nationwide, which are under the ownership of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. In this context, it is important to note that the OPW does not have a general role in acquiring national monuments; rather, it is responsible for the conservation, maintenance and management of services of those sites where guiding services exist. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is a relevant decision maker when the State is considering taking a property or monument into the care of the State. Ultimately, the OPW is responsible for conservation, maintenance and management of what is in the State's control. Acquisitions are considered on a case-by-case basis, having regard to a range of factors, including national significance, strategic fit within the existing portfolio, public access potential and the availability of resources to conserve and manage the site into the future. As the Deputy said, the State already has a Martello tower in its care. It is managed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority and operates successfully as the James Joyce Tower and Museum. This demonstrates that, where appropriate, such structures can be preserved and repurposed through collaborative arrangements at local level. In relation to the specific property referred to, I understand that the Martello tower at Sandymount Strand is in private ownership and has, over time, been used as a private dwelling and for commercial purposes. I commend the fact that the Deputy has engaged with the private owner from his time as a councillor and recognise that the situation will change if, as he stated, the property is up for sale. While the OPW recognises its heritage value, it is the case that the State must carefully consider carefully its approach to acquiring historic properties. The assumption of ownership, as I am sure the Deputy understands, brings with it long-term obligations in terms of conservation, maintenance and public access. All of this must be carefully considered in the context of competing priorities across the heritage sector. In addition, local authorities are often best placed to bring forward proposals for the reuse and regeneration of heritage buildings where there is a clear community or civic function identified. I was really pleased to hear the Deputy say that it is his understanding that preliminary engagement has already begun between the seller and Dublin City Council as that may be a really good avenue to continue to explore. Any future proposal for the Martello tower at Sandymount Strand may be more appropriately considered at local authority level, in this instance Dublin City Council, and potentially in partnership with other stakeholders. I urge the Deputy to continue to engage with the city council on this matter. If the tower is up for sale, it is obviously now an opportunity for those discussions to happen in a serious context.

Sentiment score: 0.43

I thank the Deputy. I agree. The fact that this is a registered national monument that is located in a UNESCO biosphere on, as the Deputy put it, the oasis that is Dublin Bay, this does represent a unique opportunity now that it is for sale. To reiterate, the OPW does not have plans to acquire the tower, but it is standing ready to engage constructively with relevant stakeholders, where appropriate, and remains committed to the conservation and the promotion of Ireland's built heritage and its natural heritage more broadly. What the Deputy said regarding continuing engagement with Dublin City Council is very positive and is something I would actively encourage him to do. In my constituency, we had a similar situation whereby Lucan House, which is the former residence of the Italian ambassador to Ireland, was going to be put up for sale on the open market. We have really benefited from the fact that South Dublin County Council, our local authority, was in a position to purchase the estate. While it is still not fully open to the public, it was open on Saturday and it was great to have so many people there enjoying the atmosphere and the stunning grounds. The house itself will soon be open to the public. There is precedent for local authorities taking the lead on this, obviously supported by national Government. There is the precedent for local authorities to take the lead in circumstances where the OPW does not necessarily see that something is a fit for it. In this instance, the OPW has clearly stated that it is not a fit for it in the here and now, but having Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council operate a successful museum in a very similar tower not far away does offer a roadmap for success. Ultimately, I know the Deputy's goal is to preserve this historic amenity and to bring to life its history and that would be a wonderful thing if he was able to partner with Dublin City Council to achieve.

Sentiment score: 0.47