I welcome this Bill. Sinn Féin supports it and I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing it forward and outlining how personal it is to him. No child or member of staff should die or come to serious harm in a school because those around them did not have the training, equipment or permission to act. Every day, parents across Ireland drop their children to school trusting that they will be safe but the hard truth, backed by evidence, is that too many of our schools are not fully prepared for a medical emergency. In 2024 a report from Medical Emergency Response Ireland asked how prepared are Irish schools for a medical emergency and the answer was very concerning. Most primary school staff have not been trained to use life-saving equipment like adrenaline autoinjectors. We are not talking about rare hypothetical events. We are talking about the child with a severe nut allergy who suffers anaphylaxis, the student with type 1 diabetes whose continuous glucose monitor alarms requiring an insulin injection or the staff member who collapses from sudden cardiac arrest. In those moments, seconds count. In those moments, the difference between life and death can be whether a trained person is nearby with the right equipment. This Bill is about creating a system of preparedness that covers first aid training, medical awareness and the availability of critical emergency medicines. Section 1 empowers the Minister to make regulations requiring schools to promote the training of sufficient staff in first aid for medical emergencies including the use of equipment like defibrillators. The Bill also pushes schools to join the list held by the HPRA, the list of organisations whose trained and authorised staff can administer prescription-only medicines such as emergency asthma inhalers or adrenaline autoinjectors without a prescription to save a life or reduce severe distress. That list exists but too few schools are on it. This Bill aims to change that. We should also be clear about what this Bill is not. It is not a mandate to pile yet another unmanageable responsibility onto already overworked teachers. This Bill does not require every teacher to become a medical expert. Where a child requires additional, ongoing medical support, such as insulin monitoring or regular glucose checks, that is the role of an SNA. That is a clear line. Medical emergency preparedness is a whole-school responsibility, not an individual teacher's burden, and where extra help is needed with ongoing medical support, the State must fund extra SNA hours. Right now, there is no statutory requirement for consistent, high-quality emergency medical training in our schools. We rely on the goodwill of individual principals and passionate staff. Goodwill is not enough, though. We need a legal framework. We need every school to have a sufficient number of staff trained in emergency first aid, a maintained defibrillator that people know how to use, and a clear pathway to access and administer life-saving medicines without fear of legal repercussion. This Bill provides that framework. It is proportionate and necessary, and Sinn Féin supports it. In the wider context, the Bill deals specifically with the Education Act, but the principle applies across all health issues, from allergies to epilepsy, from asthma to diabetes. A medical emergency does not ask for a timetable. It does not wait for the HSE to arrive. It happens in the classroom, on the playing pitch, in the playground. Parents deserve peace of mind. Students with medical vulnerabilities deserve safety, and staff deserve clear guidance, proper training and the knowledge that they are supported, not abandoned, when a crisis hits. This Bill provides the basis to give our schools the tools, training and legal clarity they need to protect the lives in their care, and I am happy to support its progress to Committee Stage.

Sentiment score: 0.05