I am raising the very serious issue of St. Patrick's Primary School in Celbridge, which opened in 2008. It is housed in a prefabricated building that was only supposed to be in place for five years. Unfortunately, 18 years later, the school is still in that building. In June 2025, a report was submitted after the work had been done at the end of March. It states: I am of the opinion that the existing building in the current condition is not fit for the purpose to operate without considerable risk to the occupants and users as a school, is unsafe and poses a serious immediate threat to the well-being, health and safety of the occupants and users. That is how a primary school in Celbridge in which there are more than 300 students and also SNAs and teachers is described. These children are the some of the most important and most vulnerable people in our community. They deserve a much better and safer building in which to attend school. Much of what is in the report was made public on a KFM programme over the weekend. The report has also been covered in the Liffey Champion on a number of occasions in recent weeks. This is an ongoing issue. As I said, it is 18 years since the prefabs were put in. I raised this matter with the Minister for education at a meeting on 18 June last year. I also raised it in the Dáil last October and again in January. The pictures of the classroom that I have with me were taken at the end of January. It is not a place where kids should be. There is water running down the walls. The principal and her partner had to clean the classroom after a weekend of rain at the start of January, but the situation has only been exacerbated since then. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, visited the school, and she saw the issues that exist at first hand. She has highlighted the issue, but more work needs to be done as a matter of urgency. The principal and the teachers are doing amazing work, and the school has a great community, but the parents are really concerned. We need a resolution.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to speak on this matter. The Minister of State is faced with a rare situation whereby all the TDs in the constituency are working together on it. We raised it earlier with the Secretary General of the Department of education at the Committee of Public Accounts. We know that Simon Harris and the Minister are aware of what is happening. Deputy Neville outlined the matter in a very comprehensive manner. We need to see action on the architect's report. The evidence is no longer anecdotal. There is a real and significant health and safety concern for the children. There are issues with fire safety, the floor plate, wall retention, mould and damp, etc. Nobody should be expected to learn in such an environment. The entire school community, including the principal, the teachers, the SNAs and the secretaries, should not be expected to work in those conditions. I join Deputies Neville, Cronin, Ó Cearúil and Lawless in commending the entire school community regarding what they have had to endure. I cannot overstate how concerned the parents are right now. We have reached the point where they are organising a meeting next week to try to progress this. They do not know what the next steps need to be, which is why they need the State to step in on an emergency basis. None of us really believes that works will suffice at this point. The Minister of State knows that for an 18-year-old modular unit with a design lifetime of five years, it is not a great solution to upgrade what is there now. We need something in the short term which will ensure that the health and safety of the staff and children is of paramount importance. We all look forward to the Minister of State's reply. He should know that he has collective support from all TDs in the constituency in the context of progressing this over the next couple of weeks. The latter is the timeline within which we need to see action.

I thank Deputies Neville and Farrelly for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I welcome the opportunity to provide details of the interaction the Department of Education and Youth has had with St. Patrick's Primary School Celbridge in relation to the emergency works scheme and to provide an update on its capital project. As the Deputies will be aware, the purpose of the emergency works scheme is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for pupils with special needs. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, and a situation which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action. In the case of a school, the situation must be of sufficient gravity whereby, if not corrected, it would prevent the school or part of it from opening. Following an invitation from Deputy Neville, the Minister visited the school in January. She was given a tour of the building before meeting local school leaders and the board of management. During this visit, she was advised by the school that a number of classrooms had been closed and that the building had structural defects. St. Patrick's Primary School has submitted a number of applications for funding under the emergency works scheme for life safety equipment, fabric defects and roof works. The emergency works scheme operates on the basis of a minimal scope of works required to remedy an emergency situation. On this basis, the school was advised to submit a revised scope of works with an accompanying itemised cost breakdown. In January, the Department engaged project engineers and contractors to address the immediate issues. This facilitated the completion of initial remedial works by 5 February, which allowed for classrooms that were closed to reopen. There has been significant engagement with St. Patrick's in relation to the sequencing of works to address the outstanding issues. A written programme update was issued to the school on 9 February. A further update was provided to the school on 24 February. This programme outlined a number of actions which are planned, utilising two modular units which were provided to the school. This will facilitate the temporary decanting of students to allow classrooms works to take place. The sequencing of works is set out to maximise the mid-term break and Easter break. The Department will continue to work with the school in this regard. In relation to capital works, a new school building for St Patrick's Primary School is part of a campus project that has been devolved for delivery under the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, as part of a bundled school building programme. The brief for the school includes the provision of 24 mainstream classrooms and four special educational needs classrooms. The project is currently at detailed design stage of the architectural process, which involves developing the designs, fully costed planning, the campus project and preparing the necessary documentation to facilitate the application for statutory approval to the local authority. Following a request from the Minister, the Department of Education and Youth, the NDFA and the Land Development Agency recently met to discuss progress on this important project. The Minister has requested that the school be kept fully informed of that progress.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I just want touch on a couple of the matters. The two modular units have been set down and the children are using them. However, the units are very small and way too cramped for proper classes. Also, there are no toilets in the modular units, which are located away from the school building. That poses its own difficulties. I was at the school yesterday morning. The scaffolding has been put up. There is no work going on and the scaffolding is blocking some of the fire exits. This emphasises the dangers and risks for the children. Obviously, I welcome the two-pronged approach being taken, particularly as we need to have the emergency works to fix the school. However, we also need the delivery of the new school building. Ultimately, a three-school campus needs to be put in place. That is a longer term solution, however. We all know that new schools are not built too quickly in this country, so we need a proper solution for these children in the immediate future.

I was somewhat concerned about the fact that the officials of the Department of Education and Youth who appeared before the committee yesterday stated that they are conducting a peer review in respect of the architect's report. In some ways, this casts a shadow what the architect has said. Ultimately, what we need to know, in very clear terms, is whether the plan that was presented to the school on Tuesday will remedy what the architect outlined in terms of the immediate concerns relating to the health and safety of children and staff at the site. If the Minister of State can tell me that, then we as a collective group can go back with that. From this reply, I am not convinced. If the Minister of State can give us a guarantee that what the architect had to say in his assessment of the site will be remedied, then we have a plan we can work towards. Otherwise we might have missed an opportunity here.

I reiterate that the Minister for education and the officials in her Department are fully aware of the issues raised and will continue to proactively work with the school, pending the delivery of its permanent accommodation solution. The new building project is currently at stage 2A of the architectural design process and the Department of Education and Youth currently awaits the submission of the stage 2A report. In general, some €397 million was invested in capital funding for Kildare schools between 2020 and 2025 and over that period, a total of 47 Kildare schools were upgraded, through the provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or modular accommodation. There are also nine school projects in Kildare under construction at present. Under the national development plan, another 12 school projects in Kildare will go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027. This summer, five schools are approved to undergo works as part of the summer works climate action scheme. In addition, since 2020 a total of 74 special classes have opened in Kildare, 11 of which were sanctioned for September 2026.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo inniu. An rud atá mé ag plé inniu ná an gá stádas DEIS a bhronnadh ar Ghaelscoil Lir i dTeach an Sagard atá i mo dháilcheantar féin. An fáth atá mé ag cur na ceiste seo faoi bhráid na Dála ná go bhfuil leibhéal suntasach tithíochta socheacnamaíocha agus éagsúlachta ag baint leis an scoil. Tá an scoil féin ag freastal ar theaghlaigh atá ag brath ar íocaíochtaí leasadh shóisialaigh de réir mar atá le feiceáil ó innéacs pobal. Tá an-chuid de na daltaí ó chúlraí imirce agus ilteangacha agus tá cuid mhór acu ag cur fúthu san ionad IPAS in aice na scoile. Tá go leor riachtanaisí breise oideachais le sonrú sa scoil freisin. Mar Ghaelscoil, tá an Ghaelscoil féin ag déanamh freastal ar go leor teaghlaigh nach bhfuil an Ghaeilge mar theanga sa bhaile acu, agus fiú amháin nach bhfuil Béarla ann. Is léir go bhfuil páistí sa scoil seo a bhfuil ag labhairt as Gaeilge nach bhfuil cumas acu sa Bhéarla, rud atá an-spéisiúil agus iontach ann féin, ach tá riachtanais ag an scoil a bhfuil freastal ag teastáil orthu. Níl rochtain ag an scoil ar a leithéid de chlár críochnaithe scoile, níl nasc idir an scoil agus an baile, agus níl fáil aige ach oiread ar a leithéid de dheontas le cúntóir a fhostú sa scoil. The Topical Issue I raise today relates to Gaelscoil Lir, which is a growing school in my constituency based in Saggart-Citywest. To be clear, I am a member of its board of management. The reason I raise for Gaelscoil Lir to be considered for DEIS status is the school was established in the 2021-22 school year. It missed out on the immediate adjudication and assessment of a school for inclusion in the DEIS programme. If we look at the overall picture of the school itself, it is one that has the needs add profile to justify the bestowing of DEIS status on it. There are families from low-income backgrounds whose children attend the school. Social welfare is the only source of income for a number of those families, there is a high prevalence of special educational needs in the school and there are two special classes in a student body of under 100 students. In and of itself, this is quite remarkable and shows the school staff’s commitment to providing high level special education. A number of the students attending are from backgrounds where Ireland is not their country of birth. Many of them are also living in the IPAS centre immediately adjacent to the school. One of the unique and very special things about Gaelscoil Lir is it has a number of students who speak Irish who cannot speak English. They have their native language from home or their own country and they now have proficiency in our native tongue, which is a beautiful thing to learn. The other side of that, however, is this is a school that has all of these needs but does not have access to things like the home school liaison programme or the school completion programme and is not able to employ a caretaker because of the size of its ancillary grant. Were we to have a serious debate about the need to encourage and ensure Irish-medium education; something I am very passionate about, we would also need to make sure Irish-medium education is available to all people of all backgrounds. A support we in Fianna Fáil are rightly proud of is the expansion of the DEIS programme and giving children the educational opportunities they need. I would seriously consider the need to review Gaelscoil Lir’s status and make allowance for the fact that given its student population, with many students residing in the IPAS centre, and given the significant areas of deprivation adjacent to it, there is an argument to consider DEIS status for Gaelscoil Lir. I wholeheartedly urge that as a consideration today.

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this important issue. Addressing educational disadvantage is a key priority for the Government, for me and, obviously, for the Minister for Education and Youth. The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative for addressing concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. DEIS supplements universal supports by targeting additional resources to schools where disadvantage is most concentrated, helping to promote equity and meet the needs of children and young people. Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools and reaches approximately 260,000 students with an annual investment of more than €180 million. Budget 2026 allocated an additional €16.5 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of a new DEIS strategy and introduce the DEIS plus scheme, which will commence this year. Schools which were included in the expansion of the programme in 2022 were those with the highest levels of concentration of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage, as identified through the refined DEIS identification model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme. The model was applied fairly and equally to all schools, including those in the DEIS programme already, to ensure they were in the band which best addressed their level of disadvantage. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, is committed to addressing educational disadvantage in all schools to ensure all children can reach their potential. To this end, a new ten-year DEIS strategy to 2035 will be published in the coming weeks. The new strategy will introduce innovative solutions to address educational disadvantage and continue to address the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools. Over its lifetime, the new DEIS strategy will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, and working towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time. Any future changes to the identification model and overall allocation of resources will be considered within the context of the new ten-year DEIS strategy.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an freagra sin. I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. I am a little disappointed the response did not refer to Gaelscoil Lir and that is something I will raise with the Department, given that was the particular schooled I raised in this instance. I draw attention to the fact that Gaelscoil Lir is quite unique in where it is located. It is located beside an IPAS centre and has a diversity of student backgrounds that have higher levels of special educational needs. It requires access to a home school liaison. It has scope to be one of the fastest growing schools in the Saggart-Citywest area and crucially, and this is something I have a particular interest in, it is also securing the language rights of families who want to send their children to an Irish-medium school. That is something we have to take seriously. I welcome the fact that DEIS strategy is being reviewed at the moment and will identify unique pockets of disadvantage but I also heartily encourage the Department and the Minister to seriously consider how the socioeconomic gaps that exist in areas around the country are also reflected for schools with Irish-medium education as well. Sometimes there is an assumption that because a Gaelscoil is a Gaelscoil, it does not need access to support, the school completion programme or the home school liaison programme. We have to disabuse ourselves of that notion because that is not true. Tá an-obair ar siúl ag foireann Ghaelscoil Lir. Tá an-dúshlán á shárú aici. An rud atá mise ag iarraidh sa Teach seo inniu ná go mbeidh tacaíocht ar fáil d’fhoireann, do thuismitheoirí agus do phobal scoile Gaelscoil Lir chun go mbeidh siad in ann freastal ar na riachtanais atá acu agus go mbeidh siad in ann freastal ar na daltaí atá ag dul ag an scoil sin. Tá mé ag iarraidh go mbeidh gach aon deis ag gach aon dalta sa scoil sin gach rud gur féidir leo a bhaint amach sa saol sa todhchaí agus go mbeidh an Stát ag tacú leo é sin a dhéanamh.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and giving us the opportunity to discuss it. The Department of Education and Youth is committed to supporting a high quality and inclusive school system that provides an equal opportunity for success for all children. DEIS remains central to that commitment and the forthcoming DEIS strategy will ensure that supports are targeted fairly and reflect the evolving needs of our school communities, informed by stakeholder engagement and a strengthened, needs-based allocation model. As part of the new ten-year strategy, the Department will review the current DEIS framework with a view to refining how disadvantage is measured and how schools are supported. This process will take account of a range of evidence and stakeholder feedback to ensure that schools serving significant levels of need are appropriately recognised in the updated model. The refinement of the DEIS model as part of the new strategy will consider how emerging or evolving patterns of disadvantage can be better addressed and how the system can best respond to schools that face increasing levels of need.

Early childhood education and care in Dublin Fingal West is no longer a gap in planning. It is a failure of prioritisation. Dublin Fingal West has one of the highest concentrations of private childcare provision in the country, yet one of the lowest of community childcare provision. That imbalance has not happened by accident. It is the result of the State stepping back and leaving provision to the market, and families are paying the price as a consequence. Across Dublin Fingal West, particularly in the rapidly growing towns of Rush and Lusk, thousands of houses have been built and young families and couples have moved in, yet the essential public infrastructure that is community childcare that should accompany that growth has not kept pace with the development. I receive constant emails from parents in my constituency who cannot easily access early education and school age childcare. Parents are on waiting lists before their child is even born. They cut their working hours because the fees are too high. They are forced to take whatever place they can get, not the place that best supports their child. It is not a functioning system. It is patchwork. Private providers no doubt play an important role but early childcare cannot be left almost entirely to private operations in a rapidly expanding area like Dublin Fingal West. My constituency has been left with one of the lowest levels of community childcare provision in the country. That is not equity; that is neglect. What makes it even more frustrating is that solutions are available. There are suitable sites in both Rush and Lusk that have planning permission. The land exists, the demand is clear, and the demographics are undeniable. If the Government truly intends to expand State-led childcare provision, then Dublin Fingal West is exactly where the commitment should be tested. It is the perfect canary in the coalmine. The Government speaks frequently about building State-led early education models but families in my constituency do not see that ambition reflected on the ground. They see housing developments completed before the childcare facilities are delivered. They see population growth without the matching public services. They see political spin without urgency. Early education and care is not an optional extra but essential infrastructure. It enables parents, particularly women, to remain in the workforce. It supports early childhood development. It strengthens communities. When the State fails to provide it adequately, families bear the burden, so today, I am asking the Government to commit to prioritising Dublin Fingal West for State-led community-based childcare facilities. Will it engage with Fingal County Council and the Fingal childcare committee immediately on the identified sites in Rush and Lusk? Will it acknowledge that leaving one of the youngest populations in the country with one of the lowest levels of community childcare provision is simply not acceptable? Dublin Fingal West cannot continue to be an afterthought in national childcare planning. Families deserve more than promises; they deserve delivery.

I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley. The Minister would like to thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this important issue and for offering her the opportunity to respond. I will deliver her response to the Deputy. Improving access to quality and affordable early learning and childcare is a key priority of Government. Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the annual early years sector profile shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by 25% over the last three years. I believe that Fingal increased by 20% in the same period. The reality is that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children. A forward planning model is in development which will be central to the Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood learning and childcare system, with State-led facilities adding capacity. That model seeks to identify the nature and volume of different types of early learning and childcare places across the country and how that aligns with the numbers of children in the corresponding age cohorts. That will be done at local area level. The Department continues to support the ongoing development an resourcing of core funding, which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core funding, which is in its fourth programme year, funds services based on the number of places available. This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The building blocks extension grant scheme is designed to increase capacity in the one to three-year-old, pre-early childhood care and education age range for full daycare. That is to support the parents who the Deputy specifically mentioned in his own contribution. Core funding partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or, in the case of community services, to construct or purchase new premises. The scheme will deliver up to 1,500 full-day care places for the one to three-year-old age category. The Minister recently announced €135 million in capital investment in buildings for high-quality, accessible State-led early learning and childcare. The process will begin this year with investment in buildings in what will be a ground-breaking initiative for this Government. Capital funding will be used to acquire and-or fit out the building, depending on requirements. Services will be operated on a not-for-profit basis by third parties. Where a project is being considered without an operator already in place, the Department will run a process to identify an appropriate not-for-profit operator, with capacity to operate a high-quality service. There will be a particular focus in the new State-led facilities on providing places for one to three-year-olds because this is where the need is greatest, with scope for these children to progress in the service until they start school. The aim of delivering additional supply of this kind in suitable locations will include both rural areas and urban areas which are not well served at the moment. Additional supply in areas of disadvantage is another priority because early learning can have really positive impacts on children at risk of disadvantage. Another factor to consider is the need to rebalance supply in some areas where there is a high concentration of private supply but very low levels of community childcare. That is what the Deputy outlined in his contribution, with regard to his constituency, Dublin Fingal West.

I thank the Minister of State and welcome what she said. Dublin Fingal West would be the perfect area to roll out a scheme like that. I welcome that capital funding will be used to acquire or fit out the buildings. That would certainly help in my constituency. I would also like to address the Government's commitments to reducing childcare costs to €200 a month over the term of the Dáil. That is obviously welcome. However, we must be very clear about the language we use here. When we talk about cheaper childcare, we reduce this sector to a bargain bin service. It starts sounding like a Ryanair advertisement where the lowest fare wins. That cannot be what early childhood education and care becomes. Affordability does matter - of course it does - but quality must be number one. I am glad the Minister of State acknowledges that in her statement. It is worrying to see providers threaten a judicial review on the employment regulation order, ERO, in the sector. That shows how unstable the sector is. A Band-Aid is holding the sector together. We do not need a patch. We need to rip off the Band-Aid and have a transformative moment, like Donogh O'Malley bringing in free secondary education or Niamh Bhreathnach getting rid of fees and opening third level to a generation. Those decisions were not tinkering; they were bold and brave. They recognised education as a public good. I urge this Government to recognise early education in the same vein and start a transition to a fully public childcare model so that parents have real choice and every child has access to quality, accessible childcare.

I am glad to hear that some of the policies the Minister is pursuing and introducing may be of benefit to the Deputy in his constituency, but most importantly, the parents and children in his constituency. Up to eight buildings will be selected for investment this year, and the State-led initiative will provide thousands of places up to 2030 using the €135 million provided in the national development plan. The level of investment will ramp up over the lifetime of Government. The initial approach is on purchasing and refurbishing buildings given that this is a faster route to delivery in the short term. However, the option of new building facilities will also be considered over subsequent years. The Deputy highlighted two specific sites in Rush and Lusk that would be worth looking at from this perspective. The Department is assessing sites and buildings and, where required, will seek expressions of interest from operators to deliver State-led services. Local city and county childcare committees will be supporting the development of these projects in the first instance. Community early learning and childcare operators, local authorities, developers or others who might have some suitable premises, projects or sites should, therefore, first contact their local city and county childcare committee. I would encourage the Deputy to put the owners of those sites in touch with his own contacts locally. Separately, following on from the success of the building blocks extension grant scheme, a further scheme will open for applications later this year. The round of capital funding will focus on funding extensions to existing premises to allow for increased numbers of children to be offered places on a full-time basis. Community and private providers that are core funding partner services will be eligible to apply for this scheme, and the Minister expects to announce details of this next building block scheme in the coming weeks. On some of the Deputy's comments, I will firmly put on the record that the Government is absolutely committed to reducing childcare costs. Affordability is really important from the parents' perspective but so too are accessible childcare and ensuring that we have the right amount of childcare in the right locations. Quality needs to be paramount. In a previous role, I was Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and signed into law one of the EROs the Deputy referenced. I wish to put on record my support for that process.