Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46216/25]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
John Connolly
Ceist:2. Deputy John Connolly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46878/25]
Séamus McGrath
Ceist:3. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46845/25]
Tom Brabazon
Ceist:4. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46850/25]
Martin Daly
Ceist:5. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46854/25]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:6. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [48430/25]
James Geoghegan
Ceist:7. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [48477/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:8. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [48847/25]
Mark Ward
Ceist:9. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [48902/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Wednesday, 3 September, and will meet again in the coming weeks. The committee works to ensure a cross-government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with almost 148,500 new homes delivered since the start of 2020. More people are buying their first home than in any period in well over a decade, with 2024 seeing first-time buyer mortgage drawdowns of over 26,000, supported by Government-backed measures such as the first home and help to buy schemes. However, we know that we must do more and that the scale of delivery of housing needs to be significantly increased in the coming years.
This is why we have prioritised a range of far-reaching measures and the deployment of significant funding since coming into government. This includes the allocation of €1.4 billion in additional capital funding for housing in 2025, bringing the total capital funding for housing programmes this year to €7.5 billion to support the provision of new social and affordable homes, bringing vacant homes back into residential use, second-hand acquisitions to prevent vulnerable households falling into homelessness and continuing to support homeowners under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme.
We have revised the national planning framework to enable local authorities to zone a significantly higher quantum of land.
We are implementing the Planning and Development Act at speed to reduce delays and bring greater consistency, clarity and stability to the planning system. We have agreed reforms to rent pressure zones which will strengthen the rights of tenants while helping to stimulate much-needed investment and development over the longer term. We have initiated the process to regulate the short-term lets market to balance the needs of tourism with the aim of increasing long-term rental supply. We have taken action to drive down the cost of construction through new guidelines on apartment standards. We continue to support key delivery partners such as the local authorities and the Land Development Agency, which have a significant and central role to play in the scaling-up of our housing supply. We have also taken action to get things moving quickly, including the extension to planning permissions which are about to expire and the introduction of a single-stage approval process for social housing projects, up to a value of €200 million.
Housing delivery, along with infrastructure and utility investment to enable delivery at scale, is at the centre of the recently agreed national development plan, which sets out a total investment of €275.4 billion, including €28 billion for housing programmes. As the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State, it will create the building blocks we need to deliver thousands of new homes through upgrading our water and energy infrastructure, delivery of roads and providing better public transport. We understand that the housing challenge impacts at many levels of our society, but clearly the impact is most acute and difficult for those who are homeless. Last week, the Minister, Deputy Browne, announced the prioritisation of €50 million for housing acquisitions to support larger families with children and housing first clients to exit long-term homeless emergency accommodation into safe, secure and permanent homes.
Building on these measures already taken, we are now in the process of finalising a new national housing plan for the next five years and beyond. Key issues we are working through as we finalise the plan include the promotion of innovation in the construction sector, the need for private finance at scale to complement unprecedented levels of State funding and ensuring the viability of apartment delivery. We are working with our colleagues across Government to find the right mix of measures to address these challenges. The new plan will be published in the coming weeks and I am confident that we can build on our success to date and achieve further momentum across all different areas of housing delivery over the lifetime of this Government.
I think the Taoiseach's assertion of such confidence is gravely misplaced, but how and ever. I wish to raise the issue of the Clashduv Road flats in Togher, in the Taoiseach's own constituency. I visited them in May with an Teachta Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Councillor Joe Lynch. As the Taoiseach knows, there are similar flats across the southside of Cork city, at Togher Road, Cherry Tree Road, Sycamore Place, Maple Place and Hazel Road. I am sure the Taoiseach is familiar with them. They date from the 1970s and are in a considerable state of disrepair. They are way beyond their lifespans. The balconies of the flats are in poor condition. There are issues with loose masonry. Iron bars surrounding balconies have rusted, and they are jagged and dangerous for children because of the condition they are in. There are really serious issues around damp, cold and mould in the flats, and there are a lot of respiratory issues among residents. Some of the blocks have subsidence and uneven floors. In many of the complexes, there are issues with rodents.
There is a dire and urgent need for regeneration of these complexes. The Housing Commission reported that these flats needed to be completely overhauled, at the very least. Cork City Council has agreed to knock another block of flats on Noonan's Road, yet the residents I met in Togher remain living in appalling conditions. They are very angry about that and understandably so. This is the Taoiseach's city. People are facing cold, damp, issues with rodents, cracks and hazardous fencing. I believe we need urgent regeneration of these complexes. Will the Taoiseach support this and will he ensure the funding is made available to the local authority to carry out that work?
I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy John Connolly. The issue of wastewater treatment plants in our rural towns and villages is one I have raised with the Taoiseach before. I refer in particular, however, to Ballycommon in Cloughjordan in north County Tipperary, which I know he will be aware of from previous discussions here in this Chamber. With the quite large level of investment coming from the national development plan into Irish Water, I appreciate that cities and large towns will have to take a certain level of priority in terms of the numbers of houses delivered, but I am worried about our smaller towns and rural villages being left behind.
In Ballycommon in north Tipperary, 34 houses could be built right now were it not for a lack of capacity in the system. Two developers there would build a plant if they got permission. In Cloughjordan, my own village where I live, we have not seen a private development since the mid-2000s. The council cannot build and new businesses often cannot connect. The housing estate that has developer-provided infrastructure cannot be taken in charge by the council because there is no capacity in the system. These are two examples of villages like many others right across rural Ireland. Will the Government commit to ensuring Uisce Éireann will provide a scheme of funding for these smaller towns and villages through national development funding and that it will not just be our larger towns and cities that will be looked at?
At the outset, if I may, I will mark the passing of Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy from Cork. I served with Councillor Murphy for 17 years on Cork County Council. He was a great friend and colleague. His untimely passing is dreadfully sad for his family, friends and community. I wanted to add my voice to condolences here, and I thank the Ceann Comhairle.
I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the housing subcommittee and the housing plan. Downsizing options for people are a critical issue and come up quite a lot on the doorsteps. I hope there will be additional policy in the new, updated plan to provide additional downsizing options for people, whether that is a rightsizing scheme such as that run by Cork City Council being rolled out further across the country or suitable retirement-type, single-storey housing being provided for people. Obviously, downsizing needs to be on a voluntary basis and entirely up to the individual, but many people whose incomes have reduced find themselves living in larger properties that were traditionally family homes with additional running and maintenance costs. These people want options but, unfortunately, they are not there at present. I think this has to be a core element of the new housing plan. I ask the Taoiseach to please take that back to the committee and work on it as part of the upcoming plan.
Last week, the Minister for housing, James Browne, approved significant equity loan funding for the development of 85 new cost-rental homes in Belmayne in Dublin 13 in my constituency. As the Taoiseach knows, many renters find themselves earning too much to qualify for social housing and are not able to afford the market rents. This project and funding, therefore, is very welcome and I would love to see far more of these projects and certainly more affordable housing as well.
On cost rental, is it possible for the Cabinet committee to look at a pathway to ownership in the context of this scheme? I refer to cases where people have proven themselves capable over time of being able to continue and maintain paying those rents.
Housing is the singular issue of this Dáil and this generation. The new planning framework has gone to the local authorities. What has been the response from the local authorities and what initiatives will the Government take to ensure its instructions to increase the rezoning of land will be carried through at a local level? The development of wastewater treatment plans, and developer-led wastewater treatment plants, would serve small towns and villages very well, as Deputy O'Meara pointed out. There is a pent-up demand for development in small towns and villages but the problem is infrastructure. Of course, there is also the aspect of increasing our energy infrastructure. I know the Government is putting huge resources into development of the grid and the production of electricity, as well as looking at the off-site construction solutions that can ramp up supply rapidly in Ireland.
We know the level of homelessness is at record highs. The key to tackling homelessness and the housing crisis is ensuring increased supply, but the number of planning permissions for new housing is falling and house prices and rents are rising. We were originally led to believe the Government's new housing plan would be published over the summer. It was then delayed, and now it is said it will be later this year. When will the Government's plan be published?
Specifically on the Land Development Agency, a report from the Department of Finance has found the agency will only make a small contribution, it seems, to the Government's housing targets. Can the Taoiseach confirm how many homes will be delivered by the LDA this year and next year? Will the Government resource it to ramp up supply, as we in the Labour Party have proposed?
On the student housing strategy, there has again been a delay in publishing it. Yet at this time, as freshers' weeks are in place across the country, we are seeing students struggling to find a secure place to rent at any sort of affordable price.
When will we see a student accommodation strategy?
In relation to the SPV structure for the Dublin city task force, I want to ask when will that be established. Is legislation necessary, and, if so, when will that legislation come? Obviously, all of that relates to the Dublin city task force and a key part of that is getting over-the-shop living in Dublin city centre. Some of that work is under way on a piloted basis on Middle Abbey Street by the Dublin City Council teams but what we need to see is a wholesale approach of getting people living in the city and a mixed typology of housing in the city centre. There are a lot of good things taking place in Dublin at present, such as getting the fruit market open. There will be a tender out for the library in the Parnell cultural quarter, but we have get more people living in the city centre. I need to see that level of urgency when it comes to getting the SPV structure. Hopefully, the budget will be supportive of the work that the Dublin city task force will be doing.
We really have to give consideration to housing adaptation grants and to look at them properly. We know they have been reviewed. Both the thresholds and the amounts paid have been increased but this does not cover the cost of building. I am talking in particular about those who fall into disability, whether down to old age, accidents, or children coming of age and needing a greater level of supports. We have all had these sorts of issues and occasionally got them across the line, but every year we have a case where the local authority runs out of funding. It stops taking applications and we all try to make representations on behalf of those worst cases. We need to get a system that works.
We still need to update the situation in relation to CAS funding as regards disabilities. I have spoken to the Taoiseach previously about St. John of God approved housing body not being able to draw down the money it could previously. While there have been solutions to some of the issues, we need that dealt with.
When are we to see the rural one-off housing review report, which last summer was with the Attorney General, because we know the issues that exist in rural areas in relation to people not being able to get planning permission for necessary housing?
I do not know how the Taoiseach has done it but he has pulled off an amazing feat of illusion. Somehow the Taoiseach has normalised the housing crisis. I want to be clear that it is not normal for people to be still living in the back bedrooms of their parents' homes. It is not normal that rents have skyrocketed and that most young people feel they will not be able to buy their own home. It is not normal to have 16,000 citizens of this country homeless, as we speak, and over 5,000 children, at this moment, staying in emergency accommodation.
It is also not normal to knowingly and willingly push more people into homeless accommodation but that is exactly what the Government has done by scrapping the tenant in situ scheme. I heard what the Taoiseach said to Deputy Ó Broin a few minutes ago. That is exactly what the Government has done. It has tied the hands of local authorities in relation to the tenant in situ scheme. The Government actually got something right in the last term by introducing this scheme. What does the Government do when it gets something right? It pulls the plug. I ask that the Government reinstates fully the tenant in situ scheme and gives local authorities the means and the ability to purchase homes to stop families and children going into homelessness.
Since the Government lifted the eviction ban in April 2023, more than 20,000 households have got eviction notices because their landlord wants to sell. At the time, the Government promised renters that they would be protected with the tenant in situ scheme. If they were on HAP or RAS and their landlord was willing to sell to the council, the council would buy their home. That has turned out to be a lie.
Just over 2,500 households benefited from the scheme before the Government gutted it less than two years after it started. The results are seen in the homelessness figures - a massive rise from 12,000 in March 2023 to over 16,000 today, including over 5,000 children. According to the latest figures, in quarter 2 of 2024, 349 families were prevented from entering homelessness as a result of the tenant in situ scheme and in quarter 2 of 2025, that was down to 122. Will the Taoiseach take emergency action, reinstate the eviction ban, and reimplement the tenant in situ scheme and properly fund it?
There are a lot of questions there. At the outset, I will say that Cork City Council has a good record generally in terms of regeneration. Particularly in one half of that Togher area, there was very successful early regeneration but, in fairness, it did not cover the Cherry Tree Road side or the Clashduv Road Flats. I would, of course, support the regeneration of those flats and, indeed, Noonan's Road, which has been awaiting regeneration for quite some time. Councillors have been particularly involved in that. We will continue to support regeneration.
In response to Deputy O'Meara's point, we have had discussions with Irish Water. I referenced the Cloughjordan case as illustrative of the need to facilitate developer-led wastewater treatment plants in small rural villages and towns because Irish Water has readily acknowledged that it will not be able to get those towns and villages notwithstanding the enormous allocations that we have given to Irish Water. There has to be pragmatism and realism, but it would oversee the construction and installation of those wastewater treatment plants and then would have a monitoring scenario with local authorities in respect of their efficacy and so on. That is something we are pushing strongly. We will get to a situation where that happens and that would release some housing, in particular, across rural Ireland.
Deputy McGrath is correct. Cork City Council was probably one of the first councils to develop a very innovative approach to downsizing and it won a national award for the scheme on the Skehard Road. This was where people moved out of existing three-bedroom or four-bedroom properties that they owned and downsized by agreement. As a result, they had some extra personal funding. In any event, it worked well. That should continue all over the country as an option because we have not used existing housing stock optimally. We have to continue to look at ways of incentivising the utilisation of existing housing stock. Airbnb has absorbed an awful lot of existing housing stock in cities as well to the detriment of the rental market and the residential and housing market.
In response to Deputy Brabazon in terms of the cost-rental pathway to ownership, it is early days yet in terms of building up cost rental as one particular strand within a menu of options for people endeavouring to get housing, either at affordable rent or at affordable purchase cost. That is something we will continue to keep under review.
Deputy Daly raised a number of issues. The wastewater treatment plants issue was similar to that raised by Deputy O'Meara. On the planning framework, it is the case that we need greater speed from the local authorities in respect of following through on the planning framework and they need to rezone more land because the ESRI is saying the Government has adopted a 50,000 per annum assessment of need. That is a needs-based target and we have to work out how we get there. The ESRI is saying we need 50,000 a year. Some are saying we need 60,000. That cannot be done without rezoning and yet it is clear to us that certain CEOs are humming and hawing about rezoning. I have been talking to councillors and proposals have not come to the table. I understand Dublin City Council is saying that it will not rezone and that it has enough land. I believe Fingal is in a similar situation.
There is a housing crisis out there. In response to Deputy Ward, I have not normalised anything. I am very clear about this. The cost of housing is excessive for young couples. That is why we need to rezone land and get more houses built and that has to happen over a ten-year period to get on top of the situation. We have moved from approximately 20,000 in 2019 or 2020 to 32,000, 33,000 or maybe 34,000 a year. That was a big shift from 2020 but we have to go much further than that. That needs both public sector and private sector investment.
Dropping the 40,000-----
Deputy Daly is also correct in terms of the development of the grid and off-site and modern methods of construction. We are driving that because that will also be key in accelerating the construction of housing.
On the rezoning issue, there are legislative options available to the Minister to mandate - he has already instructed, but to go ahead and get it done - but, ideally, the councillors, with the officials, should do it. There will be engagement between the Minister and me and CEOs of county councils to drive that agenda.
Deputy Bacik raised the issue of homelessness and the new housing plan. The new housing plan will be published within the next number of weeks. It made sense that we would get the national development plan done first in terms of having the capital framework over the next five years for the public sector investment underpinning housing announced.
We have not waited for the plan. We have taken measures that, ordinarily, would have ended up in the plan, such as the rent pressure zone review, the change in the apartment criteria and the national planning framework. There is also the initiative the Minister has taken in respect of homelessness, including the €50 million he announced last week for acquisitions to take families off the homeless list through a more direct approach. I will come back to the Deputy on the student accommodation strategy.
The LDA has a significant pipeline. Although I do not have the exact figures with me, thousands of houses will come onstream in the next number of years. Some significant advance work has been done on particular sites that the LDA has acquired and completed plans and designs for them. As the Deputy knows, it has completed significant projects and there are more to come. There are aspects of that finance report that I do not entirely agree with. The LDA will still have a significant contribution to make, along with local authorities and affordable housing bodies.
In response to Deputy Geoghegan, work is under way on the structure for the implementation of the Dublin city task force, and that is continuing. When we have the details, we will come back to the House in respect of that.
Living over shops in our cities is key and that also applies to the living city initiative. The existing scheme is quite limited and has had limited impact, so it is under review. We have had some discussions on that and apart from any task force, it would apply to a number of cities. There are also towns that could do with commercial conversions of over-the-shop accommodation to residential. The future in many urban centres will have to be more residential. The city living experience is changing.
Deputy Ó Murchú referred to the housing adaptation grants. I have spoken to the Minister and I am well aware that we have had very substantial grants. I would make the point to everybody that there has never been more capital allocated to housing and to this area. It is enormous funding. We are at the limits of growth in public expenditure and it is significant in terms of the overall fiscal framework. The adaptation grants are very important for senior citizens and people with disabilities.
The rural one-off housing guidelines are necessary. The Minister is working to update them because we need to give greater options to people living in rural Ireland, particularly those living on their own land, given the cost of housing. We need to ensure they are in a position to develop housing for themselves. Given the advances that have been made in wastewater treatment facilities, this is something that should be accommodated.
I have dealt with the question from Deputy Ward. We are not normalising anything. We are very clear that we need consistent and sustainable investment in all aspects of housing in the time ahead.
In response to Deputy Murphy, if we maintained the eviction ban, we would suffocate supply and we would have fewer houses. We are not going with the Deputy's agenda in many respects because we think his agenda would be even more damaging and would not ensure an increase in housebuilding, particularly in the private sector.
The tenant in situ scheme has been very significant in the past two years. It needed refinement so that it is not used by councils as an excuse to just acquire instead of build. It has to be focused and targeted at those most in need.
The Government has run out of money.
It was never meant for the landlords to sell. The focus was always on tenants who were in danger of being made homeless. Examples have emerged. For example, in some local authorities, no sooner was a house acquired than enormous funds were immediately put into retrofitting it and so on. That was never the original objective of the scheme. It was to get houses acquired to stop them from being sold and to stop someone from being made homeless. Some councils did not operate the scheme as it should have been operated. I know the Opposition just wants to keep on throwing money at every scheme and not review or examine it.
It is a good scheme.
There are issues that the Minister has examined. He found things that, in our view, were not in accordance with the original objectives of the scheme. The scheme has not been shelved or dropped, as has been suggested.
The Government has run out of money.
My council has run out of money, the city council has run out of money, Carlow and Kilkenny county councils have run out of money and Fingal County Council has run out of money.
Many cases were raised with regard to city councils and I tested this with one or two. In some cases that were raised in the House, they got sorted.
The Dublin councils have run out of money.
Hold on a second. They got sorted because the council could sort it. They are not helpless either.
The Government has strangled the scheme.
Cabinet Committees
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [46217/25]
John Connolly
Ceist:11. Deputy John Connolly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46876/25]
Aisling Dempsey
Ceist:12. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46879/25]
Catherine Ardagh
Ceist:13. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46847/25]
Tom Brabazon
Ceist:14. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46851/25]
Erin McGreehan
Ceist:15. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [48518/25]
Eoin Hayes
Ceist:16. Deputy Eoin Hayes asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [48904/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 16, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on children and education oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the area of children and education. It receives detailed reports on identified policy areas, such as child poverty, well-being and education. The membership of the Cabinet committee on children and education comprises the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence and the Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Children, Disability and Equality, Health, Social Protection, Education and Youth and Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The programme for Government contains many important commitments intended to improve the lives of all children, especially those children who need our help most. These commitments include: setting an ambitious child poverty target; progressively increasing the child support payment; expanding eligibility for the fuel allowance to families in receipt of the working family payment; and exploring a targeted child benefit payment.
Just last week, the Minister for Social Protection and I published the new child poverty target. The target is that, by 2030, no more than 3% of children should be living in consistent poverty. This would be the lowest figure in our history and would put us among the very best performers in Europe. That said, no figure is acceptable in terms of any child being in consistent poverty. Investment in education is central to this work to address child poverty and disadvantage. The Government’s vision for education is to deliver a world class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve their full potential. That is why we remain committed to building on the work of the DEIS programme, which, since 2006, has been operating to tackle educational disadvantage. We are looking at a DEIS plus programme to support schools in areas with the most deprivation and disadvantage.
The Cabinet committee meets quarterly and met for the second time recently. It will meet again in the period ahead.
I want to raise the current situation of Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire. As the Taoiseach knows, it is located on Parnell Square in Dublin. This school was at the centre of a shocking and very violent attack in November 2023. The ramifications of that day are still deeply felt within the school community emotionally and, in some cases, physically. In the aftermath of this horrific event, it was hoped there would be a renewed urgency in delivering a new, long overdue and much-needed permanent school building, something that has been promised for years and years. Despite false deadlines, hopes and promises, this has yet to happen. Construction on the school has been delayed again.
Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire is due to move temporarily to accommodation on Cathal Brugha Street. It is an interim solution to a long-term problem, bringing more questions than answers. When will all the necessary works be completed to allow the school to move to the proposed temporary building on Cathal Brugha Street? Can the Taoiseach confirm that the school will have exclusive and full use of the temporary premises? Most importantly of all, when will the building of the long-awaited and much-needed school building recommence? There cannot be further delays.
I would like to raise a number of cases that have arisen in Nenagh recently regarding school transportation for special classes. A number of new classes opened this year at second level. Three families are in contact with me who, two or three years ago, enrolled their children in the closest available school at the time, which is now their most appropriate school place. However, they are being told by the school transportation section that they are not entitled to school transport because there is a vacancy in a closer school. There seems to be a way to work this out. We are getting letters from schools, confirmation from parents and so on, but we need to examine the policy. We are opening more and more special classes. There are a considerable number opening in north Tipperary this year and we expect more next year. In cases where children are already settled in their most appropriate school environment, families should not have to go through this rigmarole of getting on to TDs or schools to get letters to fit the criteria and a technical policy. We should be able to examine the policy and get that ironed out while these school places continue to be expanded.
The programme for Government committed to reducing childcare costs to €200 per month per child.
Families across the country are under financial pressure. It is imperative that this commitment is delivered on within the lifetime of this Government. I urge the Taoiseach to ensure it remains a key focus of the Cabinet committee on children and education. Affordable childcare-----
Which commitment? Was it childcare?
Childcare, yes. Affordable childcare is not only essential for parents, but also for workforce participation, equality and the well-being of children. I appreciate it is complex and I appreciate the work already undertaken by the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, to realise this commitment but could the Taoiseach outline any progress to date and when we can expect further progress?
I join my colleagues in expressing sympathy to the family of Patrick Gerard Murphy, who was a friend to a lot of us.
Today, I raise the issue of mild general learning disability schools. Department of Education and Youth officials have a widespread misunderstanding of exactly what they do and they are now being forced to redesignate. There are 29 mild schools in the country, 14 of which cater for children at a post-primary level. They are appropriate school settings for children with mild general learning disabilities and the prove of this is in the pudding with 95% of graduates from mild schools entering the workforce, compared to just 30% of those with a mild diagnosis in the general population who go on to enter the workforce.
One such school in my area is Scoil Eoin. It is a wonderful school with fantastic staff but it wants to keep its designation. It is really unfair and it is not inclusive to change the designation of mild schools to more complex schooling. Will the Taoiseach commit to ensuring these schools will not have their designation changed on them by the Department?
Since my election to this House, I have been contacted by numerous principals, teachers and parents of primary school children who say they are finding the management of the capitation grant of €224 per pupil becoming increasingly difficult. The increasing energy costs, insurance costs and other operational costs have increased the financial burden on schools and stress on school principals, in particular. Can this be examined in the context of the upcoming budget? The ask of some of the principals is that there be an additional €75 per pupil in the grant. Could that be considered?
The Government has done an awful lot of work on bringing the cost of education down with schemes like free meals and free books. However, another cost that has been placed on parents trying to get their kids back to secondary school is really expensive laptops for each child. Laptops cost from €500 to €700 and even more, and every child who starts secondary school - in the schools I am familiar with - have this cost now. That is a huge expense on families. Yes, we have taken away one burden but the education system has put another burden on top of that. If you have a couple of children in school, and children are children so laptops break, there will be quite an expensive run on laptops every few years.
Will there be research into screen time and using laptops for homework and exams. Everything that is done on laptops for children as young as 12 up to 17 years of age. Has the Department of Education and Youth conducted research? The old pen and paper is disregarded and pupils are now on screens constantly, along with that huge expense.
Last week, the Taoiseach published an op-ed in the Irish Independent declaring that the time to end child poverty is now. That sentiment is very welcome but his analysis was incomplete. Yesterday, my party leader rightly pointed out that consistent child poverty has doubled in the past two years to 8.5% when the Government's target is 3%. Earlier this month, the ESRI published a report that one in every five children - more than 225,000 - are now in poverty when housing costs are taken into account.
The Taoiseach said earlier that he is committed to employment and economically sustainable finances but what good is employment if it is the most unequal market income in the developed world? How sustainable is a doubling of child poverty? At a webinar on child poverty held by the Children's Rights Alliance last week, the deputy Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection rightly said: "If a family does not have access to secure and affordable housing, it is almost impossible to provide the services required to lift them out of poverty." Will the Taoiseach and his sub-committee outline the targeted approach to child poverty, including housing? Will he acknowledge the devastating role his housing policies, that he has voted for over the previous decade, have played in escalating child poverty?
I raise the issue of childcare with the Taoiseach as well. Mary Geary's Childcare is one of the largest providers in the country. It is actually based in Carrigtohill, which is in Deputy O'Connor's constituency, but many of the families who use it reside in my constituency. It has 450 children from 300 families. The parents of those children were recently faced with a fee hike of 34%. This is because the provider decided to remove itself from the public core funding model. It did this reluctantly because there is a situation where some of these large providers are capped at a certain level, which I think is in the region of €750,000, which they cannot go over. This is an example of a large provider but the pressure that is put on us locally in terms of families trying to source alternative childcare is enormous and has been felt deeply.
A survey carried out online recently by Indeed, the hiring company, where 1,000 parents were surveyed with 70% saying that childcare accessibility has affected their ability to work and one quarter of all respondents finding they either had to cut their hours or rearrange their work schedule to accommodate the childcare gap. This is now more than a family issue; this is an economic issue.
The discussion about the State failing children will dominate the coming Dáil term but there is no greater failure than the State losing track of and failing children who it is meant to be taking care of. Just a couple of hours ago, we heard that the body of Daniel Aruebose has been found. We know he went missing four years ago, when he was just three years old. He would have been seven now. Incredibly, when reading the story, it appears the State became aware he was missing because of checks carried out on social welfare payments. What does it say about the nature of the State that better track is being kept of social welfare payments than vulnerable children?
Tragically, Daniel is far from the only child to fall through the cracks. Kyran Durnin has still not been found. In 2023, 29 young people known to Tusla died. Earlier this week, a school principal said there are huge gaps and holes in the system and that no one is looking for children who are not turning up to school, which is incredible. What will be done to ensure we stop failing children in this way?
I raise the case of Daniel Aruebose as well and the fact that his remains have been found in north Dublin. It is incredible that a three-year-old boy would go missing from State care. I want to express my deepest sympathies to the relatives of this small boy. Daniel has been failed by the State. It is horrific and damning that we have a situation where the State was searching for the remains of two boys who were either in State care or known to State care and were no longer being tracked by State care. Daniel is among 254 children who have died in the past ten years either in State care or known to State care. Until yesterday, he was among dozens of children who are missing currently from State care.
The children's ombudsman has blasted the lack of structures the State has provided to properly investigate the deaths of vulnerable children. He stated there were no statutory powers to investigate these deaths and no powers to compel information from public bodies and services. We also have had the news that Tusla will conduct well-being checks into 42,000 children whose cases were closed during the Taoiseach's Government's Covid restrictions. That is a very serious situation about that Government's handling of the Covid crisis.
The Deputy should conclude.
The fact there is not a proper investigation with statutory powers to investigate those is absolutely wrong as well. What funding will the Taoiseach provide Tusla to make sure it can do the work to investigate those closed cases?
The Deputy should conclude.
Will the Taoiseach provide statutory powers to investigate these shocking deaths?
I also add my voice to the two cases that have been spoken: Kyran Durnin and Daniel Aruebose. The only good news is that at least Daniel's body was found. We are talking about an absolutely tragic set of circumstances and families who had engaged with Tusla.
I have no doubt we all know and are aware of the issues. We know that we need to make sure that, first of all, we have the correct frameworks and protocols for child protection, and that they are then adhered to. There is no doubt we need reviews in these two cases. First and foremost, anyone with information should go to the Garda, but we also need reviews to be carried out, and not behind closed doors. We must ensure that learnings are learnt and less of this can happen in the future, because it is disastrous.
I have spoken here many times previously of the failure to intervene early with families and those who need support. What was brought up at the children's committee was the idea of specialist public health nurses, which was contained within the early years policy framework but was not followed up. The idea is that there would be an initial positive engagement with families involving screening-----
The Deputy should conclude.
-----so if there is a need for resources, they could be put in early before things become disastrous or tragic. In some cases, it is all about child protection. We need absolute supports and protection of the child.
I thank the Deputy.
We are failing at this point. We must look back and learn so we know where we must go in the future.
The time for questions to the Taoiseach will conclude at 4.33 p.m. The Taoiseach should bear that in mind when he responds.
In response to Deputy McDonald, the issue with Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire was a contractual one. It was not a case of the Government pulling the plug or anything like that. The Deputy and I know that. I will ask the Minister to communicate directly with her. I presume she has been in touch with the Minister for education on the matter and also on the use of Cathal Brugha Street. It is an interim solution. The situation is very unsatisfactory. My understanding from the last time we discussed this is that it is a contractual disagreement.
Deputy O'Meara raised school transport. He is absolutely correct. No one should have to go through that rigmarole. Common sense and flexibility should apply. I will speak to the Minister in respect of the issues he raises.
Deputy Dempsey spoke about affordable childcare. Much progress has been made to date. There was a major issue with places this time round. We are always trying to balance the number of places, access to places, cost, and support for staff. We will have good proposals again coming forward and substantial moneys being made available to the joint labour committee for an increase, but developmental career pathways for people working in childcare is still an issue.
Deputy Ardagh raised the proposal by the Department of education to redesignate 29 schools, which I heard about in recent days. I will pursue that with the Minister. These are very important schools, which fulfil a very clear purpose. I am aware of them in my own constituency as well. A different approach should be adopted. I will have to talk to the Minister for education in respect of this, as well as the Minister of State with responsibility for special education. The school the Deputy referenced in her constituency is Scoil Eoin.
I agree with Deputy Brabazon that capitation is a significant issue. We did increase it significantly during and after Covid to levels that had not previously been seen but I acknowledge that, nonetheless, the cost of living impacts on schools as well, in particular energy costs.
Deputy McGreehan made a point about research into the advent of technology and tried and trusted methods of education. A lot of research has been done which shows that technology is not all it is made out to be in terms of the development of the child, the learning process and creativity, but it can be a significant additional aid to learning. We have to work with schools on how to best ensure a reduction in costs for parents in particular, given the cost of iPads. Mechanisms can be developed in that regard. There are limits to public expenditure. We have done great work in reducing costs in recent years, but there are limits to what we can do.
Deputy Hayes's party specialises in articulating that life in Ireland is miserable. That tends to be the-----
I never said that.
That is how the party goes about it.
I did not say that.
Everything is bad.
The Taoiseach should not put words in my mouth.
I am not putting words in his mouth.
I did not say it.
What he is saying is that everything has doubled – unemployment-----
I am quoting the ESRI.
He said it is the most unequal employment market in the world-----
The Government funds the ESRI.
-----at a time when we had 500,000 extra jobs in five years.
The OECD brought us that information. The Department of Finance gives it to us.
Yes, but who has the highest school completion rates in Europe?
I told the Taoiseach about the-----
Who has the better progression rates?
Deputy Hayes should please allow the Taoiseach to address the question.
This country has. All I am saying is that we should have a bit of balance. I know the Deputy might be a bit, you know - but he should take it handy. A bit of balance would be appropriate in terms of the different narratives.
The Taoiseach is not answering the question.
We have a lot of things to do. I have always acknowledged that.
We had a national child poverty summit recently. Deputy Hayes might be aware of that.
I can inform Deputy O'Sullivan that approximately 90% of providers are in the scheme at the moment. Some did opt out. I have spoken to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, who has arrived beside me in the Chamber. There is a cap of €750,000 for the larger users. If fees are going up by 34% that will have a big impact on the community for the 450 children the Deputy referred to. It seems that some people are going out into the private market thinking they can get that, which is a problem. It is regrettable if people leave the scheme. They should do everything they possibly can to stay in it for the benefit of the parents, and work with the Department in that regard.
Deputies Murphy and Tóibín raised the discovery of Daniel today. I do not accept the automatic impulse to blame the State. There needs to be a better analysis of this in advance of jumping to blame.
We should know whether it has been researched or investigated.
Deputy Tóibín used a phrase which I wrote down referring to a three-year old boy who went "missing from State care". This is his classic propagandising of a situation. It is regrettable that he would adopt such a cynical attitude, because that boy did not go missing while in State care. Does the Deputy accept that?
I accept that he was not tracked by State care.
No, I am not asking Deputy Tóibín that. Does he accept he did not go missing while in State care?
I accept that his case was closed-----
Could the Taoiseach address his remarks through the Chair?
I apologise. I should have done it through the Chair.
We are over time.
The point I am trying to make is-----
There needs to be a structure to investigate these cases. The ombudsman says there is not.
Yes, but the chair of the national review panel gave a very robust articulation of its role, and the effectiveness of its role. There are ongoing issues in terms of legislation and so on that can be progressed, but that should not be conflated with what happened with Daniel. We need to await the outcome and get the facts first before we jump to conclusions.
The ombudsman said there is not a statutory organisation to get the facts. That is a damning statement.
I have observed Deputy Tóibín's position on this for quite some time, and the overriding objective seems to be to blame Tusla for every child in the country who goes missing. That is wrong.
Is there any responsibility?
There can be wrongdoing or neglect in some cases but Deputy Tóibín raises it in every case. That is wrong.
It is unfair to those working in Tusla and to social workers.
We will conclude.
That is what I believe.
Does the Taoiseach know that Tusla lost track of this boy?
The Taoiseach is not being correct.
Specialist public health nurses-----
The time is up, so we are moving on.
I apologise to Deputy Ó Murchú.
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