Emer Currie
Dublin West · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I wish to begin by recognising the substantial work undertaken by the Government-led shared island initiative, the ESRI, academics and opinion leaders. Without that work, we simply could not have a debate of this quality.”
“This is not simply about replacing old buildings; this is about building a modern educational campus that reflects the needs and the wishes of the families in Dublin 7 and Dublin 15 for generations to come. The community has waited long enough.”
“Rather than simply replacing the existing buildings, they have come together with an ambitious proposal to create one educational campus on the existing site. This project has the potential to be one of the most significant primary school developments in the State. However, the project has been stalled at stage 2a since 2024.”
“Many of the economic gaps that will likely be highlighted in the wider debate as barriers to unification - productivity, earnings, disposable income, tax revenue and educational attainment - are not as inevitable as some would like us to believe.”
“However, Northern Ireland has outperformed many UK regions since Brexit, helped by the competitive advantage created through dual access to the UK and EU goods markets under the Windsor Framework. More recent research suggests the productivity gap is narrowing.”
“If you believe in a united Ireland, then making Northern Ireland more prosperous, a better place to live and a more attractive proposition for the people who are undecided about how they would vote in this referendum should not be a secondary objective; it should be central to achieving a united Ireland.”
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“For the first time, common application processes are included in the programme for Government, which is great. If there are not enough school places in an area, a common applications process, CAP, cannot make up for that. It will streamline the enrolment process for families, some of whom face months of stress waiting to find out if their child has secured a place in their local school. Will the Minister update me on the common application trial, which principals in Dublin 15 are spearheading for children with additional needs, the Department's involvement and her plans to implement a CAP for secondary schools, which is very much needed in Dublin West?”
“In the meantime, the NTA has stated its priority is to fix capacity issues rather than enhance them because it had a limited budget for new or additional services in 2024. In effect, the NTA wants to run to stand still in an area that never stands still. We have also lost out on additional train carriages which were earmarked for the Maynooth line but, post Covid, were moved to intercity services. I am not sure whether the previous Minister signed off on this decision or whether it was the NTA alone. My question is whether the work of the new Cabinet committee will hold the NTA to account for delays and its decisions, and ensure sufficient investment, not only in capital projects but also in capacity in the here and now.”
“Our public transport in Dublin West is under serious pressure. Punctuality figures for the 37 bus route over winter and spring last year stood at approximately 60%. I often wonder what employer is okay with staff being punctual just 60% of the time. The National Transport Authority, NTA, admits that we are badly affected by ghost buses. The BusConnects roll-out is now delayed until late 2026 because of a lack of mechanics and drivers and issues around the electrification of bus depots, which I believe warrants more scrutiny. We have active judicial reviews on both our major public transport projects, namely, the BusConnects core bus corridor and the electrification of our rail line through DART+ West.”
“We need local community safety partnerships up and running, bringing together the local stakeholders, such as youth workers, juvenile liaison officers, the HSE, community groups, residents and businesses so that we may have local community safety strategies for the community by the community, including our youth.”
“In 2023, The Wheel found overall investment in our youth work sector was down 16% compared to 2008 , with a shortfall of 15 million. Since 2008, however, our needs and population have exploded. We require a major step change in youth policy far beyond targeted youth services and diversion programmes. We need after-school facilities and youth clubs which should be opened in every community, supporting children, young people and families. This is achievable. We need our youth workers and volunteers from organisations like Foróige and YMCA to do what they do best, as well as interventions where they are required and where there already is an ecosystem and community of services.”
“As policymakers, we must ensure the public have confidence in our youth diversion strategy because it does work. I believe some issues need to be addressed. For the third time since I have become a Teachta Dála, I am raising the Garda numbers in the K district versus other districts in the Dublin metropolitan region. The difference could be as high as one garda for every 531 people in the K district versus one garda for 397 people in a neighbouring district. That district also has 40% lower crime statistics than the K district. Out of the 150 new recruits in March, only four went to the K district. The district is potentially the busiest policing district in the country and it cannot afford to continue to lose out to the city centre and other areas.”
“That goes some way to explaining the imbalance, but a factor that cannot be overlooked is the feedback from youth workers on the ground in the greater Blanchardstown area when they say they have never felt more under pressure. I believe this is because they are propping up the entire youth services system when they should be concentrating on targeted youth services. Persistent low-level crimes is becoming a major issue on suburban Dublin communities. This does not just include youth crime. This includes theft, open drug dealing, antisocial behaviour, increased knife crime and the threat and consequences of involvement in gangland crime as well as a corresponding perceived lack of consequences for youth offenders. Communities want this low-level crime to be tackled before it becomes normalised.”
“Figures for the years 2019 to 2023 show funding for our 23 Dublin Garda youth diversion projects increased by a massive 143%, but the number of participants only increased by 11%. Funding stood at €5.18 million in 2019 and increased to €12.6 million in 2023, but the number of participants increased from 1,092 to just 1,212. These are figures that I received from the Department of Justice last year, and I have asked for 2024 figures. Questions must, therefore, be asked about value for money where there is spiralling funding but a diminishing return. Youth diversion is work intensive, requiring direct engagement with participants to make it a success.”
“If we are going to have a debate about the diversion of young people from criminal activity, then we have to look at the whole picture of youth work and youth services. It is an entirely lopsided system if youth services only kick in for the vast majority of young people when something goes wrong and criminal behaviour is involved, especially when it has been well established that youth work is an effective form of prevention and early intervention, as well as a means of cultivating a multitude of positive outcomes for young people. Unfortunately, a lopsided system has been allowed to emerge. As well as investment in justice-driven youth investment projects, we need wholesale investment in universal youth services, including capital works. As to why, let us look at the numbers.”
“Since 29 November, we have needed a government with those willing to come forward and together to make hard decisions, supported by a strong majority of TDs. US tariff policy and the decisions of President Trump may be outside of our control. In the context of global challenges, this Government wants to get Ireland's house in order. It was another American president, Abraham Lincoln, who said: "A house divided against itself, cannot stand.". Sinn Féin want this House and this State in disorder to continue their own long agenda. Today, I stand with the Ceann Comhairle for the legitimacy of government formation, for focusing on the issues that demand our attention and for order.”
“Sinn Féin likes to talk up the new combined Opposition but what in fact we are getting is combined obstructionism, a calculated web of chaos to undermine the legitimacy of government, where even staff and clerks of the Dáil are fair game. However, what else would you expect from a party that for decades refused to recognise this House and opposed this State – experts at blame and shame and little else. The Opposition won the argument that you cannot be in government and opposition at the same time when the Ceann Comhairle made her ruling. For what it is worth, it was the right decision. The new Standing Orders recognise the constitutional rights of all elected Members of this House. Government backbenchers have as much right as Members of the Opposition to represent the concerns of the constituents who have elected them.”
“I want to acknowledge how significant that sentence in the written response is. I take the Minister of State's point that more reading classes for children with dyslexia would be a positive step to support their educational needs, because there has been a policy of not opening reading classes and reading schools. Parents are having to fight for those places and then have to travel very long distances in order to access them. It should not be like that. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government regarding additional time for exams and assistive technology. We need to see progress. We need to see dyslexia being put firmly on the agenda for special education, delivering for these families and children who really need it.”
“Families, Dyslexia Ireland and National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists want reading classes and reading schools to be opened. In my experience, there are families who feel, even with the right educational supports, that intensive intervention in a specialised class focusing on literacy and reading skills for up to two years is an all-round more inclusive approach and experience than children coming in and out of classrooms with a special education teacher. They do not see a reading class or a reading school as a failure of inclusion; they see it as an enabler of inclusion in the long term. We ask the Minister to look again at this policy and at opening reading classes for children with severe dyslexia.”
“We need more of them, we need to get better at opening them and we need a system of forward planning based on our current projections of children who require additional supports. What I do not understand is why the Department of Education therefore no longer supports the opening of new reading schools or classes. I believe no such classes have been opened since 2017. In fact, there are only 14 reading classes and four special schools nationally for children with severe dyslexia. This is simply not enough. In an ideal world, the right educational supports could be made available to children in a mainstream setting. I recognise the work and increase in the number of special education teachers all across the country, but the reality of those supports is different in the classroom. Those supports are severely stretched.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. This is a question that she raised today during Questions on Policy or Legislation. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, for being here, and I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, who cannot be here, in advance for his written response. I hope that, based on this, he can meet us and other Deputies about this issue, since I know it is an issue he is interested in. The Department of Education has a policy of opening special classes for children with additional needs whose needs are not being met in mainstream classes. The 3,336 special classes open at the moment are mainly for children with autism.”
“My point today is that we of course have to protect what we have with the US, but let us also maximise relationships closer to home. Let us increase the status of our Irish brands, sectors and SMEs across Europe and the UK.”
“Let us mandate our export promotion agencies to focus on maximising Irish export opportunities to the EU and UK. Let us more actively support our SMEs to get into those markets. We do a great job, but this can be enhanced. Let us run more trade missions to the EU and the UK. Let us give them the dominance and status of the current predominance of missions to further-flung markets, such as the US and Asia. Let us make the most of our reset relationship with the UK and its new Prime Minister to try to tackle costs, delays and barriers impacting transit and customs, and to champion initiatives, such as the EU-UK veterinary agreement. Ireland has shown itself to be an economic success story in the face of global challenges. The Tánaiste has taken on the role of continuing that success.”
“It is a good time to ask whether we are doing enough to leverage the opportunity of tariff-free trade to the Single Market and the UK under the terms of the TCA. Whatever President Trump does with respect to Ireland-US trade, he cannot dent the fact that Ireland is favourable for US multinationals seeking to access the EU market, with a population that is a third larger than the US. Exporting to our Single Market should also be a no-brainer for Irish indigenous enterprise, especially SMEs. According to CSO data, the 97% of all firms in Ireland exporting to the UK are SMEs. However, research by Rockwood and Amárach has found that 34% of Irish SMEs have identified the need to further reduce customs requirements for exports to Great Britain as one of their top three asks of the Government. Now is the time to look more to the EU and UK.”
“With that in mind, I will speak about maximising other opportunities for trade, as he did just this week with the Indian foreign minister. I will focus on opportunities closer to home. In response to a more uncertain international environment, many companies around the world have embarked on reshoring, or friend-shoring, which means bringing supply chains and their sources back to or nearer to home. The same can apply to exports. In a world where the prospect of future tariffs is threatening confidence, many companies are looking for opportunities to grow exports to more secure trading partners. Last year, the US was a massive destination for Irish exports, valued at €72 billion, which must be protected, but the EU and Great Britain comprised an even bigger market, valued at more than €103 billion.”
“Last week, An Taoiseach, in line with his elected mandate, admirably represented all of us in Ireland when he met President Trump, as did the Tánaiste in Philadelphia and New York. However, the future of Irish-US trade remains under a cloud. The threat of a spiralling transatlantic trade war is the latest in a series of significant challenges to global trade and supply chains. That is why the people voted for this Government - to bring solutions and stability when those dark clouds are looming. I hope that all parties and none in this House recognise the need to work together constructively, as they did the majority of times through Brexit, to protect economic stability, jobs and livelihoods. I know that the Tánaiste will do everything in his power to protect Ireland, the EU and the US from tariffs.”
“The Government has a responsibility to increase Garda numbers nationally. That commitment is reflected in the programme for Government but I have a duty to highlight the challenges in Dublin West and the K district, one of the most demanding policing districts in the country. There are significant and concerning differences in garda numbers in the K district versus neighbouring districts. It can be as high as one garda for every 531 people in the K area versus one garda per 397 in a neighbouring district and that neighbouring district has 40% lower crime statistics. Will the Taoiseach and Minister for Justice invite the Garda Commissioner to report on garda levels allocated to all Dublin metropolitan region districts with reference to population and crime levels, as part of work to address Garda retention and recruitment?”
“In the neighbouring district, it is one garda for every 418 people; that district has 40% lower crime statistics. There is no valid reason for some Dublin Garda districts to have substantially fewer gardaí per capita than other districts, especially if they have more crime. The answer is not to take away from the Dublin districts that have those resources; it is to allocate more gardaí into under-resourced districts. We need more gardaí on the beat in the villages of Dublin West. We should not have to rely on one Garda station serving 120,000 people there. There has been a lack of evidence-based policymaking. Will the Minister of State invite the Garda Commissioner to provide a report on levels of allocation of gardaí to all Dublin metropolitan regions with reference to population and crime levels?”
“We have ongoing incidents of serious gangland crime along with persistent lower levels of crime and antisocial behaviour that, very worryingly, are becoming normalised. This includes open drug dealing, theft from cars every night of the week in estates, and growing incidents involving knives. All of that coincides with less visibility of gardaí on our streets. My concerns are amplified by the fact that there seems to be significant inconsistencies in the deployment of gardaí across districts in the Dublin metropolitan region outside the city centre. These figures are based on Garda numbers provided in replies to parliamentary question and CSO population figures. They are conservative. In the K district, there is one garda per 510 people.”
“I note media reports yesterday that stated two thirds of the most recent recruit class from Templemore will be deployed to the streets of Dublin city. Like all Members of the House, I warmly welcome the deployment of additional gardaí to our capital's streets and communities. I sincerely thank those recruits for signing up, but if it is true that 98 out of 150 new Garda recruits are heading en masse to the city centre, I must admit it adds to my concern and that of the people I represent that Dublin's suburbs are losing out to the city centre when it comes to Garda numbers. Suburban communities, such as those in Dublin West, also face challenges when it comes to law and order.”
“The decision to move a new school in temporary accommodation in Barnwell, Dublin 15, outside of its catchment to an entirely new area of Dublin 15, even though that land is zoned for nearly 3,000 homes, seems illogical. Plans to close off level crossings across railway lines to traffic in residential areas without a comprehensive traffic management plan may need additional work. As the report states, we need greater collaboration and co-ordination for infrastructure or places like Dublin West will continue to fall victim to piecemeal development and patchwork infrastructure.”
“Dunsink lands in Dublin west are designated as a long-term strategic reserve and require the preparation of a local statutory plan, but Fingal County Council has indicated slow timelines for progress. I understand this is a detailed and complex analysis and is work that requires costings, but we have to be able to prioritise strategically important landbanks suitable for housing within the M50 and in proximity to road and rail infrastructure that could provide up to 7,000 housing units. We have to ensure that as our housing targets grow, so too do transport infrastructure, childcare places, disability services and schools with functioning forward planning data based on our local area instead of national trends. While this may be for another day, a review of the childcare guidelines for local authorities is past urgent.”
“As the report states, housing stock must be responsive to needs, the right type in the right location and the right volume. At the moment I am not sure if housing types and housing tenure are being measured or monitored enough at local level. Our planning authorities could get much more involved in ensuring tenure mix. The commission's report refers to the timely integrated delivery of infrastructure as the basic foundation for housing. Again, I agree. The Government is setting up a new strategic housing initiative office, as recommended by the commission, and publishing the national planning framework to allow the zoning of more land. However, we have to move faster on land zoned for housing.”
“We do not need any more build-to-rent apartments in what is a compact area where there is huge demand for other types of housing. We are also putting more money than ever into public housing and housing activation. While we focus on activating the 50,000 apartments that have planning permission and ensuring a future pipeline of supply, we must also talk about how we ensure those apartments are available to buy and rent, available for cost-rental and affordable purchase and available for all types of social housing and all kinds of people who need it, including smaller AHBs, housing for older people and those with disabilities. One size fits all does not work for sustainable community development, whether that is in Clonsilla, Ongar, Castleknock, Hollystown or Tyrellstown.”
“Upfront funding is required and, in turn, that has led to larger swathes of build to rent apartments and opportunities for larger approved housing bodies. However, I still believe in the principle and benefits of mixed tenure for stronger and integrated communities. We have to get better at delivering that through apartments as well as housing developments in local communities. There were 4,005 dwelling completions across three electoral areas in Dublin West in the past five years. In the Castleknock local electoral area, there have been 689 dwelling completions. Two build-to-rent complexes, Balroy Hall and U Clonsilla, stand 2.7 km apart. They comprise 403 apartments in total, with monthly rents ranging from €1,695 for a studio to €3,274 for a three-bedroom apartment.”
“I thank the Minister and Minister of State for being here and I wish them luck in their portfolios. I appreciate the opportunity to focus on the Housing Commission report and on housing today. I agree with the view of the commission that we cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to housing delivery, and that we need a critical mass of social, affordable and cost-rental housing. I will put forward my view about how we go about that. If we want communities to stop pushing back on planning applications for apartments, we have to make them available to everyone in those communities. I understand why apartments have been bulk bought by private funds or bulk funded from State funding. Financing apartments is different from financing houses.”
“Will the Government move immediately on commitments to increase capacity through State-led and private childcare services and fix core funding for parents and providers?”
“Is the Taoiseach aware that women in Dublin are struggling to find childcare before they return to work? They are spending endless hours ringing around crèches and on childcare websites instead of spending quality time with their new babies. Some mothers delay their return to work not because it is the best option for their families but because it is the only option. There are 262 childcare services in receipt of core funding in Fingal and there have been at least 62 fee adjustments, impacting hundreds of parents, since December. Those fee increases are coming out of the enhanced childcare subsidies that were implemented in September. Smaller local providers still feel they are more likely to drop out of core funding.”
“However, I am uncomfortable if there is an emerging train of thought that constitutional change can only be entertained once the reconciliation of people is achieved. If we are to be true to the Good Friday Agreement, we must acknowledge that is not what it says in letter or spirit. How could that to which I refer be measured in any event? I am part of a generation that wants to contribute to a new vision for the future. My views do not fit into the Border poll now camp, nor with anyone who puts a limitation on hope. A new Ireland, based on the values of reconciliation and the values of the Good Friday Agreement, is an achievable reality. It does not have to be a lofty concept but we have to work consciously, selectively, proactively-----”
“We worked hard as community last year for a Dublin 15 task force involving local schools, parents, the Department of education and the NCSE to be set up to streamline applications and lead out on national reform. The Department of education and the NCSE, having identified demand for school places through this process, must deliver supply. They must ensure that every child has an appropriate school place for September and make good on their promises and show change is possible. My experiences on both sides of the Border have shaped my all-island outlook. I want more people from places like my home, Dublin West, to share the benefits of all-island co-operation and cohesion. The Good Friday Agreement, in its entirety, must be implemented. It is the roadmap for stability, respect and progress now just as it was in 1998.”
“There are thousands of children under the age of three on waiting lists for early years services and thousands families without after-school options in their communities. The programme for Government gets the balance right. Our local childcare services need to be funded fairly in order to be viable while parents need affordable fees. We need to review and increase core funding, in particular for the smaller providers, while stepping into State-led provision. There is a great deal of emphasis in the programme for Government on delivering for children with additional needs and disabilities. This is very welcome. Dublin West has been identified as the most difficult place in the country in which to secure an appropriate school place.”
“Not only is the lack to which I refer affecting our competitiveness as a city and country, it also undermines the progress we have made in addressing inequality in the workforce and social vulnerability. According to Dublin Chamber, nine out of ten businesses reference childcare as a barrier to attracting and retaining staff. While women's workforce participation rates have increased in recent years, what about the women I meet who are delaying the return to work after maternity leave because they cannot source childcare? Perhaps, these are some of the less captured indicators of the true experience of families in Dublin who are struggling. The current childcare model is not delivering to the scale that is required.”
“Over the next five years, we have to address the public service and infrastructural deficits that already undermine our standard of living, limit opportunities for our young people and threaten our competitiveness in the areas of housing, transport and essential services that we depend on like education, disability and childcare. In Dublin West, we feel the cost of delay every day. We must tackle deeply-set barriers, whether they are systemic, structural or simply bureaucratic, and deliver for families, workers and businesses - for Dublin - as per the roadmap and commitments in the programme for Government, through reform and delivery. Dublin has its challenges. In that context, a lack of childcare, after-school infrastructure and youth services needs to become a thing of the past.”
“I would like two words to guide the new Government and my work as a new TD over the term of the 34th Dáil, namely "reform" and "delivery". We have much to be optimistic about, such as full employment, budget surpluses and putting money aside for two long term funds to future-proof growth and investment. However, we would be foolish to take this position for granted. Brexit and Covid showed that our strengths lie in being prepared, united, well funded and capable of agility in confronting crises and challenges. We need to remember those qualities and the fact that stability is not a cover for stasis.”
“For the purposes of today, I am focused on the need to review and increase them initially. We have stated that there is a commitment to work in partnership with private providers, most of whom are women providing local services that families truly value and depend on. We also need to go beyond our near total reliance on private providers so that all communities have access to services, developing a system of forward planning and the delivery of appropriate childcare infrastructure capable of meeting demand. For now, childcare services need to be funded fairly in order to be viable operations, and parents need the most affordable fees we can provide.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. I believe I understand the parameters by which the fee adjustment has been operated but I still feel there is a difference between using the subsidies to mitigate fee increases and reducing the impact on individual families and the real cost of their childcare. A 25% reduction in childcare fees in the household budget in 2023 was meaningful but the 50% reduction last September was significant. We should still honour this. We should examine it in advance of, or along with, the more transformative reforms we have in the programme for Government. I do not think we should leave 17% of families behind in terms of the full scope of subsidies and the impact on the household budget they would provide.”
“We need further analysis of the range of adjustments to understand the impact on parents and assist them through the process. There is confusion and we need to understand this. I have seen the correspondence shared with parents on fee increases. Reassurance from the Department that an increase in childcare subsidies will mitigate fee increases, instead of reducing overall household bills, is very different and not what our stated objective was.”
“Our childcare providers should be doing what they do best, which is educating and caring for our children and not spending most of their time as auditors of national schemes. Our local childcare services require adequate funding to stand still and to grow, and parents should be able to access affordable fees. The work of the review must start today, based on the increases these parents are experiencing. One parent told me her fees have increased by €80 per month since September and they will increase again. Another said the additional cost this month is €250 as the crèche is backdating fees, and it will be an additional €140 per month. Other families are fearful of impending decisions and want clarity from the Government.”
“Will the new Minister for children, Deputy Foley, now correct this flawed approach and make good on the pledge to further reduce childcare fees for all parents as per the new programme for Government commitment to review and increase core funding? I welcome the Government's commitment to review and increase core funding. I believe that at this point it is essential for the sustainability of the sector. The cost of staffing, for example, has increased significantly since the 2019 fee freeze. Payscales will continue to grow, I hope, and a number of providers' fees predated 2019. Not every childcare provider is the same, especially those who have scale and shared resources on their side. I appreciate the approach must be dynamic. I will take this opportunity to welcome the commitment to reduce the administrative burden on providers.”
“A total of 17% have been approved for a fee increase and 34 decisions remain outstanding. At least 45 services have already increased their fees across Fingal, which has been passed on to hundreds of parents who bought into and benefited from the increase in subsidies under the national childcare scheme last year, who felt a reduction in their household bills in September, only to see it or a portion of it wiped out. The number in the Dublin city area is similar. Approximately 17% of core funding services will see an adjustment, so 17% of families will see an increase of some sort in fees. Both of these administrative areas are relevant to the people I represent in Dublin West.”
“As this is my first time to speak in the House, I express my sincere gratitude to the people of Dublin West who have given me the honour of representing them - I will work every day to show them it was the right decision - to my supporters, who showed up for me day in and day out, and to my family: daddy, who is watching from his armchair in heaven surrounded by newspapers, my mum, the most tolerant politician's wife and now politician's mother in the world, and my husband and daughters, who are quickly following in their footsteps. A total of 262 childcare services in Fingal signed up to core funding this year. As of 13 January, 37% of those services applied for a fee adjustment if they were charging below the county average and struggling with increased operating costs.”