Eoghan Kenny
Cork North-Central · Labour Party · Ireland
“The barriers facing families today may be different but the principle has not changed. The Labour Party believes opportunity should be determined by talent, effort and ambition, not by the balance in a parent's bank account. Technology has transformed education for the better and it is now an essential part of modern schooling.”
“Parents across Ireland are sitting at kitchen tables trying to work out how they are going to pay for another school year. For far too many families, the excitement of a child returning to school has been replaced by financial anxiety. Increasingly, parents are being forced into debt simply to educate their children.”
“Having been a teacher in two schools, I recognise that these tablets and these laptops that are provided to schools break and that maintenance for them is coming out of capitation grants that cannot be fulfilled by the schools because they are using capitation grants elsewhere.”
“I raise the issue of the lack of a plan for a new public sector pay deal and the lack of engagement on this matter. SIPTU, Fórsa, Unite and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are now to ballot their members for industrial action, up to and including strike action.”
“We need to stop pretending otherwise and introduce enforceable protections for families. As schools become more dependent on technology than ever before, the Government has cut the ICT grant by almost €15 million. That grant stands at just €35 million with no dedicated funding for repairs or maintenance.”
“It is a guidance letter once again, a guidance circular that was produced by the Minister at the time in 2017 that gave absolutely no consequences to the school for having branded school uniforms. In my opening speech I, as well as my colleagues, welcomed the free books scheme.”
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“She received €109 from the HSE through the service scheme. Why, if I was a dentist, would I stay in that scheme? I would not because I am not covering the basic costs. Dentists themselves also have to live. We are failing two cohorts of people here. We are failing the very dentists we have in this country who are doing their best to provide the care needed in the country, and we are also failing those who have medical cards who very much need the dentistry care. I worked previously for former Deputy Seán Sherlock who was a TD for 17 years, and year on year he would tell me about the significant issues being faced right across the constituencies by those who cannot access dentistry.”
“On this very important motion by Sinn Féin, I raise the significant issue of the dental treatment service scheme. Last year in the Dáil, I, along with my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, spoke about this scheme and about how it is simply not working. I refer to the number of people who come to constituency offices right across this country who tell us they are medical card holders but they cannot get access to a dentist in their locality. It is just not acceptable that a medical card holder in this country cannot get access to basic services like dentistry. The people who often take the blame for this are the dentists themselves. I spoke to a dentist practising in my home town of Mallow today who told me she saw a medical card holder, a patient of hers, last week. The cost of the dental treatment was €333.”
“Will the Government extend the exceptional needs payment to cover ICT equipment for schools? Will it also look into the payment of upwards of €120 for those availing of school-based July provision for extra curricular activities?”
“I wish to raise the significant issue of back-to-school costs. It is my understanding that children who are entitled to school-based July provision will have to pay upwards of €120 for extracurricular activities during that period. I also wish to raise a significant issue in regard to schools requiring children to get laptops, tablets or ICT equipment for the coming academic year. It is my understanding that the Minister, Deputy Naughton, has written to all of the relevant schools in regard to this, but schools are still requiring them. A parent has contacted me. She is a carer for her husband and does not receive carer's allowance due to the means coming into the house and is not entitled to any exceptional needs payment. Anybody who applies for an exceptional needs payment to pay for ICT equipment finds the payment does not cover that.”
“We need to see the delivery of proposed bus routes linking rural areas and towns, and we need to see a reduction in fares to ensure affordability and encourage more people out of their cars. This motion is ultimately about supporting the most vulnerable people in this society, who feel there is no end to the cost-of-living crisis they are facing. I am disappointed that the Government has failed to realise that this motion of constructive solutions, created by the Labour Party to give the most vulnerable people in this society an opportunity to deal with the cost of living they are facing, is appropriate for these very people.”
“The State must ensure that those living in our towns, cities and villages can be assured that public transport is cheaper and genuinely viable for commuters. The fact that many multinationals in Ireland - I look at Apple on the northside of Cork city - continue to run their own bus services from the cities and towns for their staff speaks to the lack of faith in the State's ability to ramp up public infrastructure routes and capacity. This has to change. I will always acknowledge efforts by the Government to increase services. Services by rail in Cork have improved and there are ambitious plans for the rail network and for the Cork Luas. However, these are long-term projects that must overcome funding hurdles.”
“The State must act to ensure that households are not being pinned to their collar just for heating and running their homes, for which they already paid extortionate prices to buy or to rent. For the average worker and household, it feels like there is no end to the rising cost of living. This is all while wages remain stagnant. The lack of a climate act plan is very concerning in relation to progress and for meeting our targets. While some in the Opposition also profess to care about the climate, voting in favour of gutting it in the Dáil and the Seanad undermines progress on climate action. On a national level, there must be a renewed interest from central government to get more capacity in our bus and rail network, to invest in a lower emissions fleet, and to reduce the cost of public transport for commuters.”
“In turn, I strongly encourage Ministers to stop trying to muddy the waters between the employment within a data centre and the employment in the construction of a data centre. It is dishonest and we should not have such conflation coming from Ministers. In the pre-election budget of 2024, the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government introduced energy supports. Post election, the new Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government scrapped these supports. I am not in favour of introducing one-off measures, but targeted supports are necessary, and the Government failed to provide them to the carers and people living with disabilities, the most vulnerable people in this society. However, when there is no short-term solution, an advancement in the construction of renewable energy and renewable energy infrastructure is not a swift process.”
“I wish my former public accounts committee colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, the very best in her role. It is probably remiss of me to mention that there are the Minister and two Ministers of State in this Department, yet none of them is able to show up for this debate. I commend my colleague, Deputy Ciarán Ahern, and his staff for the work they have done in bringing this motion to the Dáil Chamber. When we discuss the rising costs in energy bills being paid by households, it is vital that we look at where the energy from the grid is going, what it is being used for and what we, the Irish people, are getting out of it. Data centres employ relatively few people. The level of employment relating to data centres is in the construction of them and, of course, those projects are time limited.”
“There is significant concern in relation to the new workforce development plan proposed for special needs assistants, SNAs, right across this country. A significant amount of SNAs have contacted TDs in this House on the wording and the extra responsibilities they will have to undertake because of this plan. I understand there was stakeholder engagement on the plan. That is to be welcomed but that is not the feeling on the ground among SNAs. It is important that this feeling be heard in this House.”
“Families facing rare diseases cannot afford bureaucratic delays while conditions continue to progress. Will the Government commit to expediting the decision-making process on Skyclarys? Can the Minister give a clear timeline on when patients like Paudie will finally have access to this life-changing treatment?”
“Sixteen-year-old Paudie Coady from Cork is living with Friedrich's ataxia, a rare and degenerative neurological condition. Last year, his younger brother, Rory, died from the same disease. Paudie's mother is also living with advanced Huntington's disease. Paudie's father, Craig, has said that he is in a race against time to secure access to Skyclarys, the first treatment shown to slow progression of this devastating illness. He has rightly stated that if there is a price tag on every child in this country, it is a sorry country to be in. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics said in December that it would not recommend that the HSE provided it because it was poor value for money and it was unsure, based on the available clinical evidence, of the meaningful improvements it could have.”
“Irish fans would have no issue with having a home game taken from them if it meant that the Irish people and Irish soccer were taking a stand against Israel's participation. Finally, I would like to say to those who spout nonsense about politics and sports, sport is political. All sport is political. Art is political, music is political. That sentiment is nothing but a cloak to guard an opinion that you do not care about standing up for the oppressed in the only ways that ordinary Irish people have at their disposal. Stop the game, Minister.”
“Taking a home international away from the team and supporters hits particularly hard when we consider that the Palestinian national team and supporters have not been able to have a true home game since 2019 because of a murderous and genocidal government that poses a lethal threat to players, fans and hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Many of us in this House, thousands of Irish people, activists, fans and players want to see this game cancelled and boycotted. The single most cowardly decision that the governing body could have made was to move this game to a neutral venue. It removes the ability of ordinary people, Irish fans, to protest what they firmly believe would be the sportswashing of genocide. No banners, no protests in the street, no platform for our soccer fans to have their voices heard.”
“I thank the Social Democrats for this important motion. I must pay tribute also to senior international players like Séamus Coleman and Nathan Collins. They have been put in an incredibly difficult position, but they have shown in their recent comments how connected they are to the Irish supporters and to Irish society, and we are very proud of them. In 2022, the Polish Football Association showed its mettle and its connection with its players. Polish players stood up against the sportswashing of Putin's murderous regime and forced the hand of UEFA and FIFA. I commend the Polish Football Association and the players for that stance. That is exactly the approach our football association should be taking and the fact that it has not shows the wild disconnect between the leadership of the FAI and the players and supporters of Ireland.”
“I am very hopeful - I am not asking the Minister to put it on the record but, rather, just to have it in the back of her head - that there will be a further allocation of SNAs in budget 2027.”
“Very good. It is only positive that it will be published. It will give SNAs and school management right across the country greater clarity on how many SNAs they will be able to have in the school system. We also cannot lose clarity on the fact that we need to continue adding to our SNA workforce across the country. While I appreciate and fully accept that we have the highest number of SNAs we have ever had in our education system right now, needs are only growing right across our education system and the 4,000 schools we have nationwide. Needs are presenting far more than they previously were, which is only positive in one aspect because we are getting to the needs of children and providing them with the services.”
“I completely understand, as do SNAs, that redeployment has to take place but it has to be given to SNAs before any sort of correspondence is sent out to schools to say that the SNAs within the schools have to be redeployed. It is positive that these will be published. Can the Minister put it on the record that they will be published before the summer?”
“That is very good. In the next couple of weeks before the Dáil summer recess, we can expect that the redeployment scheme, the revised 2014 circular and the workforce development plan will all be published and available to be viewed by all SNAs, educational stakeholders and politicians right across the country, and of course parents as well. Consultation has obviously been extremely positive, and that is to be welcomed, as is the fact we are now at the final stages. It is not before time at all in relation to the workforce development plan and the redeployment scheme. I do not want to go over again what happened to SNAs at the beginning of 2026. The significant issue remains.”
“I ask colleagues to excuse my voice. I must be spending too much time talking in here. I wish to ask about the update of the revised 2014 SNA circular, the workforce development plan and the SNA redeployment scheme. When will these be published along with all of the consultation that has taken place in creating these documents, if any has? Will they genuinely reflect the reality of the role of a special needs assistant in a modern educational environment and in a modern classroom?”
“We need political choices that match the scale of change before us - choices to invest in lifelong learning, to support workers through transition, to strengthen apprenticeships and further education, to tackle inequality and to place fairness and inclusion at the heart of our innovation policy. The future of work should not be something that happens to people; it should be something that we shape together. If we get this right, Ireland can become not only a leader in innovation but also a leader in ensuring that innovation works for everybody.”
“The same is true for housing policy, industrial policy and regional policy. Joined-up government cannot remain as an aspiration; it must become a reality. We must remember that the purpose of economic progress is not simply higher GDP figures; it is improving people's lives. A successful skills and innovation system is not only measured by productivity statistics or investment rankings; it is also measured by whether people feel secure about the future, whether workers feel valued, whether young people believe they can build a decent life here and whether communities feel included in national progress. That is the test we should apply to every policy decision in this area. Ireland has the talent. We have the creativity. We have the potential, but potential alone is not enough.”
“A modern skills strategy must include regional development. That means investing in further education colleges, technological universities, research hubs, transport links and broadband right across the country. Talent exists everywhere in this country; opportunity does not. It is the responsibility of the Government to close the gap in this regard. The green transition also presents one of the greatest opportunities of our generation. Retrofitting homes, developing renewable energy, expanding public transport and restoring biodiversity will all require huge numbers of skilled workers. If we fail to train people now, however, we will face bottlenecks, labour shortages and missed climate targets later. Climate policies and skill policies must therefore be developed together rather than separately.”
“AI has enormous potential to improve productivity, healthcare, research and public services, but it also raises serious concerns around employment rights, misinformation, bias, surveillance and concentration of economic power. Workers cannot simply be treated as collateral damage when it comes to technological disruption. We need strong labour protections, ethical regulation and social dialogue as these technologies evolve. Crucially, workers must have a voice in shaping how technology is introduced in workplaces, because innovation imposed without consultation breeds distrust. Innovation developed democratically builds confidence. There is another issue we must address, namely regional imbalance. Too often, opportunity remains concentrated in Dublin and a handful of urban centres.”
“Ireland's future competitiveness cannot rely indefinitely on low corporate tax or external investment alone. We need indigenous innovation, stronger research ecosystems, sustained public investment in science, research and development and stronger collaboration between universities, technological universities, enterprise agencies and local communities. Innovation policy must not become detached from public purpose. It should help us to solve real societal challenges such as sustainable housing, delivering cleaner energy, improving healthcare access, supporting inclusive education, strengthening public transport and addressing climate change. Technology is not neutral. Public policy shapes whose interests it serves. We must also confront the implications of AI honestly and responsibly.”
“Technological change can deepen inequality if governments fail to intervene. We already see worrying divides in access to digital infrastructure, devices and educational opportunity. We know children from disadvantaged backgrounds continue to face barriers their wealthier peers do not. Educational disadvantage still maps too closely onto income, geography and disability. If innovation only benefits those already advantaged, it will fail socially and politically. That is why the Labour Party believes investment in education and skills is not merely economic spending but also social investment. It is nation-building and one of the most effective ways to strengthen democracy. Societies where people feel secure, valued and included are better able to navigate change. We should also recognise the importance of research in public innovation.”
“That has profound implications for schools and the higher education system. We cannot prepare young people for a changing world through an education model built entirely around high-stake exams and rote learning. Students need digital literacy but they also need media literacy, civic education, creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Teachers need support too because no innovation agenda can succeed if educators are overwhelmed, under-resourced and exhausted. Teachers are already managing extraordinary pressures in classrooms. If we want our education system to evolve, Government must seriously invest in teacher recruitment, continuous professional development and classroom supports. Innovation cannot simply be downloaded onto schools with the resources. While we rightly discuss technology, we must also discuss inequality.”
“That mentality is outdated and damaging. I believe that is changing during this Dáil term. We urgently need more apprenticeships in construction, retrofitting, healthcare technologies, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy. We need stronger links between apprenticeships and further progression routes into higher education and to tackle financial barriers that continue to discourage participation. At a time when we face housing shortages, infrastructure deficits and climate obligations, investing in apprenticeships is not optional; it is essential national planning. Future skills are not only technical skills. Creativity, critical thinking, communicating and adaptability matter. In an era of artificial intelligence, uniquely human skills will become even more valuable.”
“We must be honest that many people currently locked out of training are those who need it most - low-paid workers, workers in insecure employment, people with disabilities, carers, workers in rural communities and older workers who fear technological change because nobody has invested in supporting them through it. A just transition, whether digital or green, cannot simply mean telling people to adapt. It means giving them the tools, time and support to adapt successfully. If we are serious about future skills, we must also be serious about apprenticeships. For too long in Ireland apprenticeships have been treated as secondary options rather than equal pathways to success. I know from the Minister's perspective since he has taken over this role apprenticeships are no longer a secondary opportunity for people.”
“That means we need major expansion of lifelong learning opportunities not as a slogan or pilot programme but as a central pillar of our economic and social policy. Workers should be able to upskill or retrain without risking poverty, losing housing security or sacrificing family responsibilities. That requires flexible evening courses, hybrid learning, modular qualifications and proper financial supports. It also requires partnership between Government, employers, unions and education providers because workers themselves often know best where skills gaps are emerging and where training is urgently needed.”
“Too many workers cannot access flexible retraining opportunities, too many apprentices struggle with costs, accommodation and insecure pathways, too many schools still lack adequate digital infrastructure and guidance supports, too many adults feel lifelong learning is designed for other people and not for them and too often our education and training systems remain fragmented, difficult to navigate and slow to adapt. The pace of technological change is accelerating but public policy has not kept pace. The Labour Party vision for skills and innovation begins with a simple principle - education does not end at 18 or 22 years of age or with a degree certification. In a changing world, learning must become lifelong, flexible and genuinely accessible to everybody.”
“When we talk about skills, training and innovating, we are not simply talking about economics, we are talking about dignity, opportunity and whether a young person in Longford, a parent returning to work in Cork or a worker displaced in Donegal can look to the future with confidence rather than fear. That is why our skills and innovation systems must not merely react to change, they must anticipate it and prepare people for it. They must ensure the benefits of innovation are broadly shared across society. Ireland has many strengths to build upon. We have a highly educated workforce, world-class universities and technological universities, strong enterprise sectors and a global reputation as a centre for investment and innovation. There are also serious weaknesses we can no longer ignore.”
“We meet at a moment of enormous change in our economy, workplaces and society. Across every sector from manufacturing to medicine, construction to finance, agriculture to creative industries, technology is transforming how we work, learn and live. Artificial intelligence, automation, digitalisation and the green transition are not future challenges, they are present realities. While these changes bring enormous opportunity, they also bring understandable anxiety for many workers, families and communities. The question before us is quite simple: will Ireland shape this transformation in the interests of people or will we allow people to be left behind by it?”
“The Minister will know this himself because I am absolutely sure his constituency office is as busy, if not busier, than my own. I have no issue with it and neither does my secretary, who has done it for 30 years, but as these applications are not seamless what we find is that people who are living with disabilities have to come to the office, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, and ask us to fill out the application form with them. That is a difficult process for those people to go through and it is really something the Department should look into trying to resolve.”
“At its core, this debate is about equality and dignity. A fair republic should not ask disabled people to carry a disproportionate financial burden simply because the supports around them are inadequate. The objective should not merely be helping people to cope. It should be ensuring that disabled people can participate fully in society, live independently and enjoy the same opportunities and quality of life as every other citizen. That should be the ambition of every public policy and that is the standard we should set for ourselves as legislators. As the Minister is here, it is important to point out that applications for any social welfare payment, but particularly for those who have disabilities, are not seamless. At times they are extremely difficult.”
“Our alternative budget including proposals to increase core social welfare rates, strengthen energy and household supports, deliver broader cost-of-living measures designed to support vulnerable households, and scrap the means test of the carer's allowance at a cost of €330 million. That is a costed real-life solution for many families right across this country. It is often the case that people come in here with populist slogans and do not have the costed proposals with them or often do not have the right answer for the people who are there. The solution, however, has been given to the Minister about getting rid of the means test for carer's allowance. Disability policy cannot be treated in isolation from housing, healthcare, transport or energy policy. All of these issues are connected.”
“There have been important steps taken in recent years, and it is right to acknowledge that awareness of the cost of disability has grown significantly across the political system. However, awareness alone is not enough. What is needed now is a sustained commitment to reducing disability poverty and recognising the real and recurring costs that disabled people face every single day. The Labour Party is practical about this. In our 2026 alternative budget we placed an extremely strong emphasis on protecting living standards and supporting those under the greatest pressure.”
“Yet, despite growing recognition of the issue, too many people continue to struggle to meet those costs on inadequate incomes. Advocacy organisations such as the Disability Federation of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland have consistently highlighted the financial strain being experienced by disabled people, carers and families right across the country. Behind every statistic is a lived experience. There are parents who are forced to absorb enormous additional household costs simply to ensure their child can access basic services, people on disability allowance who are trying to manage rising energy and transport bills while living on a fixed income, and young disabled people who want independence and participation in society but face financial barriers at every stage of life. These are serious issues that require serious policy responses.”
“They are becoming permanent pressures and a permanent financial reality. Living with a disability often brings unavoidable additional costs. I know this acutely, even from a personal perspective. People have higher energy bills, increased transport expenses, medical and therapeutic supports, specialised equipment, housing adaptations and, in many cases, reduced opportunities to participate fully in education or employment, as I said. These are not optional costs; they are essential costs. We can speak about grants, say, for home adaptations and things like that. It is the case a majority of the time that those grants for housing adaptations do not necessarily fit for these very people. Research commissioned by the Government has demonstrated that the additional cost of disability can amount to many thousands of euro every year.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. It is something that has been raised on a consistent basis since I entered this Dáil Chamber over 18 months ago and it has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions in that time by many people, including parents, those living with disabilities themselves, schools and grandparents who have come into the constituency office who are obviously fearing for their grandchildren who may have a disability or their adult grandchildren who cannot get access to further education and employment. For a long time in this country we have had slogans about it. We have had protests and then we have had short-term responses to what the particular protests are about. However, for many disabled people and their families these are not occasional pressures.”
“This technology is not revolutionary in any way; it is basic modern transport infrastructure. This is not simply about convenience. Faster boarding reduces delays, improves journey times and makes bus services more efficient overall. It also makes public transport easier and more attractive to use, in particular for occasional passengers and tourists. As I said, progress has been made in public transport right across Cork city and county, but we have a long way to go, in particular regarding next generation ticketing and BusConnects.”
“Many years after these commitments were first announced, many communities right across Cork still feel they are waiting for meaningful progress on the ground. Commuters continue to experience, as my colleague has said, overcrowding, delays, unreliable timetables and long journey times. This is having an impact on workers, students and families who are spending far too much time stuck in traffic because public transport alternatives are simply not improving quickly enough. Regarding next generation ticketing, in 2026 it should be absolutely acceptable to ask that passengers can get on a train or bus and seamlessly tap a bank card or their phone across the public transport network in a way that has become standard practice across many European cities.”
“A significant number of people across my county of Cork are growing increasingly frustrated by the slow progress on public transport delivery, in particular when it comes to BusConnects and next generation ticketing. I commend the Minister's Department, Irish Rail and Bus Éireann on the improvements have been made because they must be recognised. My job as a Deputy for Cork is to try to progress that even more, in particular regarding BusConnects and next generation ticketing. BusConnects was presented as a major transformation of our bus system, promising reliable services, better connectivity, more frequent routes and infrastructure that would finally make public transport a realistic option for more and more people.”
“Will the Government unequivocally commit to delivering the national children's science centre? Which Department will lead the delivery of this? Will ring-fenced funding finally be put in place for this vital national project?”
“Yesterday I visited the proposed site of the national children's science centre at Earlsfort Terrace. I walked through the derelict north wing of that building with members of the board. It is a space that is full of potential but today it lies idle in the heart of our capital city. The Taoiseach stood on the site in December 2022 and announced, to be fair, the great redevelopment of the National Concert Hall. The fear now is that unless both projects proceed in parallel, the new concert hall will face closure for a prolonged period when, and if, construction eventually begins on the national children's science centre. We know now, following arbitration last December, that the OPW is legally obliged to deliver this project by the end of 2029, with annual work commitments already falling behind schedule.”
“While I appreciate that progress is being made on it, we have to move this on as quickly as possible. Will the Minister give an assurance to the House that technological universities, such as MTU, could borrow to build?”
“In relation to what my colleague, Senator Harmon, has said in relation to the technological universities being allowed to borrow to build student accommodation, is it something that the Minister and the Department are taking seriously? There would be an appetite there from MTU. In relation to private rented accommodation, we have had many debates across this House on private rental student accommodation, particularly in Cork city where a lot of the time, in a lot of the situations I have come across, the accommodation has been completely unsatisfactory. It is due to the fact that we have students in our county who are going to our colleges or further and higher education institutes and have been forced to go into these private rented accommodation settings because of the lack of publicly available student accommodation beds.”
“We are taking that assumption that people from towns such as my own, Mallow, do not move up to Cork city, if they are attending UCC or the Munster Technological University, MTU, or any other further or higher education facility. The significant shortfall is there. It is probably due to a lack of forward planning for many decades, within the former Department of Education more so that the newly formed Department of further and higher education. I understand that there has been progress but significant progress has to be made in Cork.”
“I appreciate that there have been developments in student accommodation. However, Cork, as a county with a huge university city, has the lowest proportion of public student accommodation beds available at 18%. In February 2026, a report by Sherry FitzGerald showed that the State needs at least 38,900 beds to keep up with the demand. The report says that for every 13 students across the south-west region, which is inclusive of Cork and Kerry, there are ten beds, and that with roughly 30,300 students enrolled, there is a shortfall of approximately 9,900 beds. This report assumed that those living in their own counties do not avail of accommodation.”
“I wish to ask about the Minister's engagement with University College Cork and the Munster Technological University in Cork on the housing crisis and the impact on student accommodation in Cork. This is something that has been spoken about at a consistent level by the Labour Party and by me and my colleagues, Senator Harmon, and an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Sheehan.”