Jen Cummins
Dublin South-Central · Social Democrats · Ireland
“However, there is an advantage if their family can buy them one and they can continue their school work at home. It is not good enough to say that schools can make up their minds about that. The Department needs to actually decide and give guidance like it does for other things.”
“Circular 0032/2017 has been in existence for almost ten years and in most parts is not enforced. There is no point in issuing a circular if nothing is going to be done about it. I am delighted the Minister has said there will be a working group to review and hopefully strengthen that.”
“I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. It is very timely. These are the summer months when parents start to think about how we will we stretch our finances to autumn, get everything that we need to ready and then still maybe take a holiday, organise summer camps, etc. The motion is, as stated, very timely.”
“I see it as an absolute disgrace that such a number of people need that support. I welcome that that funding and support is there for those families but I am still shocked that this affects 233,000 children, which is a lot of children, aged between two and 18. I think it goes up to 22 in some cases. There is a digital divide.”
“When parents were told, they had six weeks to pay but most people do not have such a flexible budget to allow them to pay the €160 or however much it is. When things are being reintroduced time needs to be factored in for that. There was an increase in the cost of school transport for families.”
“I will go through a few of the things that I think still present challenges. The capitation grant for schools was increased last year but has still not reached a level which will mean that schools are fully funded. It has not reached the level where it needs to be. In addition, it does not take into consideration the level of inflation.”
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“We also believe that religion should be done at home or after school. Many families in Dublin 8 are now facing this issue. I suppose we had this as a family in 2016 and my children do not go to school in Dublin 8 but travel outside of the area. The reason I am giving that personal information is because it is reflective of the families who are now fighting for a secondary school for their children in the future. Many of those children are still in primary school but they are looking to the future. The fact is 38% of people in Dublin 8 identify as Catholic. That leaves a very large proportion who do not. It is one of the lowest proportions in the country, along with the north inner city and the south-east inner city. In Dublin 8, however, there is not one multidenominational second-level school.”
“As this is my first Topical Issue, hopefully I will get the timing and all the rest of it right. I thank the Minister of State for taking this and wish him the very best of luck in his new role. I do not think I have congratulated him yet. Today, I am asking about families in Dublin 8 who are looking to have a multidenominational secondary school for their children. They have been campaigning for a number of years and I have been involved with them over the past little while. I suppose mine is one of those original families from a long time ago. When our family was looking for a multidenominational secondary school in the Dublin 8 area where I live, unfortunately, there was not one. We are a Unitarian family and, therefore, we would prefer our children to be educated in a multidenominational school. That suits our ethos.”
“I was struck by the young person who is in college. How fair is it that he has that worry all the time in the back of his mind? He described the worry he has about how long it would take to get home if something went wrong at home. It is a constant worry so it is hard to think of anything else. Anyone here who has had a sick family member - I have had a few in recent years - will know it takes up every part of your being. You cannot think about anything else. For young people who are trying to get through school or college, that is a huge problem. We need to recognise our young carers. They are a priority but have not been recognised for a long time. This motion is not only about a policy. It is about fairness, dignity and giving these young people the future they deserve.”
“The young people sit exams and the teachers and SNAs know they are carers but it does not matter what is going on at home if they have to have an assignment in, it still has to be in on time. Yet, they have many other pressures that other students perhaps do not have. I was struck by that. It is down to the Department of Education to give schools clear, direct and appropriate guidance on how to support children and young people who are carers and attending our schools. I was struck as well that there is no dedicated Government programme to support young carers and no recognition by the Department of Social Protection. The means test for carer's allowance which has been brought up several times today, and other supports actively punish young adult carers who want to pursue an education or employment.”
“However, I saw the light when they talked about being involved in Family Carers Ireland. They really felt supported, so well done to the adults who support them. I come from an education background and years ago I saw young carers being supported. In one of the schools I worked in as part of the school completion programme, there was a group for young carers which was absolutely lovely. Those young people were cared for and that gave them the ability to care for others. If no one is looking after you, how can you care for others? I was struck by what was said today about the schools not being clear and not knowing or there being a lack of understanding.”
“They look after their parents, siblings and other family members who are ill, have disabilities or mental health difficulties, or are struggling with addiction. They are the hidden backbone of thousands of households, stepping up when no one else does, yet what do they get in return? As several Members have said, there are 67,000 young carers in Ireland according to 2008 figures, but that has probably increased. How many of those households are being failed by the State because it has fallen on young children to take on the burden of care? Those of us who were in attendance in the audiovisual room today heard four absolutely amazing young people speak about their experiences of being young carers. They are brilliant but it was heartbreaking to hear of their isolation, loneliness and exhaustion and the lack of support.”
“Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Labour Party as an rún seo. Fáilte to all the young carers, those from Family Carers Ireland who are in the Visitors Gallery and those watching. I support this crucial motion because for too long, young carers in this country have been invisible as they work in their homes providing vital assistance to loved ones in their families and communities. The sacrifices they make go unrecognised, their struggles are unheard and their futures are put at risk all because we have failed to give them the support they desperately need. At times, they are filling a gap that the State has failed to resource. Young carers in Ireland, some of whom are as young as ten years old, take on responsibilities well beyond their years.”
“The homelessness numbers are at a record high and the crisis is only getting worse. There is then this scheme, which is a tool to help, that is just being wasted. Local authorities need to be given the required resources and direction urgently. While I note the amendment being proposed to the motion states several times that a circular will be issued for 2025, it is 19 March now and I do not know what part of 2025 that will go in for. We need to ensure those places for those people desperately in need are fast-tracked. There should be no more delays. I urge the Minister to work with the Opposition on this issue. Every time someone from the Government side stands up, he or she says the Government wants to have solutions and wants the Opposition to give proposals for things that will work.”
“In addition, sales are falling through because landlords are just saying that this is taking too long. People are being forced out of their homes. I spoke today to a woman who said to me that her landlord was willing to sell the home to the council and it took over a year. Several times the landlord told her she just could not wait. Thankfully, she did and that person is now in a tenant in situ home, is absolutely delighted and can stay in her community. These are not just statistics who are becoming homeless. They are people who are becoming homeless. They are mothers who do not know where they are going to have their children sleeping. They are people who live alone, individuals who have been living alone in a home, who are then all of a sudden going to be living alone homeless. The system just does not move fast enough.”
“Multiple families and individuals in Dublin South-Central have contacted me about their landlords wanting to sell their homes to the council through the scheme, and the landlords are willing and wanting to do it. It keeps the people who are living in those homes in their community, and I cannot stress how important that is to people. It is not just a house or an apartment; it is a home. It is where they live, where their children go to school, where they might go to work, where they socialise, where their sporting facilities are - whatever it is. It is a total upheaval for people who are being made homeless for no reason other than that this scheme is not sorted. There is just a pile of bureaucracy, delays and excuses. Even when it was working, the process was so slow and so tied up in red tape.”
“Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an tairiscint seo. I ask the Government to engage with the Opposition on housing because, frankly, the policies the former is putting forward are ensuring that people go into homelessness, and that includes families, children and hard-working individuals. They are facing homelessness and there is absolutely no reason for it. This scheme is a solution, and it is just so frustrating that we face this situation and have to argue over this. This scheme was set up to help to prevent homelessness. It is meant to give councils the ability to buy homes where landlords are selling, keeping tenants in place instead of putting them out on the street. It sounds like common sense but it is not actually working that way for the Government at the moment.”
“I did not think I would be this person when I was playing with my Barbies and my Sindys at that time. We need to get a grip in this country about the fact that we need more women in this House. If you cannot see it, you cannot be it. All of us still sitting here today - many are not here, men and women - need to make sure this country is a safer place to be a woman and a girl. Let us make sure in five years that there are more women in this House in order that we can make this country safer and better for all girls and women.”
“It is an absolute shocking shame that we need to have refuges in the first place - there should not be any violence against anybody, particularly in their own home - but if we do need them, we need them where they are needed in every county. As other people said, the percentage of women in this Dáil is only 25% and it is even less in Cabinet. The Social Democrats have noted previously there are as many men named James as women at the Cabinet table. Until we see more women here, the real-life issues facing women will not be listened to and we will not be able to sort these things out. Half the population is women so half this Dáil should be women. Representation matters. A Deputy on the other side of the House spoke about Barbies. When I was growing up, Barbies only represented one type of person.”
“On International Women's Day, every day and every year, this House has statements on issues facing women. I feel a bit heavier this year because of the number of domestic violence services that have come into the audiovisual room here since I was elected in November. A motion tabled by Deputy Coppinger has been debated. The issue of gender-based violence in this country is not reducing; in fact, it might be completely out of control. So many women are dying in their homes or are being abused in their homes that today, I feel we cannot celebrate until every woman is safe and is not being subjected to that. Over the past number of weeks, we have spoken about counties that do not have any domestic violence refuges.”
“Gabhaim buíochas le gach duine anseo as ucht éisteacht le mo chéad óráid go hiomlán i nGaeilge. Tá súil agam gur thuig sibh mé.”
“Chinnteodh an córas TEG atá aitheanta go hidirnáisiúnta go mbeadh líofacht sa teanga. Gné eile den chaoi a bhfoghlaimímid teanga go fírinneach is ea foghlaim faoin bhfilíocht, faoi na scéalta agus faoin stair chultúrtha trí Ghaeilge. Ba cheart é seo a chosaint inár gcóras oideachais. Tá áilleacht ár dteanga feicthe againn in úsáid sa scannán “An Cailin Ciúin” agus freisin i gceol Kneecap. Tá an ghluaiseacht teanga seo ag scaipeadh ar fud na cruinne. Tá ardú feicthe againn freisin ar líon na ndaoine a fhreastalaíonn ar chúrsaí teanga agus ar an nGaeltacht. Ba cheart tacaíocht agus maoiniú a thabhairt ionas go mbeadh aon duine ar mhaith leo cúrsa a dhéanamh in ann é a dhéanamh. Gabhaim buíochas le mo mhúinteoirí as a gcuid ama agus a gcuid foighne.”
“Bíonn muid ag foghlaim Gaeilge ar scoil ar feadh ocht mbliana sa bhunscoil agus cúig nó sé bliana sa mheánscoil. Ní mór teanga bheo a labhairt agus a chloisteáil. An bealach is éasca do go leor daoine teanga a fhoghlaim ná í a chloisteáil, agus ansin tar éis tamaill a bheith in ann abairt nó dhó a shreangú le chéile agus an duine atá ag labhairt leo a thuiscint. Cuidíonn an buzz sin le forbairt fhoghlaim na teanga ó bhéal. Caithfimid cinntiú go bhfuilimid ag forbairt cumas cainte go leanúnach inár scoileanna. Ciallaíonn foghlaim teanga go bhfoghlaimíonn an duine scileanna praiticiúla chun cumarsáid a dhéanamh sa teanga sin. Sílim go gcuirfeadh úsáid TEG inár gcóras oideachais leis seo. Úsáideann na Gearmánaigh an Sprachdiplom agus úsáideann na Francaigh scrúdú DELF.”
“Táim an-sásta cúpla focal a labhairt ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Tá mé ag foghlaim Gaeilge since July 2023. Bhí mé sa Ghaeltacht in Oideas Gael i nGleann Cholm Cille i gContae Dhún na nGall. Bhí an-craic againn. Níl mé ábalta a lán Ghaeilge a labhairt ach táim ábalta í a thuiscint. Nuair a bhí mé elected, rinne mé cúrsa Gaeilge online. Tá na ranganna go hiontach. Táim ag léamh an leabhar Beidh tú Alright: An Irish Language Journey le Joe McHugh, a bhí mar Aire Stáit na Gaeilge nuair nach raibh a lán Gaeilge aige. Nuair a dúirt daoine “Aire gan teanga, Aire gan clue”, thosaigh sé ag foghlaim Gaeilge. Cúpla bliain níos déanaí, tá Gaeilge líofa aige. Mar sin, cad é an scéal leis an nGaeilge? Cén fáth nach bhfuil daoine ábalta Gaeilge líofa a labhairt?”
“We have talked quite a lot in this Chamber since the beginning of the term about who has Irish and who does not. If we are all trying, and everyone accepts that, it is the most important thing. Molaim do dhaoine triail a bhaint as an gcúrsa Gaeilge. Is iontach an spraoi é, agus leathnaíonn sé an intinn. I encourage everybody to go to an Irish course. It engages the brain and is a lot of craic. We are only going to take that amount of time.”
“We need to protect our Gaeltacht areas in order for them to thrive. We need to ring-fence the funding and supports they need. The issue of housing in Gaeltacht areas is important. If there are no homes to live in, Gaeltacht areas are going to depopulate. Those areas will not have native speakers who might go into our education system to share their love of the language and pass down our cultural identity through the Irish language. We need to ensure that people from Gaeltacht areas are encouraged to go into teaching. The best way we can improve the use of the Irish language is to stop the stigma about not being good enough or being afraid. Perhaps we have those feelings as a hangover from our school days when we did not get it perfect.”
“We also need to take away the stigma and acknowledge that taking Irish away from those children with additional needs is not the correct answer. We need to focus on how we are going to do that better in the future. We also need children to go to the Gaeltacht. Perhaps the education system does not fit young people who are learning Irish in the school system but the Gaeltacht seems to be able to include people from all over the place. I went to the Gaeltacht. I had not spoken the language in ages and learned loads of Irish. We must encourage people to learn to language and to speak the language. As somebody mentioned earlier, we need to be protecting our mná tí to host children and young people in the Gaeltacht. We need to support them because if there is nowhere to stay, no one can go.”
“It would be fantastic if teacher training colleges were able to fully resource people who want to go into teaching in the most modern way and to teach Irish in line with the common European framework of references for languages. The framework should be used at all stages of our education system, as it is for other languages, such as the Deutsche Sprachdiplom for German and the DELF for French. The Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, TEG, is available and should be used. It is a way for someone to demonstrate the level of his or her Irish and is recognised internationally. The system of exemptions for children and young people with additional needs requires modernisation and needs to be revised in line with how other languages are taught in schools.”
“The failure is that students who go to primary school for eight years, learn Irish all the way up, and then learn Irish for five or six years in secondary school, do not have the language at the end of the process. The removal of the oral Irish examination from the junior cycle stifles fluency going into the leaving certificate. We need our students to know not only about the beauty of the poetry and stories we have in Irish. They also need to be able to go to the chipper and order chips and a spice bag, as well as having meaningful conversations in Irish. We need to resource our trainee teachers to be able to teach as Gaeilge.”
“Bhí muid ag foghlaim Gaeilge le chéile. I went back last year and some of the same people were there. We brushed off the rustiness of the Gaeilge and learned more. I hope to do it again this year although I will probably have to book sooner. It may be booked out because so many people are now going to these courses. We need to encourage as many people as possible to go to courses in Irish to shake off their rustiness. We must look at our education system and see how we can improve the way Irish is taught. We need to evaluate the outcome that the curriculum is focusing on. What are the educational outcomes that we want our system to have?”
“I have not used that name since I was in school. Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an tairiscint seo. Irish is a beautiful language with a cultural identity with which many people want to identify but do not because of the challenges they had in learning Irish in our education system. Our cultural identity with the Irish language is seeing a renaissance of late and we have a beautiful movie, "An Cailín Ciúin", with which many people engaged. Thanks to Kneecap, we have music as Gaeilge that appeals to people of all ages and is bringing young people into a cultural movement as Gaeilge. Two summers ago, I went to Oideas Gael in nGleann Cholm Cille in the Gaeltacht in Donegal. Bhí sé go hiontach. Bhí daoine as an nGearmáin, Meiriceá agus gach áit in Éirinn i mo rang.”
“When there is a Garda presence, it deters people from antisocial behaviour and intimidation. With that combination, we have the possibility, in Dublin 8 and throughout this city, of living in a safer community.”
“That organisation and my own local GAA club, Kevin's Hurling and Camogie Club, have been fighting for decades for sporting facilities. We are looking for pitches. I know we are getting close to St. Teresa's Gardens having those pitches and the same is true of Marrowbone Lane, but many of the children who need that service now will be adults by the time those facilities come in. In fact, a lot of people who were children when this process started are now adults. We really need that to be moved on and for all the powers we have in this Chamber and Dublin City Council to make sure they are there. When people have something to do, they will not get involved in other things, and when they are supported with services, they will not get involved in antisocial behaviour.”
“I am banging on about the school completion programme today because a second Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report that has just been released lauds how well that programme is doing, but it also asks for the final parts of the governance and employment structure to be implemented. As other contributors have said, youth workers, youth services, Garda youth diversion and the school completion programme all need to be fully resourced to be able to help young people and children with prosocial activities and skills throughout the school day, after school and during holiday time. I am sure the Minister knows about the organisation Sporting Liberties.”
“The law itself is flawed because the child has to give evidence against the adult who has groomed them into a life of crime, which is totally unacceptable. We obviously need to provide adequate levels of support for people who are in vulnerable positions and find themselves needing to deal drugs or become involved in antisocial behaviour, but we also need to spread those services throughout this city and not just have clumps of them in certain areas. Dublin 8 has a high concentration of people in addiction and with mental health problems who need a lot of support.”
“The answer to the drug dealing was to cut down the wildflowers, but the drug dealing still continued. It did not deter the drug dealing, and the flowers are gone. This is affecting people who use the hospital or live in the area. I dread that when the children's hospital eventually opens, if people choose to bring their sick children on the Luas to the hospital, they will have to pass gangs of people dealing drugs. It is absolutely unacceptable. People are feeling intimidated and scared and are living in fear in that area. It is just not good enough. On the issue of children dealing drugs, I would love to know what happened to Fagin's law. Does it exist anymore and is it being implemented? Has anyone ever been charged under the law?”
“I wish the Minister the best of luck in his new role. I have been contacted by many constituents in Dublin South-Central since I was elected in November - in fact, when I was a councillor from June until November 2024, people were contacting me about this issue - about the lack of a Garda presence and the persistent antisocial behaviour around the Fatima Luas station in Rialto. It has been reported to me that people of all ages, including children, are dealing drugs there openly and without challenge. Last summer – this is kind of by the by - wildflowers were growing there, along a linear park. I do not know whether the Minister knows Dublin 8 well, but it has a very limited number of green space areas and that space was hard fought for. It was granted and the area was lined beautifully with wildflowers, but the drug dealing continued.”
“If they are in a learning environment, how are they supposed to do their college work or their further education work? A total of 51% of young women affected said they had been abused under the age of 18. One in five young women in Ireland have been subjected to intimate relationship abuse. How can these young women who are in college or starting their careers be at the level they need to be at? They cannot achieve what they would like to do. It is not acceptable. We need to act now. I am very happy the Government will not oppose the motion.”
“I have read findings that in Europe 73% of women who experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner indicated their children had become aware of that violence. How can a child or young person learn when they are living in a home where there is violence, control or abuse? How can they focus on homework or study for an exam? How can they do their college assignments? The short answer is that they cannot do these things. Their trauma and adverse childhood experiences envelop them and they go into survival mode. To learn one needs to be able to relax, be comfortable and to have a structure. This is very hard when there is shouting, screaming, crying, violence and fear. Then there are young people who are in intimate relationships and who are affected by this.”
“One of the things I find most galling - many speakers have mentioned it - is the fact that when someone has experienced gender-based violence and goes for counselling, this can be used against them. The Minister of State indicated that it is set out in this way to prevent unfair trials, but who is being treated unfairly? Who is it pitched against? Looking through lens of education, we can see that violence in the home is detrimental to learning and long-term educational retention. In 2015, it was found that 40% of cases referred to Women's Aid involved children who had experienced and lived with domestic violence. They also experienced physical and sexual abuse. In 2023, 4,478 incidents of child abuse were disclosed to women's aid.”
“I am a public representative and am here to be a voice for others who have been subjected to gender-based violence. This issue affects people of all ages, classes, colours, creeds and jobs. One group contacted me - and I am sure they have contacted others - to say that of the 174 of us in this Chamber, 59 have perhaps been subjected to sexual violence. I am sure Deputies have received many emails urging them to support this motion. We live in time in which women are being murdered, with six so far this year. Last night newspapers reported that another woman has been killed on a ferry. Calls to Women's Aid and other domestic violence services are at an all time high. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is inundated with requests for support. Things are out of control. Deputy Coppinger's motion highlights many matters that we need to address.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Coppinger as an tairiscint seo. While writing my speech, I found the words came with great difficulty. This was not because I did not know what to say, it was because I was afraid that once I started to speak I would not be able to stop and would get so annoyed that my words would go beyond what is allowable in this Chamber. Having listened to testimonies from people around the country, I cannot help but be furious and frightened. In the late 1990s, I worked in a domestic violence project service in London for Irish women. As a very young person straight out of college, I was struck by how many services were available there for women from all over the world. I am afraid that the situation has not improved since the late 1990s. However, this is not about me.”
“Not everybody drives, but if people do drive it is really important that they are not waiting for weeks on end for things to happen. I am happy that the Government is going to support this motion. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing it forward.”
“A group in Inchicore-Bluebell called Connecting Communities is fighting to keep the area's bus service. It connects people. The group carried out a survey which showed that 63% of the people who responded do not own cars. There is huge reliance on public transport. They are engaged in a fight in respect of the 58 bus route, which is going to replace three other routes. Buses on this route will only run once per hour and will not bring passengers to Thomas Street, a famous street in Dublin 8 to which people travel for many social activities, markets, religious services and medical appointments. I have been working with Joan Collins, a former TD for the area, and members of the community to try to ensure that we have a meeting with the NTA. We have not heard back from the NTA yet. We look forward to hearing from it.”
“I know that now, but at the time I was a child and it was incredibly funny. In the 1970s, another backlog was cleared. Now, there are many thousands of people waiting. Everybody who has spoken has been contacted by constituents. I was contacted by constituents in Dublin South Central who say that the waiting times are unacceptable. People are waiting to go to college, to work and go about their daily business. It is very expensive to take driving lessons and to be insured on a car, if a person has one. It is sometimes difficult to get time to practice driving. To then be obliged to wait a long time is prohibitive for many people. Public transport is so important, particularly in light of people's reliance on it. There is a lot of waiting about for buses.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus le Sinn Féin as an rún seo. Earlier today, I went onto the RSA website and input the location for my nearest test centre at Charlestown in Dublin. If I applied for my driving test today, I would be able to sit it in the week beginning 4 August. That is 23 weeks away. I did not clog up the system because I did my test in 1994. Many contributors have said that this is the worst it has ever been. I remember stories from when I was growing up. We always slagged my mother because she was one of a group of people in the 1960s who did not have to sit the test. They got the licence for free. We made a joke of the fact that she was not a great driver, but it is not a laughing matter. We do not want to have people on the roads who are not taking tests or driving in a suitable way.”
“Families in Dublin South Central are contacting me because they are in fear of becoming homeless. This issue arose today a number times during the debate on our Private Members' motion. The home they are living in could be sold to Dublin City Council and the landlord is willing to do so. However, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has not allocated the funding for the tenant in situ scheme so, therefore, they cannot do that. The landlord is willing to sell and the council is willing to buy but the budget has not been allocated. Today is 19 February so I would like to know when the Minister will allocate the budget this year. I would also like to know that this is done in advance for next year and subsequent years. If there is money in the budget and there is a plan for it, what is the reason for the delay?”
“I spoke in this House yesterday about the lack of school places for children with special needs. These vulnerable children are being failed by this country. Housing has a significant role to play in that failure. The motion we are proposing has a vision and a pathway to ensure we start to get out of the housing disaster that is destroying this country on so many levels. I am speaking about it through the lens of the education system but there is no element of life that it does not affect.”
“Rents have doubled in a decade and there is double-digit house price inflation. Newly qualified teaching staff, SNAs and other educational staff cannot afford to pay ridiculously high rents and certainly cannot afford to buy their own homes. They are locked out of the market yet are expected to turn up every day to teach, support and help our children and young people in schools and education services. In October, half of primary schools in the commuter belt, as it is called, could not find teachers to fill vacant positions. An INTO survey in the autumn found that these shortages in teaching staff have a profound impact on the quality of education in many schools. Schools are having to resort to unqualified teaching staff because they cannot afford to live here.”
“The area is very close to the city centre and has easy access to colleges and universities. It should be fantastic for students to live there, but the cost of this student accommodation is far beyond what an ordinary student can afford. Rents are approximately €1,250 per month for a one-bedroom student room with a shared kitchen. For a self-funded student this is completely unaffordable. Student accommodation is vitally important for students in our economy. It must be appropriate and affordable. Only today, I read about the international students who have been asked for sex for rent. That is an absolute horror and disgrace. The second problem we have, particularly in urban areas, is the retention of education professionals due to high rents and unaffordability. Housing costs in Ireland are already among the highest in Europe.”
“I wish to raise two points on the issue of housing - the housing disaster - and how it affects the education system. First, students who wish to attend third level courses in institutions of their choice are curtailed because affordable student accommodation is not possible. For the ordinary student, it is unaffordable. Therefore, they may choose a course that is not their top priority in order to allow them to commute because they need to live at home as they cannot afford to rent. They might decide not to go to third level education because they cannot afford to study and need to work to contribute to the family income because the cost of living is so high in this country. In my own constituency of Dublin South-Central, particularly in Dublin 8, there has been a swell of student accommodation built in recent years.”
“All schools, whether private or public, that receive State funding must provide appropriate support for children with additional needs. Passing this motion would implement necessary solutions that would make tangible differences to the lives of children in Ireland. It is time for the Government to act decisively by speeding up teacher recruitment, prioritising infrastructure, increasing SNA allocations and ensuring all schools, including private institutions, play their part. Let us ensure that no child anywhere throughout the country - not just in Dublin South-Central - is left without a school place or left out, because that is their right under the Constitution.”
“These professionals play a vital role in our school community, ensuring that children with additional needs receive the support they require within the mainstream system where appropriate. It also helps with the child's development. Yet year after year we hear of delays in allocation and cases of children who need support but are left without it. The Government must increase SNA allocations and ensure that they are provided in a timely manner to schools. Finally, we need to have an honest conversation about the role of private schools in special education provision. The burden of catering for children with additional needs falls disproportionately to the public school system, while many private schools, with their significant resources, do not take their fair share of the responsibility. This is not sustainable and not just.”
“Alongside teacher recruitment, we also must prioritise the expansion of school infrastructure. A prime example is the case of Social Democrats councillor, Lesley Byrne, who is principal of Clogher Road Community College, in Dublin 12. She has expressed clear willingness to expand the special education classes. She has been in contact with the National Council for Special Education to make this happen, but the reality is that she and many other principals lack the space to do so. The schools therefore cannot create these much-needed classrooms because they physically do not have the space to accommodate them. We have to commit to funding the expansion of these special education classrooms in both existing and new school buildings. The Government also needs to address the allocation of special needs assistants.”
“Many teachers from abroad who are highly qualified and eager to contribute arrive in Ireland only to find themselves stuck in an administrative limbo. We therefore urgently need reform of the Teaching Council's recognition of registration process for those teachers who can enter classrooms without unnecessary delays. There also needs to be appropriate and full training for teaching staff that starts with the initial teaching education at undergraduate and then at postgraduate level, as well as continuous professional development through the teaching career. Expecting teaching staff to be able to appropriately support students with additional needs without training is not acceptable and it is unfair to everyone, both the teaching staff member and the child and their family.”
“The number might not seem huge, but it is massive to those families not to have a school place when their children have been in primary school and now are going into secondary school. Forward planning really needs to be ensured to avoid this. It is not acceptable, it is avoidable, and we need political will and forward planning. One of the most pressing challenges we face is the recruitment and retention of teachers, as other contributors have said, across our education system but in particular to support children with additional educational needs. We are just not moving fast enough to qualify teachers. The Teaching Council process is very slow as well, acting as a barrier rather than a bridge for teachers who want to work in our system.”