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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“I congratulate the Minister and the Minister of State on their appointments and wish them the very best of luck. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on special education. I fully support it. It is time now for the State to take urgent action to ensure that every child has access to the education they deserve and have a right to receive. I have heard so many stories across my constituency of Dublin South-Central, as others here have outlined from their own constituencies, about families struggling to secure school places for their children with additional needs. Last night I spoke to a mother who is part of the Dublin 12 autism group. It has identified that there are five children in the area who have not got a secondary school place for this year.”
“The community welcomes the reduction of speed limits on rural roads and looks forward very much to having the reduced speed on city roads as well.”
“I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. Road safety is a major issue for communities in Dublin South-Central. The Calm Crumlin Road group has been campaigning and collecting data for a number of years. I wish to outline some of those data for the House. There is a straight stretch of road where there is a primary school, a secondary school and two sports clubs, one for football and one for camogie and hurling. Forty per cent of the population do not have cars and rely on public transport and active travel. This is a 50 km/h zone. The group calculated that of the 800 cyclists, 6,500 cars and 2,500 large vehicles using the road each day, 10% of the cars are speeding. Since it started collecting those data, 1 million vehicles have been travelling at more than 50km/h. There has been one death and numerous near misses.”
“What is wrong with this Government that it cannot accept that its political ideology is ruining the lives of children and young people? We always hear that young people having an education will be the great leveller by getting people out of poverty and bringing bright futures but what if the State is actively pursuing policies and ideologies that negate this possibility? The Government is saying to young people, "It is not for you. You have to stay where you are and you are not worth it". I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion.”
“These are standardised exams that are supposedly a great leveller. Everyone sits the same exam under the same circumstances at the same. That is all well and good for the student who is living in a warm, cosy and secure home but what about all those young people who are couch surfing with their families due to homelessness or living in a hostel or a hub? What about the young person who is living in overcrowded accommodation, with generations of their family and extended family living in the same home? They do not have any space to study. What about all those young people who are going to face homelessness right before their leaving certificate and junior certificate exams in June? How are they going to have their secure base? How are they going to be able to study from no secure base?”
“There are leaking roofs and dangerous electrical faults. Some rents are so high that young people are paying them and have no money left to have any social life. The basic thing we can expect is to have a social life, not to just exist. There are also young people throughout the country who have hundreds of thousands of euro mortgage approval but are outbid every time they go to view a house. The inappropriate policy of this and the previous Governments is doing immeasurable damage to the children and young people of Ireland who are living in homelessness, unsuitable and inappropriate housing situations. It is a scandal that appropriate ways and policies are being put forward by day in, day out by Opposition Members, but they are being ignored. Right now, junior and leaving certificate students are sitting their mock exams.”
“Members spent the majority of 2024 knocking on doors, canvassing throughout their constituencies, looking for support in the local and general elections. One of the main topics of conversation every single time I went canvassing - and I am sure it was the same for others - was inappropriate, poor and unsuitable housing. All parties put forward different proposals to solve the ever increasing, complex problem but in reality, what is happening at the moment is that we are sitting here, discussing this issue ad nauseam , while people are suffering day in and day out. I am thinking about the families and young people who contacted me in dire need of suitable accommodation. Mould is growing in sitting rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. There are rat infestations in flat complexes in Dublin South Central and I am sure throughout the country.”