Shane Curley
Cultural and Educational Panel · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I congratulate the Acting Leader in his role as Whip. I wish Galway the very best of luck in the All-Ireland hurling final. I know everyone in the room agrees it would be great to see Liam MacCarthy go west. Best of luck to Micheál Donoghue and the lads on Sunday. We will all be there shouting them on, if we can get a ticket.”
“There are modules in special educational needs in the PME, but there is no mandatory follow-up after that. As we all know, special educational needs involve ongoing upskilling and awareness and we are constantly figuring out more about them. We will never have enough knowledge and will be researching it for eternity.”
“In some cases, teachers have to travel many kilometres to the nearest training day. It does not make any sense. I would welcome a debate in the House with the Minister on instructing Oide or some other body to carry out regular mandatory training in special educational needs for all teachers.”
“I would also like to welcome former Senator Ned O'Sullivan who I see in the Gallery as well. He is very welcome. Tá fáilte roimhe. It is high time, in the next few months if at all possible; this side of Christmas in particular, to have a debate in the House with the Minister to urgently address the issue of extra time in exams for studen…”
“CGMs allow patients and clinicians to monitor glucose levels in real time, improving diabetes management and giving many patients greater confidence in managing their condition.”
“In Ireland, you get ten minutes even if the exam lasts three hours and 40 minutes in the case of the likes of English paper 2. In third level in Ireland, the lecturers who are currently carrying out a review on the process that was undertaken by the SEC give ten minutes per hour of an exam to their students.”
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“Coillte's plan to construct tourist accommodation in Portumna Forest Park has caused great concern for locals. I have met the Protect Portumna Forest Park local community group. It is very concerned that what is at present a very tranquil rejuvenating amenity could be turned into a concrete jungle. Coillte needs to engage meaningfully with the group. Since January it has been trying to achieve any sort of meaningful engagement but nothing has come of it. If Coillte is realising that the harvesting of timber does not lead to profit, then we need to have the Minister come to the House to discuss ways Coillte as an entity will be viable in future.”
“We had great news over the weekend on electric vehicle charging points, including five new high-powered chargers for Mayo, five for Roscommon and seven for Cork. Unfortunately there were zero for the entire county of Galway. There was great disappointment that, out of the 53 new high-powered charging points to be rolled out throughout the country, none of them are coming to my county of Galway. To compound issue, in the southern half of east Galway, below the railway line, there is only one fast charger at present for all of the 55,000 people who live in the region. This is at a time when we are trying to incentivise people to move towards electric vehicles. It is something we need to look at. I would welcome a debate with the Minister on the roll-out of electric vehicle stations in rural Ireland.”
“That is how to stop this from happening again, by stopping people from being driven to extremes, which they were. Hamas is a terrorist organization. We all agree on that. It has been driven to extremes by constant oppression for years since 1948. Whether we agree or not on the formation of Israel, Hamas and the people of Palestine have been driven to extremes. That is why we saw what we saw on 7 October. It was wrong, but that is why we saw it.”
“Two people, Ratko Mladić and Slobodan Milošević, the former currently in jail and the latter who died in jail, faced the consequences of what they did. I believe that people like Benjamin Netanyahu need to face their war crimes in years to come in The Hague. The first thing we can do is campaign for proper justice for what has happened. The second thing we can do is along the same lines. In our own country we saw what happened when brutal oppression drove people to extremes. Right now we have one country armed to the teeth by the USA and another country that does not even have an airport. We need to create equality where people have a chance at life so that they can actually achieve economic prosperity and be normal human beings.”
“We all agree that bombing hospitals, flattening primary schools during school hours and starving women and children to death is genocide. We all agree on that. That will be in the history books. There is nothing antisemitic about calling that out. With our own history in Ireland, we know what it is like to be brutally oppressed. We must do all we can to stop it now. Ireland's role in the future will be how to stop this from happening again. Right now, we need to get Europe to come to the table with regard to bringing in huge economic sanctions against Israel. Money talks. Money will talk in this and stop Israel from carrying on what it is doing. Ireland has another role. As I said, I taught students about the Srebrenica massacre.”
“I am not a history teacher, but a few years ago I had the opportunity to teach the concept of genocide as part of third year history. The example we used at the time was the Srebrenica massacre in the former Yugoslavia. It was a hard thing to teach, to show videos of documentaries of people visiting mass graves that included their parents and their siblings. That was tough. That is the future for the current people of Gaza. They will visit mass graves in years to come, visit their relatives and look back on an horrific massacre. I fear for what will be contained in the history books. Senator Higgins talked about the future history books. I fear for the future in these history books. We can all agree that Europe will not be on the right side of history in this. We need to make sure Ireland is. We have the chance to do that.”
“I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: - “Seanad Éireann resolves that the Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2025 be read a second time on this day 12 months, to allow for further consideration of issues arising in the Bill.””
“It would not require any permanent commitment to funding from current spending for staff. It would not require any extra hiring. It would be a simple one-off, extra overtime payment to tutors who deliver these phases in order to clear the backlog. If we are serious about delivering housing and other infrastructure we need in this country, it is something we need to address in a critical fashion.”
“Go raibh maith agat an tAire as ucht bheith anseo. Every time I have liaised with the Minister, the Department or his staff, I have been heartened by how committed they are to the apprenticeship model, which is vital if we want to deliver housing and other vital infrastructure in a timely fashion. If we want a future-ready workforce, we need a future-ready education system. I have been speaking with the TUI, whose nomination to the Seanad I am thankful for. It is dealing with critical backlogs in the apprenticeship model, particularly in phases four and six, which are dealt with by the TUs, which the TUI represents. One very cost-effective recommendation the TUI has made is that, if a third phase of apprentices was brought in during phases four and six, it would clear the backlog in one go.”
“This is tragic and families lives are being turned upside down. I encourage people to look at how these products are being advertised in vape shops. As recently as 2024, the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine said these products are likely to be precipitating psychotic episodes. HHC is a relatively new drug and there is not a huge body of medical evidence about it, but it is becoming increasingly evident how dangerous it is. I request a debate with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill on two issues in this regard: that HHC be added to the list of controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, which is vital, and, even more importantly right now, the need to launch a strong public awareness campaign through the HSE to highlight the dangers posed by HHC to young people before more lives are lost.”
“Last week, I sat with a family devastated by the effects of HHC. For people who may not be aware of it, HHC is a synthetic drug which is widely available in vapes from vape shops in cities, towns and villages throughout the country. HHC is consumed through normal vapes. More and more young people are being exposed to these vapes, which can be legally bought. At present, HHC is not illegal and this is a serious problem. The advertising that goes on for HHC is criminal. Companies are clearly targeting young people. A constituent in my area told me that her son, who is 14 years of age, said to her last week that the vapes looked like Hallowe'en sweets. This is a strong drug that can have devastating impacts. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that HHC is leading to psychotic episodes, which sometimes lead to suicide.”
“Tá an fhadhb seo an-dáiríre agus caithfimid dul i ngleic leis go tapa agus airgead a shábháil do dhaoine a íocann cáin sa tír seo. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go mbogfaimid go tapa maidir leis seo. Will the Deputy Leader arrange time for a full debate on using surplus renewable energy to help tackle energy poverty?”
“I want to see more energy companies play their part and contribute to finding ways to use surplus energy and help tackle energy poverty in the country. Some of my Fianna Fáil colleagues in Dáil Éireann have championed this issue, including the Minister of State, Deputy Chris O'Sullivan, and Deputy Paul McAuliffe, who has produced Private Members' legislation on the matter. Councillor Emma Murphy on South Dublin County Council has led from the front on this topic as well. She helped launch an initiative in her area of South Dublin in association with EnergyCloud and Clúid Housing. I commend the recognition of this opportunity in the programme for Government, including the commitment to exploring how surplus renewable energy can be used to help reduce fuel poverty and benefit all communities.”
“My party colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is committed to supporting initiatives such as the EnergyCloud programme to tackle this problem. I am pleased that families in east Galway are part of the EnergyCloud programme that was launched last year with Galway County Council, where this surplus energy is stored and redirected to heat the water tanks of families living in fuel poverty. Not alone does this reduce their financial difficulties but it saves the taxpayer a fortune by reducing the money we spend on heating social homes. This is a long-term solution and it is not a hugely costly project to roll out. This initial project will see approximately 150 families in Galway benefit. The great news is that it is already operational. It is easy to roll out.”
“We can all agree that one of the biggest frustrations for the Irish taxpayer is waste. Since 2017, Ireland has wasted more than €2.1 billion worth of renewable electricity due to curtailment. Taxpayers' money finances the energy that is used to electrify social housing, yet we are throwing away thousands of euro worth of electricity every night when we generate surplus energy. Why? It is because we have nowhere to store it and it simply gets earthed. This is all happening against the backdrop of the all-too-common issue of fuel poverty. It is a subject with which all of us as public representatives are familiar. According to the ESRI, 550,000 families in Ireland are now living in fuel poverty. This should not be happening in 2025 in a country like Ireland. This energy could and should be used to help people most in need.”
“We have moved from 70,000 CAO applications last year to 83,000 this year. Those extra students will have a significant advantage in their points. That adds enormous pressure. Will there be an increase in the number of college places provided to students this year to alleviate the damage done by the reduction in points increases? I understand we need to level this out and it cannot be done as a cliff edge and needs to be done gradually. I appreciate it is being done in that way. However, we need to be mindful of the fact that we must communicate with students in a timely fashion to allow them to relax a small bit and concentrate on studying for their exams.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the response. I understand it is hard in real time to gather data on a current issue, in this case the number of applications. However, there seems to be some dispute and ambiguity as regards what percentage of applications received this year were from previous leaving certificate years and students who had the grades that were increased by, on average, 7.5%. That needs to be taken into account. It is a stressful time for leaving certificate students. I was a secondary school teacher. We need to reform the leaving certificate. That is a different debate which overlaps with this one. The leaving certificate puts serious pressure on young people. There is then the added stress of potentially being at a disadvantage compared with previous leaving certificate years.”
“If so, can this be communicated as soon as possible to these students to take them out of their misery in this year? We all recognise that students who went through secondary school during the Covid-19 years were robbed of the best years of their lives. Nobody has an issue with the fact that they received inflated grades. However, we need to ensure a fair levelling out of grade inflation to ensure that future leaving certificate students are not unfairly discriminated against.”
“No young person sitting the 2025 leaving certificate should have his or her dreams dashed because of previous measures that were out of that young person's control. To further compound students' misery, a record 83,000 applicants have been made to this year's CAO, according to recent Irish Examiner articles. This means that approximately 40% of applicants will be at a significant advantage in the points race, having done the leaving certificate in previous years when grade inflation was at its highest. This raises many serious questions. First, will the taxpayer have to foot the bill if students who miss out on courses successfully pursue the State legally? Second, can this be avoided by offering an increased number of spaces on third level courses in high demand in our colleges?”
“I have experience of this, having been a teacher for the past few years. Especially during the pandemic, this raised the anxiety levels of students. For context, between 2019 and 2020, there was a doubling of the number of students receiving a H1 grade in leaving certificate subjects. There is already enough anxiety associated with the leaving certificate. This is evidenced by recent Jigsaw research that revealed that 22% of leaving certificate students reported severe to very severe levels of depression during their leaving certificate year. It is widely acknowledged that exceptional measures were necessary during Covid-19 and that, generally, the Government got it right, but we need to get it right again now.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo ar maidin. Is léir go bhfuil géarghá le comhrá cuimsitheach ar an ábhar seo agus go bhfuil réiteach na bhfaidhbe seo ag teastáil láithreach ar mhaithe le daltaí na hardteiste 2025. I thank Senator Pat Casey, with whom I have worked closely on this issue in recent weeks. Like me, he has fielded a high number of queries on this from students and concerned parents across Wicklow. The recent news relating to leaving certificate grade inflation, namely, that it is intended to reduce this year's post-marking adjustment to 5.5% from the previous pandemic average of 7.5%, sent shockwaves through the secondary school system and left leaving certificate students extremely anxious that they would miss out on their preferred course in the Central Applications Office, CAO, system.”
“An chéad rud a chuir mé ar gach balla i ngach seomra áit a mhúin mé Gaeilge ná: "Tá Gaeilge bhriste níos fearr ná Béarla cliste". Molaim do dhaoine an Ghaeilge atá acu a úsáid, iarracht a dhéanamh agus a bheith feiceálach agus iad á húsáid. Tá sé an-dearfach gur tháinig an Aire Stáit anseo inniu agus go rinne sé iarracht seasamh os ár gcomhair agus Gaeilge a labhairt. Tá sé sin an-dearfach agus cuireann sé an teachtaireacht cheart amach. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit.”
“Sa dréacht don ardteist nua sa Ghaeilge, tá méid na marcanna atá ar fáil don scrúdú béil á laghdú. Tá sé sin náireach. Más féidir leis an Aire Stáit rud amháin a dhéanamh inniu, b’fhéidir go rachadh sé ar ais agus labhairt leis an Aire sinsearach freisin agus go labhródh an bheirt Aire leis an NCCA maidir leis sin. Ní fheicim cén fáth go rinne an NCCA é sin. Ní dhéanann sé aon chiall. D’athraigh sé rudaí chun an Ghaeilge a spreagadh ach tá sé chun a mhalairt a dhéanamh. Ní thuigim é sin. Mar fhocal scoir, tháinig an tAire Stáit chuig an Seanad inniu agus rinne sé iarracht an Ghaeilge a labhairt. Táimid i lár Seachtain na Gaeilge. Rud a deirim le chuile dhuine sa seomra, agus na daoine nach bhfuil anseo a fhéachfaidh ar an óráid seo ina dhiaidh, ná úsáidigí an Ghaeilge.”
“Cén fáth go bhfuilimid ag foghlaim Gaeilge?” An rud is dearfaí a fheicim anois in Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla nua ná go mbeidh ar 20% de na hoibrithe a roghnófar san earnáil poiblí a bheith in ann Gaeilge a labhairt. Tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach domsa. Freagraíonn sé an cheist a iarradh orm chuile lá ar scoil. Anois beidh 20% de na daoine a roghnófar in ann, nó beidh orthu, Gaeilge a labhairt. Tá sé sin an-dearfach freisin. Ní raibh mo thaithí mar mhúinteoir sa seomra ranga dearfach, áfach. Ceapaim go bhfuil páistí ag iarraidh taithí iomlán difriúil sa seomra ranga. Ní gá ach féachaint ar an dearcadh atá ag an NCCA i leith na teanga chun a thuiscint go mbeidh deacrachtaí againn. Tá sé tar éis an méid marcanna atá ar fáil don scrúdú béil san ardteist a laghdú san ardteist nua.”
“Níl na hoibrithe againn sa tír trasna na Ranna difriúla agus tá sé tábhachtach go bhfuil an fhoráil sin ann. Freisin, tá na baill foirne breise a roghnófar go luath chun an scéim a rolláil amach an-dearfach freisin. Fáiltím freisin le toghcháin dhíreacha Údaráis na Gaeltachta a thabhairt ar ais. Tá sé sin dearfach freisin agus gabhaim buíochas leis an Roinn as sin. Is múinteoir Gaeilge mé. Is é sin an rud a rinne mé sular toghadh mé le dul go dtí an Seanad. Táim lándáiríre faoin dteanga. Bhí sé deacair mar mhúinteoir Gaeilge an teanga a spreagadh i measc na bpáistí a bhí agam. An cheist is coitianta a iarradh orm ná “Sir, céard é an pointe an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim?”
“Mar a dúirt an Cathaoirleach Ghníomhach, níor chóir don Aire Stáit a bheith róchrua air féin. Tá an-Ghaeilge aige agus rinne sé iarracht. Is é sin an rud is tábhachtaí, sé sin go bhfuil sé feiceálach agus é ag úsáid na Gaeilge. Gabhaim buíochas leis as ucht a bheith anseo. I bhFianna Fáil, tá áit thar a bheith lárnach ag an teanga in ár gcomhdhéanamh mar pháirtí agus inár stair mar pháirtí. Ní gá ach féachaint ar an méid infheistíochta a rinneamar thar na mblianta nuair a bhí an Roinn againn agus feicfear go bhfuilimid dáiríre faoin dteanga agus go bhfuil sí lárnach inár ndearcadh mar pháirtí. Fáiltím roimh go leor den mhéid atá in Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2021, atá á lainseáil anois. Luaim go háirithe an scéim earcaíochta nua atá ann. Tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach.”
“We need to finish this project by bringing it to Sligo. We need to be ambitious. We have the two biggest urban centres in all of Connacht in Galway and Sligo and we need to connect them by rail. It is very simple. While we are at it, I ask the Minister of State to be ambitious. I ask him to plan to finish the job and extend the rail line up to Donegal, to Letterkenny and on to Derry, so the entire island will be truly interconnected by rail. This would show real ambition to get people out of cars and into trains so we can reduce carbon emissions across the country. We have a climate crisis and we need to take it seriously. I implore the Minister of State to look at this issue.”
“I would also welcome a commitment that the Athenry to Claremorris railway line will go to the construction phase as soon as possible. Taking the examples of students going to college or the fact we have the centre of excellence for cancer care in Galway for people in the west and mid-west, it would be greatly beneficial for those people to be able to hop on a train and access the services they need. We have a traffic crisis in Galway city, as I said. We are taking time from people's lives. Day after day, they are spending time sitting in traffic during car journey after car journey and delay after delay when they could be doing so much more. This issue just needs to be addressed. While we are on this topic, I have seen commentary in the media recently that the rail project will include just Athenry to Claremorris and that is it.”
“There are small steps, like introducing extra bus shelters and bus stops, that could be brought in that would increase the number of people using public transport at a time when we have a massive traffic crisis in Galway city. On this topic too, we really need to see increased train capacity from Ballinasloe to Loughrea and on to Galway city. Senator Rabbitte and Deputy Dolan have both mentioned this issue at different times. We have seen people in our constituency passing out on dangerously overcrowded train carriages. This issue needs to be addressed urgently. Additionally, regarding the passing loop in Oranmore, it took three years just to get that project through the planning permission phase. We need to speed up our processes massively. We need to see this delivered at speed if we can at all.”
“This meant it was catastrophic for any students commuting to college, and their parents, at a time when we have such a shortage of housing. As has been outlined in the briefing document, transport is a key component of economic prosperity in any region. In the west, we have been designated as a region in decline because we have just 71% of the average EU GDP. There are practical steps we can take to address this situation at speed, including even something as simple as bus shelters. If we take Loughrea town, my hometown, as an example, it is very linear, stretching almost 2 km from one end to the other. We have one bus stop in the middle of the town. For anybody with a disability or an elderly person with mobility issues, trying to access their local bus is extremely difficult.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a bheith anseo don ábhar thar a bheith tábhachtach seo. When it comes to public transport, I think it is quite clear that the west has been completely left behind for many years. One only has to look at the 2021 decision by the NTA to completely wipe from the map the X20 and 20 Bus Éireann route from Galway to Dublin. The optics of that decision to wipe out the biggest city and the third biggest city from having any public transport provided by the State whatsoever was catastrophic. It did not show the same policy focus as what we are trying to achieve, which is trying to get people onto public transport. It was an awful decision. It took three years to get back any bus from Galway to Loughrea after 6 p.m.”
“I was just going to say that I am playing senior hurling now. The responsibility of the role is not lost on me. I might not have a hurl in my hand anymore but I have a key role to play in this Chamber, and I want to play it well, if I can. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, agus mar chonclúid, is de réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin. I look forward to five years of consistent hard work in this Chamber on behalf of everybody who got me to this point.”
“I was not playing hurling very well and mainly at junior level over the past few years. I loved it nonetheless and our culture is important.”
“To the students I taught in Dublin, as a newly qualified teacher, and at home in the Presentation College in Athenry, I say that I know second level education needs to change and that students' experience in classrooms around the country could be much better. I cannot wait to get to work for them. I was elected on the cultural and educational panel and the culture side of that role is also extremely important. It is something I want to focus on over the next few years. I developed a grá for the Irish language in Kilnadeema National School outside Loughrea, as well as a love for traditional Irish music in the Kilnadeema branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. The national school is located beside the local GAA pitch, where I grew up playing hurling, our native Irish sport and another key part of our culture.”
“The powers of councillors at local level have been eroded over the years and councillors want to play a more meaningful role in their local authorities. To the councillors who placed their faith in me, I say that I have heard them loud and clear. I know the issues they face. I want more powers for councillors at local level. Their conditions need to be improved. I am here to be the best advocate for them that I can be. The second issue was education. I thank the TUI, the ASTI and the Institute of Guidance Counsellors for nominating me as their candidate. As a secondary school teacher, I want to be a strong voice for education in the Seanad and to work with them. To my fellow teachers around the country, I say that I know the demands of the role they play and I want to be a strong advocate for them in the coming years.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leat as ucht a bheith tofa mar Chathaoirleach inniu. I offer congratulations to the Cathaoireach on his new role and wish him the best of luck for the next few years in the work ahead. It is a huge honour to be standing in this Chamber as a Senator. It is a proud day for my family, my neighbours at home in Raheen and the people of the Loughrea area, who gave me my chance by electing me twice to Galway County Council. It is also a proud day for my fellow members in Fianna Fáil, who gave me so much support over the years. I campaigned on two primary issues, the first of which was local government reform, which I believe in. There is acceptance around this Chamber that local government needs to be reformed.”