Results 301-320 of 1,030,328 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Margaret Conlon OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte)

Primary School Funding: Motion [Private Members] (26 Jun 2024)

Norma Foley: The Government is not opposing this motion. I thank Deputy Harkin and her colleagues for tabling this motion. As I have said, the Government is not opposing it. I welcome the opportunity to speak to the House this morning on the very important matter of primary school funding and the many measures under way by the Government to support primary schools. The issue of school funding is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Gary Gannon: I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. I do not doubt for a second that no one has a monopoly of care for the city or that everyone wants to see it policed effectively. Nonetheless, too often we hear about initiatives such the ones laid out by the Minister of State that have a displacement effect. Very purposely, I chose Dublin 7 with that in mind. Greater...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Dara Calleary: I agree with the Deputy that it has to be a multiagency approach. There is a new approach to community safety policy via the local community safety partnerships, which are being piloted in three locations, including in the north inner city of Dublin. They bring together the local communities and local service providers under an independent chair to develop a specific community safety plan...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 9.57 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 9.59 a.m. Sitting suspended at 9.57 a.m. and resumed at 9.59 a.m.

Primary School Funding: Motion [Private Members] (26 Jun 2024)

Primary School Funding: Motion [Private Members] (26 Jun 2024)

Marian Harkin: I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes: — that our pupil teacher ratio is 22.8 pupils per class size, whereas the European Union average is 20 pupils per class; — that there is chronic underfunding in Government expenditure per student in our primary schools, which is equivalent to 13 per cent per capita Gross Domestic Product, while the Organisation for economic...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Meals Programme (26 Jun 2024)

Violet-Anne Wynne: I appreciate that the Minister of State will take that information back in respect of St. Anne's and the flexibility for special schools I am looking for. The response that has been provided is rigid and somewhat disappointing. Again, it is a one-size-fits-all approach that will not be workable in some schools, especially rural schools which do not have the options or opportunities that...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Meals Programme (26 Jun 2024)

Joe O'Brien: I take the opportunity to acknowledge the child-centred approach of St. Anne's special school. I read up about the school in advance, and it is to be commended on how it does things and works with children. I could read out all the statistics outlining the scale of the hot school meals programme. It is very large-scale programme and we want to cover all schools eventually. The nature of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Antisocial Behaviour

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Gary Gannon: This is my fifth, potentially sixth, time having a Topical issue during this Dáil year on the matter of crime in and around the constituency of Dublin Central. On none of those occasions has a Minister with responsibility for justice been here. While I appreciate that cannot always be the case, I would have expected that it would have happened on at least one of those occasions. I...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (26 Jun 2024)

Dara Calleary: I thank Deputy Gannon for raising this issue and I will bring his description directly to the attention of the Minister, Deputy McEntee. It is important, as we all agree, that people feel safe and are safe in their local communities, and Dublin 7 is no exception. Community safety is not solely the responsibility of the Department of Justice or An Garda Síochána. Rather, it is a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: National Children's Hospital (26 Jun 2024)

Pauline Tully: The need for this hospital has long been debated. There were delays in the initial stages about the location and it was decided that it should be in the middle of the city. I still question whether that was wise, but is too late to go back on that. If there had been delays at the beginning to ensure the design was right everybody could have understood that. However, it seems that there...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: National Children's Hospital (26 Jun 2024)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. I am happy to provide clarification. The Department has stated that the new national children's hospital has been designed and constructed in consultation with CHI and, most important, in accordance with disabled access certification. There are 5,000 rooms in the new hospital and the development board is advised that all rooms and areas are fully compliant and, as...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Meals Programme (26 Jun 2024)

School Meals Programme

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Meals Programme (26 Jun 2024)

Violet-Anne Wynne: I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. It is a follow-up question, as I have raised this issue previously. I point to the ambition to see every school student with a hot school meal, which has to be commended. I agree that we need to ensure that our children are given all of the support that is necessary to get them the best results and access to education. Equally, it is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Meals Programme (26 Jun 2024)

Joe O'Brien: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The programme is an important component of policy to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. Following a significant expansion in recent years, some 2,600...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Dental Services (26 Jun 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I had hoped for a more robust response from the Department. Given its commitment to the comprehensive review and “reform of oral healthcare services, including legislative reform, as set out in the national oral health policy”, I would have expected the Department to be much more stringent in its terms and specifically set out...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Dental Services (26 Jun 2024)

Dara Calleary: I would encourage the Deputy to provide the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, with the specific details of the case so that it can be followed through. The Minister is looking at reviewing and updating the legislation in the context of the wider implementation of the new national oral health policy, which envisages a fundamental reform of oral health services. Any new legislation will be informed...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: National Children's Hospital (26 Jun 2024)

National Children's Hospital

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: National Children's Hospital (26 Jun 2024)

Pauline Tully: I was stunned to read this week that the long-awaited and long-overdue national children’s hospital was set to be delayed further and that this supposedly state-of-the-art hospital may not even be accessible to wheelchair users. The Dáil was told in February that the project’s completion date would be this October and that the first patients could be expected to be treated...