Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate – Dáil Éireann (34th Dáil) – Thursday, 12 Feb 2026

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Education Schemes

Deputy James Geoghegan

I thank the Minister of State for attending to reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I raise this Topical Issue in relation to a local school in my constituency. It is a very famous secondary school that a lot of people might be familiar with, namely, CBS, Westland Row in Dublin 2. It is a DEIS school that has a very diverse student base. There are children who are living in emergency accommodation, in international protection accommodation, and in many of the neighbouring areas of the city.

I called into the school on Wednesday because the principal and the deputy principal had contacted me. They are essentially reaching the end of the road with the school's emergency works application in relation to a downpipe issue in the school. I was brought through the various classrooms with black mould on some of the ceilings and toilets that are completely out of use. I think there is one toilet available for all of the boys. It is a mixed secondary school. There is a possibility that some of the classrooms will have to be shut.

The challenge lies not in the Department being unwilling to provide the necessary funding to complete the downpipe but in bureaucracy. In December 2025, this school was granted emergency works to the value of €742,688 for a stand-alone electrical upgrade project. In fact, the moneys granted exceed the amount necessary to provide that stand-alone electrical work upgrade project. The actual project will cost the school €425,270.47, some €300,000 less than what the Department granted for it. I am not an engineer but it seems likely that this electrical upgrade project, which has been granted by the Department, will be almost impossible to proceed, or it does not make sense to proceed, while these downpipe issues continue. Yet when the school applies under the emergency works application for the downpipe works, it faces a ceiling of approximately €50,000, which its own architects have identified will be insufficient to meet the challenge.

The school has been advised by the Department that it can come back for the summer works programme for the downpipe issue but the challenge there is the deadline has already closed for the summer works programme for this term and it would have to wait until autumn. Meanwhile, it has received funding of €100,000 from the community integration fund for its hall. It has also received funding for a science laboratory. All of these funding mechanisms have been made available but the underlying mechanics of the school are so challenging that some of the classrooms would have to shut.

All I am looking for is for one side of the Department to talk to the other and that a pragmatic outcome is arrived at to support a DEIS secondary school in the heart of the south inner city. The principal and deputy principal are just trying to keep the school open, ensure the teachers are working in a safe environment, and maintain the classrooms it currently has. I ask that one side talk to the other and sufficient funding be made available to meet the downpipe challenge the school faces.

Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (Deputy Charlie McConalogue)

I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to discuss the role of the Department of Education and Youth’s emergency works scheme. The purpose of the emergency works scheme is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies or to providing funding to facilitate inclusion and access for pupils with special needs. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action, and in the case of a school, if not corrected, would prevent the school or part thereof from opening.

The emergency works scheme operates on the basis of a minimal scope of works required to address the emergency situation. The scheme is intended to remedy an emergency situation and usually provides an interim measure until a permanent solution can be delivered under a summer works scheme. The new climate action summer works scheme approved 297 applications in November 2025.

The school in question submitted an application for funding under the emergency works scheme for roof works on 1 October 2025, with a decision issuing by the Department on 8 October 2025. Unfortunately, the school's original application was refused as the application did not fit the remit of the emergency works scheme, that being the scope of works that was presented did not meet the criteria of sudden and unforeseen. However, the option remains open to the school to appeal this decision. Appeals will only be considered if additional relevant information that was not provided as part of the original application is provided to the Department.

The school in question had other emergency works applications approved in the past 12 months. In August of last year, the school was approved funding for electrical installation, emergency lighting and a fire alarm. This project is currently with the school to progress further. With all emergency works scheme applications, the emergency works team is aware of the urgent nature of the works required, and will keep the school informed throughout the process.

In November 2023, the school in question submitted an application for funding for roof works under the emergency works scheme. The Department sought further information from the school in a number of queries in November of that year but due to the passage of time and having received no response from the school to the queries, the application was closed off. I understand the school is also in contact with the Department of Education and Youth in regard to a current issue and I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to provide an update on this matter directly to Deputy Geoghegan.

Assessing the response from the Minister, I know the new application did not meet the criteria for emergency works. There is an opportunity for the school to appeal. The key point Deputy Geoghegan is making is that he is very much of the view, based, I am sure, on his visit to the school, that the two issues are related and that to do one is not feasible without doing the other. I am sure this would be the key point as the basis of any appeal open to the school.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know he will be coming back with a further response. I will certainly be relaying the fact that he raised this issue and the points he made to the Minister. I have no doubt that the Minister will liaise with him to see if there is a way forward.

Deputy James Geoghegan

I thank the Minister of State for his response on behalf of the Minister and the Department. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton. In the context of any appeal the school may bring, I take note of the link between the significant amount of funds provided for the electrical works scheme and the challenge that, for whatever reason under the Department's system, a downpipe does not meet the necessary threshold that, perhaps, electrical installations, emergency lighting or fire alarms meet. The school faced this issue previously. It is a protected building. Funding was received for windows that have been installed, but it was not possible to get additional funding to deal with the downpipe. I saw the windows. Over €280,000 was spent by the Department on them. They are now rotting away at the side because of the issue with the downpipe.

Some moneys have been allocated in excess of what the school sought. Common sense should prevail here. Acknowledging the number of schools the Department funds throughout the country and the number of applications that are made, I urge that particular priority be given to this school. As I said, it is a DEIS school, which, let us be frank, is different from another school that might be in my constituency and that might be able to take out the biscuit tin and raise some money from parents to ensure that the necessary work is done. CBS Westland Row is simply not in that position. I hope the school will submit an appeal. In light of what the Minister of State said, I think it will do so. I also think that the Department will see sense and will support the school with the additional moneys it has been granted to fix the issue with the downpipe in order to avoid the school being closed or the children not being able to gain access to it.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I will certainly relay the points the Deputy made back to the Minister. The response I have been given outlines the difference between the emergency works scheme in terms of the criteria to qualify for it and for the summer works scheme. The Department is making the case that the downpipe issue is a matter that would qualify for the summer work scheme as opposed to the emergency works scheme, even though, as should always be the case, it would appear that the school is achieving very good value here in relation to the electrical works contract, the cost of which is coming in under the amount allocated via the emergency works scheme.

If the two issues in terms of the downpipe and its impact on the capacity to effectively carry out the work in relation to the electrics are related, they should certainly be presented alongside each other. The way forward here is for the school to examine the opportunity of an appeal, no doubt working with the Deputy to see how that could best be put forward. It can also make the case to the Department concerning how that emergency works money should be considered as contributing to the downpipe work as well to see if that can somehow be made to meet the criteria to be approved.

I thank the Deputy again for raising the matter. I will faithfully report back to the Minister on the debate and on the Deputy's requests and representations.

School Admissions

Deputy Réada Cronin

I understand that the Minister of State is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton. I appreciate him being here. I am disappointed that the Minister is not here.

This matter relates to waiting lists for post-primary school places in north Kildare. This has been a persistent and growing issue in my constituency of Kildare North, which is one of the fastest growing constituencies in the State. Housing estates have been built across Maynooth, Naas, Leixlip, Celbridge, Prosperous and Clane over the past few years. This is really to be welcomed, but it has not been matched by a corresponding level of investment in the infrastructure that is desperately needed to facilitate and support the resultant population growth. School waiting lists in the area are a key indicator of what is happening in this regard.. The housing crisis bleeds into everything. It has bled into the matter of school places. It used to be the case that where an estate was built, the schools in the area would be informed about it. My mother was a school teacher and principal, and she would have known that her school would be getting so many children from a certain estate when it was built four or five years down the line. That is not the case any more because people are very lucky to be getting their first homes and getting their families well and truly under way. This is putting immense pressure on primary and post-primary schools that are being obliged to cope using the same resources and facilities they have had for decades.

Over the past few weeks, I have been in touch with post-primary schools across my constituency about their waiting lists. Some of the lists are staggering. There are 190 students on the waiting list for one school alone, namely Maynooth Community College. Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip and Confey College between them have well over 200 children on their waiting lists. One school in Maynooth told me the Department had asked it to take on more students this year, even though it is already oversubscribed. That is really worrying. Parents in deep distress have been in touch with me over this issue. Can you imagine being told your child is as far down as 200 on a waiting list? That could mean that six or seven extra classes would be needed in a school. It is causing anxiety for the families and the children who are worried they might not be able to attend school with their friends and those with whom they were in primary school.

School facilities are another major issue. The Department will be well aware of St. Patrick's national school in Celbridge and the dire straits it is in regarding its premises. The school has been operating in temporary prefabs for the past 18 years. Unbelievably, it did not make the priority list. Other schools are also waiting for facilities and this is contributing to problems. I spoke to Celbridge Community College, which has also been waiting many years for a permanent building. I was told it would be happy to take on more students, but it is simply not feasible in light of its current set-up. This is having a serious impact on students and parents who are really anxious about what will happen in September. The same could be said of St. Mary's in Naas. Planning permission for a new building was given in 2022, but the work has yet to commence. The school was delighted to see it made the priority list. I understand, however, that this school has been added to the Department's list. The projects to which I refer long overdue and the schools involved have been impacted.

One principal told me that there are many issues with the single application system pilot project. The schools involved have had a meeting with the Department of education and expressed their concerns about the scheme's operation. I hope these concerns will be listened to and acted upon for next year in order that some of the issues that have been raised with me will not be repeated. I ask that the Department provide an update on its plans for improving school capacity and facilities in Kildare North in order to accommodate the growing population.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I thank Deputy Cronin for raising this matter. It gives me an opportunity to set out for the House, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, the position with regard to long waiting lists for post-primary school places across north Kildare.

I assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including those with special educational needs, is an absolute priority of the Department. While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplications of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. Since 2020, the Department has invested over €397 million in school infrastructure across County Kildare. The Department is continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools in order to ensure that every child in the State has access to a school place.

In the context of post-primary enrolment pressures in north Kildare, the Department is aware of pressures for school places for the 2026-27 school year in certain areas. The data sharing arrangements that were in place for the 2025-26 admissions process have been put in place again for the 2026-27 admissions process in school planning areas that are experiencing enrolment pressures, including areas in north Kildare. The admissions data provided by schools allows the Department to analyse duplicate applications as there can be significant overlaps in areas.

On foot of this engagement, Maynooth Community College has increased its first-year intake by an additional class group relative to what was indicated on its admissions notice for 2026-27.

The Deputy will appreciate that the nature of the admissions processes is quite complex. As a result, there can be multiple iterations of offers. For 2025, based on data supplied by schools, it is estimated that there were over 4,200 first-year places available in County Kildare, with around 3,794 sixth-class pupils in the area. On this basis, the Department estimates a surplus capacity of approximately 400 places, or around 9%.

The Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act 1998.

As the Deputy will be aware, the apply to school pilot was introduced to simplify and improve the admissions process for post-primary schools in five pilot areas, including Celbridge. The roll-out of the pilot represents a significant step towards improving the school admissions system and delivering on the programme for Government commitment to introduce a nationwide common application system. While the apply to school system facilitates the submission of a common applications system for parents, the individual schools retain responsibility for issuing offers based on these applications in accordance with their published admissions policy. The Department does not offer or hold a centralised record of offer outcomes for individual schools.

Deputy Réada Cronin

While I appreciate that the Minister is not here, I hope the Minister of State will come back to me on this because it is really frustrating. As a member of the infrastructure committee, it feels as if we criticise every week how upside down the system is. We have so many infrastructural deficits up and down the country. Next week, the committee will have officials from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, in to discuss the use of the census to forecast population and the need for infrastructure. Time and again, I get responses from the Department of Education and Youth mentioning the geographic information system, GIS. I do not believe the system is working because the principals of these secondary schools tell me that they are talking to each other, going through their lists and checking for duplicates. Parents have a right to send their children to their local school and the school their children's friends are going to attend. This would not be an issue for so many TDs in north Kildare if it was not a problem. I truly wonder if the GIS could be used to predict a bit better where people are coming from.

These schools have been crying out for facilities for years and they are now at breaking point. They need extra classrooms and spaces. The new school in Maynooth is being asked to take an extra 200 children. There are two schools beside each other on the same campus, with 1,000 pupils in each. They are already at capacity. My children - my girls - were meant to go to those secondary schools. They were promised when they were in primary school that the schools would be ready for them. They went through their entire secondary schooling in the old building. They never got inside those schools and the schools are already at bursting point. This applies to St. Patrick's school as well.

This is really important. I have spoken to parents whose children move down the list and when they get a place, they feel relief. However, those families should not have to go through this. We need a system that works so that parents and their kids do not have to go through this anxiety every year. It is the same thing every year. The Department says it has places, but it consistently does not have them.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I will relay to the Minister for education the Deputy's comments and the representations she has made on this issue on the floor of the Dáil today.

To touch further on the assessment of need and demand for school places in a school area, the Department uses data from a range of sources, including child benefit data, enrolments and information on new residential developments, to plan for school place needs. As has been outlined, there has been significant investment made in school infrastructure across County Kildare, and the Department is continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools.

Furthermore, the Department’s national development plan sectoral investment plan, which runs from 2026 to 2030, involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. Of the total €7.5 billion investment, it is envisaged that approximately €5 billion will be used for project roll-out to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across large-scale and additional accommodation, as well as the modular and annual September accommodation needs programmes. Over the course of 2026 and 2027, there will be construction work at approximately 10% of the school estate. These projects, when completed, will provide about 57,000 additional and modernised school places, with a strong special educational need focus in all of the projects.

As I mentioned, the Department will continue to work closely with the patrons and schools to ensure that all pupils in north Kildare receive an offer of a school place. I will update the Minister on the challenges and pressures and the Deputy's contribution for her to consider and for her officials to work on further.

Cycling Facilities

Deputy Mark Wall

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Dáíl to discuss this important topic for the residents of Moone and Timolin who have had to put up with what has been described locally and nationally as the road to nowhere. I refer to a cycle lane that was designed and commenced some time in 2024, but actually appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in June and July 2025. It is 3 km long, and has no connections and no start or finish. Local people had a very good road which they cycled and walked. There were few, if any, accidents on it. Since the cycle lanes were put down, the road has altered. As of one o'clock today, there had been about 90 incidents since the road was laid. That is a huge issue for the people of Moone and Timolin and surrounding area in that part of south Kildare.

The local community group, the Moone Timolin Positive Action Group, made a submission on this but heard very little back. In fact, it heard nothing until people saw the cones arriving on the road. In all the debates we have had, and in all the questions I have asked and conversations I have had with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Kildare County Council, I am told there were plenty of conversations with local people. That is not the case. It is as simple as that. In October 2025, when this road to nowhere appeared on national television, TII came back to say that the project was built to the required standards and had passed the required safety audits. That is all well and good. As we all know, that is what every road and cycle path should be. Cycle paths are welcomed in Moone and south Kildare but not in this location. As I said, this road starts and ends nowhere, and it had caused 90 incidents as of 1 p.m. today. Some of the incidents were minor but some were major, involving the write-off of several cars and people being hospitalised. It is, therefore, a huge issue for the Moone Timolin Positive Action Group.

That brings us to January of this year when I and my colleagues on Kildare County Council, Councillors Mark Leigh and Aoife Breslin, received the safety audit for this road. This is where the next problem arises because the safety audit of the road, which was built to the required standard, identified multiple problems with the cycle lane, from the width of the kerbs facilitating high speeds to signage on traffic islands being too small. There not enough lighting on the road signage along the route is relatively poor. The cycle route itself is misaligned on either side and does not direct a cyclist along the intended route. The route is badly lit. The current lighting is obstructed by trees in some locations. The list goes on.

Kildare officials in County Council, who have been active in replying to me and all the local representatives, say there is a concern that TII is responsible for this.

Perhaps in his reply the Minister of State might tease out exactly who has been responsible for it. The safety audit is so bad and raises so many concerns that the community want the cycle path taken out and gone. We have had 90 incidents, and now we have a detailed safety audit that states there are so many problems. This has to go. This project has cost €1.9 million to date. I hope the Minister of State will bring some solutions for the cycle path today.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I thank Deputy Wall for raising this matter today. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter with Members of the House on behalf of the Minister for Transport and to provide an update on this pilot scheme in County Kildare. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national cycle network. The national cycle network was published in 2024 and identified core cycling corridors around the country which, when delivered, will help increase cycling rates among residents, leisure users and tourists alike. The ambition of the national cycle network is significant. It is composed of 85 corridors connecting over 200 settlements, with a combined population of over 2.8 million people. It will provide an excellent level of connectivity nationally and help to support our commitment to reduce transport emissions by 50% by the end of the decade.

For road safety reasons and cyclist comfort and confidence, the national cycle network plan emphasises the importance of physical segregation between cyclists and motorists on busier roads. The reallocation of road space on intercity and intertown roads for segregated cycle facilities is a relatively novel concept in an Irish context. For this reason, it is prudent to pilot and assess various segregation techniques in situ to inform potential use in future projects.

The Moone to Timolin scheme is such a pilot. It consists of approximately 3 km of declassified national road on the R448. The width of the road offered the opportunity to trial different road separation treatments along its length. The objective of this pilot is to evaluate the effectiveness of various segregation options for potential roll-out across the wider national cycle network. The impact on cyclists, pedestrians and motorists will be considered.

This pilot went through the relevant planning process in 2024, with public feedback sought following the publication of the proposed traffic calming measures by Kildare County Council. Construction works commenced in July 2025. Concerns from the local community were raised during construction. Representatives from Kildare County Council and TII met residents and the farming community in early September to hear their feedback. Arising from this meeting, certain amendments were made to the scheme where it was feasible to do so. Changes included adjusting road markings to provide better guidance and amending the transition points between separation treatments to increase visibility, as well as making greater provision for pedestrian use on a short section of the route. This engagement signalled a genuine commitment to working with the local community in delivering a safer environment for vulnerable road users.

Construction works on the pilot concluded in December. Following construction, as is good practice, an independent road safety audit was carried out on the Moone to Timolin scheme. The purpose of this audit was to identify any features of the scheme that could be removed or modified to improve safety. The audit highlighted 22 features that should be changed to improve the safety of the scheme and minimise accident occurrence. These include recommendations to calm traffic, reducing the carriage width in certain areas, increasing the visibility of kerbs, as well as ensuring that the shared walk and cycle lanes are kept clear of excessive leaves and are clearly marked. Nineteen of the recommendations have been accepted by Kildare County Council. Alternatives to the remaining three recommendations have been accepted by the independent auditors.

This evaluation has taken place in a timely manner and Kildare County Council has committed to addressing the recommendations. Continually improving road safety for all users is the cornerstone of infrastructure delivery. The information gleaned from the Moone to Timolin pilot will help inform the future roll-out of active travel infrastructure on the national cycle network, with the ultimate aim of connecting more people, businesses and communities in a sustainable and safe manner.

Deputy Mark Wall

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I want to go back to a couple of issues. The Minister of State said, "This engagement signalled a genuine commitment to working with the local community in delivering a safer environment for vulnerable road users." There is no doubt the Department and Kildare County Council in particular have engaged with the local community but what has come out of those engagements and the works carried out in the interim is that we now have an independent safety audit that states there are 22 features that are wrong with this. The question remains at this stage as to who will pay to fix these 22 features. The State has already spent €1.9 million on this cycle lane. How much will these 22 recommendations cost? Will the Minister for Transport, through the Department, come back to me and the people of Moone and Timolin on the additional cost of dealing with the 22 recommendations? There is also concern that three of the recommendations have not been accepted but addressed in a different way. This is simply not good enough and the Minister of State would accept this.

One thing the people of Moone and Timolin will tell us is that their road is being used as a pilot and it has been used in order for others to gain and benefit. They have no problem with the greatest consensus on this but the problem is that the lessons learned by TII, Kildare County Council and other local authority should be taken away to develop cycle lanes, which we will always support in the right area. This is the wrong area. It has led to 90 incidents as of today. We have a safety audit that recognises 22 issues. TII, Kildare County Council and every other local authority have gleaned what it means to create a safe cycle lane. I ask again that the Government, TII and Kildare County Council take out this cycle path now. They have learned their lessons. This will allow other areas to have a safe cycle path, and this is what the people of Moone are asking for.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

Deputy Wall will appreciate that it is critical that we do, and are able to, offer a real alternative to people in different parts of the country to ensure they can walk and travel in a safe environment. This is why there was and is a necessity for pilots such as the Moone to Timolin scheme. I acknowledge that the novel nature of the pilot has caused concerns and frustrations, as have been very clearly articulated and represented by Deputy Wall here today on the floor of the Dáil. I assure him the pilot is important and that the lessons from the scheme will inform the approach taken to the design and delivery of future road space reallocation schemes.

In light of the findings from the road safety audit, Kildare County Council will look to implement the recommendations in a timely manner to ensure the scheme adheres to the best safety practices. I trust this clarifies the position on the project for Deputy Wall today. Certainly I will relay back to the Minister for Transport the very clear outline Deputy Wall has given on how this has developed, the frustrations locally and the challenges there have been from a safety point of view. Obviously, the bottom line is that it is a pilot and it is to be learned from. It is also very important that what is being built is safe and that all of the considerations and findings of the audit are taken fully into account. I will ask Minister for Transport to continue to liaise with Deputy Wall on behalf of the local community on how things evolve.

Air Services

Deputy Pearse Doherty

In all my time in politics I probably only ever saw the anger of the Donegal people as acute as I have seen it in recent days and that was with regard to the handling of defective blocks in the county. There is probably a thread that runs through this. The Minister who refused to come to our county and meet homeowners with defective blocks was the Minister for housing at the time, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is now the Minister for Transport who signed the contract that ended the midday flights from Donegal to Dublin for the next four years, affecting cancer patients across the county. People travelled to Dublin yesterday and told their testimony. They explained that they would not be here today if it were not for those midday flights. They literally would not have been able to get to Dublin in time to have life-saving treatment.

The Government was told time and again in the lead up to this the importance of these flights. It has entered into a contract with the airline which will end these flights. I struggle to find words in parliamentary language to explain the frustration, anger and hurt of the people of Donegal in terms of what has happened.

It is best shown in terms of what has happened over the last number of days when we found out by accident that the Government had actually entered into this contract, which it has known about since October last year and which meant that the afternoon flights from Dublin and Donegal would end. When we heard this, people from across the county, from community groups, sporting organisations and State bodies to musicians and actors, pulled together and explained that this is unworkable. They are demanding that Donegal be no longer the forgotten country and that we hold on to what we have. The best example of that has been Majella O'Donnell, Daniel O'Donnell's partner, who spoke on "The Late Late Show" about the importance of these flights.

The Minister of State and his Government have done a dirty deed. The Government has seriously betrayed the people of Donegal. The contract was executed just 24 hours before the Government knew of a delegation representing 500 cancer patients who currently use the flight and 15,000 people who signed a petition in a matter of days. That is exactly how people feel. They feel hurt and betrayed. However, we also need to feel a bit of hope that this life-saving service can be restored. We need a Government that is working not against the people of Donegal but with them and with the group, the advocates and the cancer flights and services group that travelled up here. One of its members is back in Dublin today after being up here in a deputation yesterday. This person is accompanying a cancer patient in a hospital here in Dublin who is getting life-saving treatment. The consultant, a very senior person in that hospital, had a conversation with a patient today in which he said he saw this issue on the news yesterday and that if it goes ahead, it will be unworkable, and he had no problem being quoted on that. Everybody knows that what the Government has entered into is unworkable. It is not fair to the people of Donegal, tourism, businesses, commuters and it is a disaster for people who rely on this service. Between 10% and 15% of the 44,000 passengers are healthcare passengers. This has to be reversed. I ask the Minister to spell out clearly whether the Government will finally stand on the right side of this and stand with the community campaigning to get this decision overturned.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this important matter for our county on the floor of the Dáil. I am glad to be taking it on behalf of the Minister for Transport who has been in London since yesterday meeting Cabinet counterparts in the British Government. I have been authorised to take this Topical Issue on his behalf and a number of other Topical Issues on behalf of a number of other Ministers who are not in the country today.

Both Deputy Doherty and I attended the meeting yesterday with the Secretary General in the Department and representatives of the cancer committee from Donegal, who travelled down on a plane yesterday to make their case very strongly to the Government in relation to the importance of this flight and the importance of a schedule that meets the needs of the public in our county. The Government very much recognises the important social and economic role that this service plays and, more broadly, in providing people and businesses in the north west with daily connectivity to Dublin, as well as further international connectivity via Dublin Airport.

The Government is fully committed to maintaining connectivity to the north west by continuing to provide an Exchequer-funded public service obligation, PSO, air service on this route, which also supports inward tourism and regional economic development.

The current public service obligation air service contract on this route expires on 25 February. To ensure continuity of services beyond this date, the Department of Transport conducted a public procurement process in line with the requirements of the EU regulation. This process formally concluded on 10 February, with the award of a contract to Emerald Airlines.

While the new contract continues to provide for a daily return service from Donegal to Dublin, with an early morning departure from Donegal and an evening return from Dublin, two specific changes to the service have been proposed by the service provider under the new contract which have raised concerns for people in our county. The first concern is around the fact that the aircraft will no longer be based in Donegal Airport, as the Deputy knows, and the second is around the changes to the schedule, where the afternoon flight from Donegal has been replaced with an evening service departing from Donegal Airport.

As I mentioned, a public procurement process was undertaken and the market responded to that. Only one tender submission was received and this met the minimum requirements set out in the request for tender, which was published by the Department following consultation with Donegal Airport. In the absence of any competition to operate this service, and having taken legal advice, the Department's priority had been to execute the contract in order to safeguard services beyond 25 February. This was vital to ensure that the people, particularly critical care patients, could book flights for travel beyond 25 February as soon as possible. I am sure the House will appreciate that in the absence of any option to extend the current contract, any alternative from the Department's perspective would clearly have imposed a consequent risk to the continuation of this air service route.

As Deputy Doherty knows, the Minister has listened to the concerns conveyed to him by all of all Members from the county, including Deputies Pat the Cope Gallagher, Doherty, Mac Lochlainn and Ward and our Senators in the county, and particularly those raised by members of the Donegal Cancer Flights and Services Group who met with the Secretary General yesterday. The Minister is considering what more might be possible to meet the demands of the users of the air service and to facilitate them. The Minister for Transport has also committed to meet with the Donegal Cancer Flights and Services Group and will continue to engage. We know from our meeting yesterday that this was discussed in detail. The objective now has to be to find a way to make sure the flight times that are available meet the needs of the people from our county. We are fortunate to have an exceptionally good airport. It is important that we make sure, through the public service obligation, that it is utilised in a way that provides the best possible service to the people of our county. We all need to work together to find an appropriate way forward now.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

The Minister of State talked about the airport. Staff at Donegal Airport are ripping about this. They are actually taking legal advice. They told the Department not to enter into the contract. We told the Department not to enter into the contract. I put it to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach. The Minister of State said the Minister for Transport is listening. The Minister just gave a slap in the face to the people of Donegal. He entered into a contract. It is there in black and white. I have a copy and it refers to "the Minister for Transport and the airline". He entered into that contract without even speaking to the representative group which organises and supports the cancer flights from Donegal to Dublin. That is how much respect the Minister of State's colleague gave to the people of Donegal, the Minister of State and anyone else who tried to be in his ear.

At the end of the day, this is a Government decision and the Government knew about this since October. The Minister of State talked about risk. There is no risk any more for us because the midday flights are gone. The risk has materialised. People who I know and, I am sure, the Minister of State knows are telling him today that the reason they are able to still put their children to bed is that those flights were not a convenience for them but a lifeline, and the Government signed them away. What has happened is appalling and I still have not heard the steps the Government needs to take to do that. There is a way to fix this. It should never have come to this.

Donegal Airport did not even know about it and found out about it by chance just a couple of weeks ago. The Government knew about this for months. When the airline said it was getting rid of the afternoon flights, the Department should have said, in October, it was going back out to tender and would stipulate that afternoon flights be provided. Nobody should be in this situation, but we now need to clean up the mess. I am raising this today, as I did with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste last week, because we are not going to let this go until these flights are restored.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher and I, along with Deputy Doherty and all the other Oireachtas Members from the county, are at one on this in terms of trying to find a way forward and make sure there are flight times in place that suit and meet the needs of the people of our county. Deputy Doherty will see from the response how this evolved. We both heard at yesterday's meeting that the tender that was issued was the same as the previous tender.

There was no change but what came in as a result of that tender was different. As the response I outlined shows, there was only one applicant for the tender and it met the minimum specifications of the tender. As outlined, the reason the Department signed the contract was to ensure there would not be a discontinuation of flights from the county and a service would continue to be in place. The Department did that following legal advice.

From a Government point of view, there is very significant funding for the public service obligation, and rightly so. We fund and have a wonderful airport in Carrickfinn but we have to make sure the flights available best serve the public and connectivity from Donegal to Dublin, given all of the other challenges we have. The objective now, which we all discussed yesterday when we met with the Secretary General, is to find ways to have the afternoon flight restored and have the issue of the aeroplane overnighting in Carrickfinn considered and addressed.

The Department is working within a legal framework. There was no change in the tender that went out this time compared with the tender that went out the previous time. What changed was the response. There was only one response to the tender, it met the minimum requirements and there were legal obligations around that.

We now have to work collectively to make sure the investment we are making in terms of spending taxpayers' money on this service, and rightly so, best meets the needs of the people we represent. The Minister is committed to meeting with the cancer group next week and to meeting and continuing to engage with all of us to find a way forward here.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 12 Feb 2026