The Minister of State is most welcome to Seanad Éireann. The first Commencement matter is by an Seanadóir Kyne.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Medicinal Products
I thank the Cathaoirleach for choosing this Commencement matter this morning. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. It is good to have a Minister from the relevant Department, in this case, the Department of Health. I want to talk about a particular case. I met a young girl and her mother on Monday in my office. While she gave me permission to use her full name, I will only use her first name here. Her name is Aoife and she is from Galway. She was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia in 2021 during her leaving certificate year. Prior to this, she had been misdiagnosed with apraxia. In October 2020, shortly after she turned 18, a neurologist in Galway took blood tests to investigate Friedreich's ataxia. She said that moment marked the first time she had heard the words "Friedreich's ataxia". From that point on, her life changed completely.
As the Minister of State knows, Friedreich's ataxia is a rare inherited disease. It damages the spinal cord, peripheral nerves and the cerebellum part of the brain. It also leads to heart problems. The disease tends to develop in children in their teens and gets worse over time, with unsteady, awkward moments and a loss of feeling due to nerve injury developing as the disease gets worse. People with the disorder may have other health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, along with the nervous system symptoms. That is according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Symptoms can include trouble walking, tiredness, a loss of feeling that starts in the legs and spreads, loss of reflexes, slow or slurred speech, hearing loss, vision loss, chest pain, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Aoife said that she chose to delay receiving the results of her tests until after her leaving certificate as she wanted to focus on her exams without the added weight of a serious neurological diagnosis, especially during the uncertainty of the Covid pandemic. When the diagnosis was finally confirmed, she said she, her parents and her sisters were thrust into the reality of where her future suddenly seemed frightfully limited. She grieved the life she had envisioned for herself. She is fortunate at this stage that she can still walk, but she lives with severe balance and co-ordination difficulties.
Friedreich's ataxia is relentless and progressive. Every day brings further loss. As the Minister of State knows, a drug called Skyclarys can slow the progression of Friedreich's ataxia. Reimbursement of Skyclarys in Ireland would slow the progression of this disease and give Aoife and others the chance to maintain their strength and independence for as long as possible. She is one of approximately 200 people in Ireland suffering with Friedreich's ataxia. As I said, it is a hereditary genetic condition. Access to this treatment would not only help people like Aoife but also teenagers who are newly diagnosed and who, with timely intervention, may be spared some of the suffering experienced by those before them. It would offer hope not just to patients but to entire families. There was a briefing here recently. The Minister of State's colleague, Deputy Cleere, brought in a group of people, all of whom were in wheelchairs due to progression of the disease and the condition.
What steps are being taken to ensure that the HSE might recognise and respond to the critical nature of Friedreich's ataxia during the current price negotiations with Skyclarys? How are the commitments outlined in the national rare disease strategy, which aims for a 180-day decision timeline, being applied in this case to prevent further delays in addressing this unmet need? Aoife went on to say that Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world but there are issues in terms of access to orphan drugs, with only 20% of rare disease drugs being funded. There has always been talking about using bulk-buying capacity with other countries within the European Union. Is that something that could be looked at? Aoife indicated that if she has to travel and live abroad and move her family to gain access to this drug, that is something that they would have to consider. It should be a right. We should be able to look after people here in our own country.
I thank Senator Kyne for raising this issue today and highlighting Aoife's case in the Seanad. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I will make sure she knows from the Senator’s advocacy the impact that Friedreich’s ataxia has on Aoife and her family. I was struck by some of the statements the Senator made about how her life has changed and how every day brings further loss and her future seems frighteningly limited. How brave she was to focus on her exams in 2021 and get them out of the way.
The State acknowledges the importance of access to innovative medicines for patients in Ireland. The Government is committed to providing timely access to new and innovative medicines and has made considerable investments in recent years, with annual expenditure on medicines now exceeding €3 billion. It is actually closer to €4 billion. The level of investment is unprecedented in supporting patients through the availability of new and innovative medicines. Budgets 2021 to 2025 have included dedicated funding for new medicines of €158 million.
This year, we have a record budget for medicines, which has increased by over €200 million, with €30 million ring-fenced to support access to the latest medicines.
The HSE has approved 263 new medicines, or new uses for existing medicines, since 2021, including 107 for treating cancer and 72 for rare diseases. Friedreich's ataxia is a rare, inherited, progressive neurological disorder. It causes progressive ataxia, which is a neurological condition that causes problem with co-ordination, balance and movement, and neuropathy or nerve damage that disrupts normal nerve signalling.
The Government acknowledges the importance of access to medicines and the Minister is particularly aware of the challenging circumstances faced by patients with Friedreich's ataxia. The Minister attended a briefing in Leinster House on Friedreich's ataxia last month. I think that was the briefing to which the Senator referred. It was organised by Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere and was led directly by people who had been diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia and their family members. They spoke with great courage and conviction about their lived experience. I take this chance to acknowledge and thank them, including Aoife, for sharing their perspective with us.
[Omaveloxolone], sold under the brand name Skyclarys, is an orphan medicine used to treat Friedreich's ataxia in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and over. The HSE received a pricing and reimbursement application for the drug in August 2024 for the treatment of Friedrich's ataxia in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and older. The HSE commissioned a health technology assessment in September 2024 and this was submitted by the applicant company to the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, NCPE, in July 2025, nine months after it was commissioned. The NCPE concluded its assessment and provided a recommendation to the HSE in December 2025. The HSE corporate pharmaceutical unit, CPU, is the interface between the HSE and the pharmaceutical industry in relation to medicine pricing and reimbursement applications. The CPU recently met with the company to discuss this application and is awaiting a commercial proposal. As the House will appreciate, this is now subject to commercial engagements and I am not in a position to say anything further on this part of the process. Once the commercial proposal is received and engagements conclude, the proposal and the NCPE reports, along with patient group submissions received, will go to the HSE drugs group. The HSE drugs group considers all of the evidence and makes a recommendation to the HSE senior leadership team, which holds final decision-making authority. The HSE has advised that the application remains under consideration and cannot make any comment on possible outcomes from the ongoing process at the moment.
I thank the Minister of State for the clarity in relation to the process of the NCPE and the CPU of the HSE. I appreciate that these are commercially sensitive issues. Aoife has acknowledged that Ireland holds the EU Presidency from 1 July. There may be opportunities for collaboration with other European countries in respect of, as I said, purchasing power or bulk buying, if you like, or co-operation with certain countries, such as the Benelux countries, as was discussed in the past. It is a valid suggestion by her. It is progressive thinking to note the possibilities that come with the EU Presidency. I certainly hope that, notwithstanding whatever the price may be, we, as a State, recognise the possible benefits of slowing the progression of a condition such as Friedreich's ataxia for people such as Aoife and others.
I thank the Senator. I agree wholeheartedly with every word he has said. In the context of rare diseases, we do have a real and active focus on improving how we support people living with these diseases. Since the launch of the National Rare Disease Strategy 2025-2030, an implementation oversight group has been launched. It met in February to begin work planning for 11 recommendations. As implementation of the strategy progresses, it is intended that patient representation, which is important, will be a key feature and will be embedded in all structures. Two new framework agreements have also been reached with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association and Medicines for Ireland on the pricing and supply of medicines, which the Senator spoke about earlier. The agreements provide a commitment and a structured process towards achieving a 180-day timeline for completing health technology assessments and reimbursement decisions, accelerating patient access to new treatments. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, with whom I work closely, is very keen on having a dedicated timeline that we can manage. This has gone on, as can be seen from the answer I read out, for almost two years. Aoife and others do not have that length of time. As the Senator said, every day is a change.
In addition, the State and the pharmaceutical sector have agreed to develop a further strategic partnership on the development of a sandboxed early access programme for rare diseases proof of concept, having regard to the commitments within the programme for Government. I acknowledge Senator Teresa Costello, who is raising issues about another orphan drug. I am glad to see the Minister's focus on this issue. She has a dedicated focus. I will bring everything the Senator has said back to our team.
Healthcare Policy
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I want to highlight an issue that was brought to my attention at a recent meeting of the health committee. In Ireland, over 160,000 people are affected by food allergies. By my own admission, until I sat in that meeting I never thought about the impact that a food allergy could have on people, how serious it can be and the difficulties they face. It is a serious public health concern. Allergies affect up to 6% of children and 1% to 2% of adults. They are chronic immune-mediated conditions, often linked with asthma and eczema. They are still often misunderstood and underestimated. For those living with food allergies, the risk of anaphylaxis is constant. For people who do not know, that is a rapid life-threatening reaction that requires immediate treatment with adrenaline. Families are very fearful of it.
Currently, there is no national policy framework or model of care for food allergies in Ireland. Patients can wait for up to a year to see a specialist and for two to three years for an oral food challenge. Access to allergy specialists is limited and care pathways are inconsistent. The delays are very harmful because without early intervention, children are more likely to develop additional allergies.
The impact goes far beyond healthcare. Parents often struggle to access childcare, with providers unwilling or unable to manage allergy risks. Many are forced to reduce working hours or to leave employment entirely. Children can be excluded from everyday activities, such as school trips or birthday parties, which leads to social isolation.
Some families are even travelling abroad to access treatment in places such as the UK, France and the United States. That is why I have raised this Commencement matter. Oral immunotherapy is a treatment that is already transforming allergy care internationally. It involves the gradual introduction of an allergen under medical supervision, with the aim of building tolerance. As I mentioned, people are travelling abroad. However, this is not covered by the treatment abroad scheme or the cross-border directive. It is not an experimental treatment. It is evidence-based and recommended by European clinical guidelines. It is widely used around the world. It can reduce the risk of severe reactions by up to 80% and it shifts care from passive avoidance to active treatment, giving patients protection rather than precaution. The benefits are life-changing. Children gain independence. Families gain confidence. Everyday activities, such as eating out or travelling, become a possibility again.
In Ireland, we have already seen its potential. A pilot programme at Cork University Hospital focused on young children with peanut and tree-nut allergies. It has shown that 91% of participants can tolerate small amounts of the allergen. However, access to this treatment is limited and it is not broadly funded by the HSE. There is no national roll-out plan.
I spoke to family members of people with allergies, some of whom talked about their experiences of travelling abroad, which was not something they really wanted to do. They said they would like the treatment to be available in Ireland. They are paying to go abroad. It is not covered by the schemes I mentioned. Even being on a plane, they are exposed to more allergens. We need a national model of care for food allergies. We need investment in specialist services and a clear, funded plan to expand access to oral immunotherapy across the country.
I thank Senator Costello for raising the really important issue around providing an update on the establishment of a cross-border scheme for oral immunotherapy treatment for food allergies. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I thank the Senator for the opportunity. I was struck by what she said: that she had never really thought about it. We do not really think about it unless we have a person in our family who might be impacted by some type of allergy.
More than one in four people in Europe suffer the effects of an allergy at some point in their lives and they are particularly common in children. It is important to note that most allergic reactions are mild and can be kept under control. Severe reactions can occur but these are rare. I was struck by what the Senator said about having to travel abroad. I was coming back on a flight from Portugal recently, having been over there for St. Patrick's Day. The announcement on the flight was that there was a person on the flight with an adverse reaction to peanuts, that there would not be any sold that particular day, and to be careful. When I read the Commencement matter this morning, the two tied in completely. We have to become more aware of other people. You could be sitting beside a person, a complete stranger, and you might do something that would impact them. There could be unintended consequence through no fault of anyone.
GPs can help diagnose an allergy and, in the case of a mild allergy, can offer advice and treatment to help manage the condition. They may also refer to a paediatrician or onwards to an allergy specialist as needed for testing and treatment if the allergy is severe or the cause is not known. Children with allergies are seen at a number of regional paediatric services across the country. The allergy team at Children's Health Ireland, CHI, in Dublin runs specialist allergy clinics out of CHI at Crumlin and Temple Street, and also at Connolly Hospital and Tallaght University Hospital. The team deals with allergy prevention and diagnosis, along with treatment for allergic rhinitis and drug, venom and vaccine allergies. The team aims to improve quality of life for children with allergies and their carers to minimise the risk of allergy, promote food allergy prevention and provide Irish healthcare professionals with allergy education resources.
Oral immunotherapy is a medical treatment that aims to desensitise the immune system to food allergies, meaning a person is less likely to have a reaction. It does this by gradually exposing a person to small amounts of food under careful supervision, slowly building up the amounts over weeks and months. There is also a responsibility to ensure that medications are stored and administered safely and appropriately. Those with a known risk of anaphylaxis should carefully follow their doctor's guidance regarding carrying an adrenaline pen - or as we know them, an EpiPen - on their person. The State recognises the importance of pharmacies being prepared to administer these medicines safely and effectively. In 2024, pharmacists administered adrenaline in emergency situations on 365 occasions. The community pharmacy agreement in 2025 established an emergency medicine administration preparedness allowance to recognise that community pharmacists are authorised to administer emergency medicines, and that this service is provided on an ad hoc basis requiring pharmacists to be trained and ready to respond. An annual recurring allowance of €525 was made available to community pharmacy contractors, which commenced in January 2026, only two months ago.
The HSE operates the EU cross-border directive in Ireland, which plays an important role in facilitating Irish patients to access planned treatment abroad in another EU or EEA country. The EU cross-border directive provides rules for the reimbursement to patients of the costs of treatment abroad, where the patient would be entitled to such treatment in their home member state. It supplements the right that patients already have at EU level. The Senator is telling me the lived experience is not quite that, so I will come back in the next section.
I thank the Minister for State for her understanding on this matter. I was struck by the lived experience of people who said they were not being reimbursed. If it was something that was not available and they were going abroad-----
Yes, or that they were not entitled to it.
Then they were opening themselves to allergens. As the Minister of State said, she had that similar experience on the plane. I would be really grateful if she could bring something back to the Minister on that and maybe we could it flesh it out and be a bit of help to these people, advising them on a way of possibly getting reimbursement for this.
There is no cure for these conditions and those affected must continue to avoid the foods that make them ill. This is a daily challenge not only for them but for their families as well. To stay healthy, they must have accurate information on the foods they buy and eat. It is really important to mention the teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and school secretaries who play a huge role in regard to any child who might have an allergy. It is important that those selling or providing food in any scenario are aware of the impact of food hypersensitivity and the absolute requirement for accuracy in the accompanying information.
As I said, the food safety policy is a priority for the Department of Health and this is informed by scientific advice from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the European Food Safety Authority. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has stated that there are several official controls in place in Ireland relating to allergens, as well as several regulations at EU level, setting out the responsibility of food business operators regarding allergen management and food information. This is a really important issue. I thank the Senator for raising it. It is the first time I have responded to a question such as this and I will bring it to the attention of the Minister.
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her time this morning in dealing with the two Commencement matters.
Nursing Homes
I thank the Minister of State. Before I call the next Commencement matter, I welcome the pupils and teachers of Whitechurch National School, and their rector, whom I happen to know. It is great to see them here; I did not know they were coming here today. They are guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond. They are all very welcome here. To explain, this is the part of the Seanad for Commencement matters, when Senators table questions on issues of concern to them. They are raised and the Senators set out their stall in four minutes, a Minister responds in four minutes and then there is a minute on either side for supplementaries. It is an important part. It happens every day in the Seanad and it is called Commencement matters.
I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the house. I call Minister Cosgrove.
Thank you. Minister Cosgrove.
Senator Cosgrove, I should say. I have not promoted you yet.
It suits.
Senator Cosgrove has four minutes to set out her stall.
Lovely. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I start by acknowledging the role my former county council colleagues Michael Clarke and Joe Queenan have played in bringing this matter to national attention, and to Sorcha Crowley, a Sligo native, for raising this issue in The Irish Times last week.
To give the Minister of State some background, Sonas Retirement Village is made up of 27 dwellings located in the immediate surroundings of Sonas Ard na Gréine Nursing Home in Enniscrone, County Sligo. These homes were constructed with the express purpose of being, in the words of the original planning permission, "run in conjunction with [the] existing Ard na Greine nursing home". The name of the development, according to the Residential Tenancies Board, is Sonas Retirement Village. The houses are all single-storey dwellings laid out and equipped for occupation by people with restricted mobility, including wheelchair users. The internal and external doors - I visited the houses myself - are wide enough to easily accommodate wheelchairs and the bungalows have wet rooms instead of traditional bathrooms.
Last Friday, I visited a number of the residents' bungalows, including that of Frank and Elizabeth. Frank is an 88-year-old wheelchair user with dementia. Elizabeth, who is 84, is Frank's wife and has been his carer for the past number of years. When Elizabeth and Frank moved into the retirement village, they were given to understand that each house formed part of a retirement village surrounded by the Sonas nursing home. The residents were told they could access the services of the nursing home, such as home help, social events and so on, if required. If and when the time came that their health deteriorated, they could seamlessly transition into the care of the nursing home. Elizabeth kept all the records. She showed me all the paperwork she had maintained over the years, including correspondence with Sonas letterhead, which indicated the Sonas bank account the rent was to be paid into. At no time were they or any other households I spoke to given any indication that the landlord was any organisation other than Sonas.
What I am painting here is a picture of a retirement village based around the physical presence and service of an adjacent nursing home. This was a place the elderly and disabled tenants chose to move into - a place where they could see out and live their days together in the knowledge that their physical and social needs could be met, but this certainly transpired to be an illusion.
Last November, the occupants of six of the houses, who are all elderly or disabled, received notices of termination from Nasso Bk Holdings Limited, which identified itself at that stage to be the landlord of the properties. These bungalows, which were constructed with the express intention of housing elderly and disabled people, now appear to be treated as a financial asset that can be traded, sold or even left vacant in order to maximise the financial return of the owners and the individual directors who own this Irish-registered company. These eviction notices served on vulnerable people have not been issued by a faceless multinational vulture fund but an Irish-owned company.
My concern is that mass evictions throughout the country seem to have been triggered by the market reset clause in the recent residential tenancies Act. Some landlords seem to view the change in legislation as an opportunity to maximise the asset, make more profits by evicting existing tenants, and sell or even sit on the properties and keep them vacant. In the climate generated by the implementation of the recent residential tenancies Act, more profits are to be made by an empty property then by having people in it. This is never okay and it is not acceptable.
The recent residential tenancies Act was intended to provide security. I understand there was good intent envisaged in the six-year tenancies but guillotining the legislation in both Houses has led to this unintended consequence. These six evictions are just the tip of the iceberg. With all evictions at present, the tenants have nowhere to go. Enniscrone is like every other village and town across Ireland, with nowhere to rent or to go. These people have built their lives around this small village and there is nowhere for them to go. To remind the Minister of State, this involves people aged 84 and 88. It is apparent that the residential tenancies Act has not only failed to increase security of tenure for elderly and disabled tenants living in private rental accommodation, but is leading to an immediate decrease in security of tenure in situations such as this.
I do not have the exact details of this case but Senator Cosgrove has set them out quite clearly. She has described a picture in which some of the most vulnerable people in our society have had no input in a situation where their future is uncertain. They do not know where they are going to go. She referenced people with dementia and people with mobility issues. They are some of the most vulnerable older people in society. I appeal to those involved and to the owners to have a heart and to consider the impact that any such move would have on these individuals. The work Senator Cosgrove is doing and the picture she has painted is heartbreaking. I will outline the legislative background behind this and the role of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, which I hope will help. Perhaps we can further discuss other options.
The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2026 regulate the landlord-tenant relationship in the residential rental sector and set out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Acts protect tenants and landlords of all ages, with or without a disability. The Acts apply to every dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy, subject to a limited number of exceptions. Dwellings covered by the Acts include the private rental sector, the cost rental sector, the approved housing body sector and student specific accommodation.
The Residential Tenancies Board was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The dispute resolution service provided by the RTB is quasi-judicial and all of its mediators, adjudicators and tribunal members have independent decision-making powers in the same way as judges have in the courts. Where there is a question as to the validity of a notice of termination, a tenant can submit a dispute for resolution with the RTB under Part 6 of the Acts. Its website, rtb.ie, can be assessed for information on the RTB's dispute resolution service. Due to the quasi-judicial nature of the RTB's dispute resolution service, it would be inappropriate for me, as Minister of State, or the Department to provide legal advice or to intervene in the specifics of any individual case.
Significant legislative changes have been introduced over the past number of years to enhance security of tenure for all tenants. From 6 July 2022, the Residential Tenancies Acts have been amended to further enhance tenancy protections, including by providing for tenancies of unlimited duration after six months under tenancies without a valid notice of termination having been served, and the extension of termination notice periods where there has been no breach of obligations.
The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 came into operation on 1 March 2026. The reform of the rental sector provides stronger protections for tenants and encourages investment in the sector through updated rent controls. In order to provide greater security of tenure for tenants, the 2026 Act provides stronger tenant protections by significantly restricting no fault evictions for new tenancies. The existing provision for tenancies of unlimited duration is strengthened by the incorporation of rolling six-year tenancies of minimum duration. How a landlord can end any existing tenancy agreement is not impacted by the new rental changes. The stronger tenancy protections only apply to a new tenancy created on or after 1 March 2026. There is no six-year rent resetting option or six-year rolling tenancies of minimum duration for pre-March 2026 tenancies.
This outlines the position. I appreciate the case that Senator Cosgrove is making on behalf of these people. We cannot necessarily intervene by providing legal advice but I appeal to the owners of the properties in this instance to have regard for some of the most vulnerable people in society.
I thank the Minister of State for listening to the real story behind these people. The tenants I have met are old, vulnerable, confused and scared. I appeal to the hopefully higher nature of the people who own the units. In the event of this not happening, there have to be emergency provisions in place whereby the Department can step in and acquire these properties via compulsory purchase order. I know from being a county councillor that the local authorities do not have the money. They have legislation whereby they could use compulsory purchase orders but they do not have the money. County councils should be resourced to look at whether there is a breach of the residential tenancies legislation in the sale of ownership and whether residents are being told there is a new landlord. The sale of the nursing home was authorised by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission but were these houses to be part of this also? There is a lot more to this than meets the eye. We have seen that 10,500 eviction notices have been issued since June last year, as soon as there was talk of changes to the residential tenancies legislation.
I thank the Minister of State for listening and I hope we will be able to have further conversations about this.
The purpose of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 is to try to create an environment where we can get more units built so that there is more accommodation and we can eventually address issues such as homelessness and the cost of rent and introduce security of tenure. I appreciate that the situation being raised by Senator Cosgrove was prior to the legislation. I cannot speak about the specifics. I do not want to say or do anything that would have a negative impact on the people Senator Cosgrove is representing. I will say that, in general, where situations arise where there is a possibility that a potential solution can be arrived at through partnership between the local authority and the Department, where people's security of tenure is impacted and people's lives are being changed for the worst, it is a conversation that needs to happen. I will not say any more than this. In general, the local authority and the Department should have discussions to see how something such as this can be addressed.
Schools Building Projects
I thank the Minister of State for taking this topic which is not in his Department's remit.
The reason I am raising the issue of St. Francis School in Portlaoise again - everyone has heard me speak about this school in the Chamber many times - is that the vulnerable children in County Laois cannot wait any longer. This is a school that provides care for children with additional needs and there has just been one delay after another. St. Francis School in Portlaoise is doing incredible work. It supports some of the most vulnerable children in our community, who require specialist education, care and support to reach their full potential. Despite the dedication of staff and leadership, the reality on the ground is quite stark. Right now the school is trying to accommodate 20 classes in just 14 classrooms, even with two modular units recently added. It is just not sustainable. It is not fair on the staff and, more important, it is not fair on the children. This year alone, there were 50 applications for 12 places. That means dozens of children with additional needs have been left without an appropriate school place and behind every one of those numbers is a child and a family and they are under immense pressure.
In 2021, the school was promised a modular building. We are at the stage now where, finally, the stage 2b report and tender documents have been submitted to the Department and the project has been identified as a priority. We finally have some movement, but there is a fear that we will end up having another delay and that is why I tabled this Commencement matter. It is important to ensure the application is expedited now and that the work can start this summer. The board of management is ready. The school is ready. The need is urgent. We just cannot have another year where we have to keep telling parents they do not have a place in this school and have to leave the county again. We cannot continue to open services without the infrastructure to support them. I hope the Minister of State will tell me today that he can confirm this project will be expedited without delay, that we can ensure planning permission will be granted as quickly as possible and that he will commit to enabling construction to begin this summer as intended.
I commend the work of the principal, Mr. John Moran, and all the staff, including the SNAs and the escorts. They do incredible work. The children deserve access to the right education in the right setting at the right time, so I hope we can make some proper progress with this.
Before I call the Minister of State, I welcome the students and all those visiting from the national learning network in Kildare who are guests of Deputy Mark Wall, from Kildare South.
I welcome the guests from Kildare. I hope they enjoy their time in Leinster House.
The Senator is right. I think everyone is now aware of St. Francis special school in this House and the Dáil, right across Leinster House and Government buildings, because she raises it so regularly. Fair play to her for representing her constituents in that way. I will try to give the most accurate update possible and I hope it will be of some comfort to the Senator and the school staff and principal.
The school referred to by the Senator was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for school building projects under the additional school accommodation scheme to provide a four-classroom special educational needs, SEN, base. This project is devolved to the school authority for delivery. The project is currently at stage 2b - which is developed design - of the architectural design process. This stage includes obtaining all statutory approvals, preparing a set of fully detailed tender documents and preparing an accurate pre-tender cost plan. The stage 2b report was submitted to the Department in March 2026 - this month - and is currently under review from technical and cost perspectives. All projects, including this one, are subject to the full due-diligence requirements set out in the Department’s infrastructure guidelines. Managing timing, scope and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.
More recently, two SEN classrooms were provided at this school under the Department's devolved SEN repurposing and modular accommodation programme. The approved modular accommodation was completed in November 2025. As the Senator will be aware, the Department recently published the €7.55 billion national development plan, NDP, sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP sectoral plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritising school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard, there will be a strong special education dimension to project roll-out, which should augur well for St. Francis School. Of the total €7.55 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 the large scale, additional accommodation, modular and annual September accommodation needs programmes. The Department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued roll-out of these projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs, with the provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities.
In this regard, the Department has published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche that will proceed to construction or tender in 2026 and 2027. The 105 prioritised projects will progress to tender and-or construction on a rolling basis over the course of 2026 and 2027 within the context of NDP funding parameters. The timing of project progression will reflect the need to carefully manage the roll-out of these projects to construction on a controlled basis to ensure that projects are delivered efficiently, align with the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines and capital works management framework and remain within the parameters of NDP funding.
It is at stage 2b, developed design, at the moment. The Senator asked specific questions about planning. Sometimes planning issues are outside our control, but my understanding is that every effort is being made to ensure all relevant statutory requirements are complied with to ensure the build can commence as soon as possible and I will try to get more information in that regard for the Senator.
I thank the Minister of State. I would appreciate if he could get me more information specifically on this. I appreciate the response. I understand that 105 school building projects are being brought to construction or tender in 2026-27. I hope with the priority of St. Francis School that it will be moved forward as quickly as possible and that we are not looking at summer 2027 to start building. I would love if the Minister of State could come back to me with updated information.
I understand everything has to go through all the processes to make sure we adhere to all the standards with the planning. This is long awaited and long overdue, so I would welcome the introduction of the construction phase.
To recap, the 2b stage includes obtaining all statutory approvals. That includes planning permission. Sometimes it can take time but it needs to happen as quickly as possible. Then there are another few phases to go through, including preparing fully detailed tender documents and an accurate pre-tender cost plan. Those are the elements that can be expedited. I do not see why they should take a long time. Planning permission can be a bit more difficult because of the statutory requirements in terms of time and so on. I appreciate that the Senator raised it again. She has raised it multiple times. The entire Houses and Government buildings are aware of the Senator's dedication to this project. I hope that not far from now we will have a good news story about the commencement of the work.
I thank the Minister of State for his time taking those two Commencement matters today. I thank the Senator for raising that important matter.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.18 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 11.34 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 11.18 a.m. and resumed at 11.34 a.m.