Yesterday, the Taoiseach described Ireland's economic outlook as positive but in a wealthy country, one in five children lives below the bread line. Nearly 5,500 are now homeless. We are once again approaching a new school year with a shortage of special education places. Tonight's programme "RTÉ Investigates: Inside the Care System" highlights the shocking State failings in respect of children in care. The Children's Rights Alliance has described the haunting gaps in our country's response to children in need of care.

We know the State takes a child away from their parents and places them in care only as a last resort and in the most extreme circumstances, generally where a child is subject to serious risk. I used to act as guardian ad litem on behalf of vulnerable children in care proceedings, in some of the most distressing situations imaginable. Demand for care places has increased, yes, but a lack of capacity has always been an issue in the system. We have been approaching a breaking point for years.

Tusla now routinely asks the courts to approve placing a child in care while at the same time asks the judge not to grant a mandatory order requiring compliance with its legal obligations. This is extraordinary. Having decided that a child's situation is so dire as to require the State to act as the parent, Tusla, it seems, cannot recruit or retain enough staff to provide that State care. A starker failure could scarcely be conceived of.

Another vulnerable group is children with additional needs. Again, the Government has known of the exponential growth in the number of children requiring a special education place for this coming academic year. We in the Labour Party welcomed the news that 430 places have been made available and acknowledged that but the shortfall was 600. That is without accounting for all those parents who have had to accept a place in a mainstream or a special school knowing it is inappropriate for their child's particular needs.

In February, we saw the public outcry following the debacle over threatened cuts to special needs assistant, SNA, allocation. Our SNAs and teachers do extraordinary work under sustained pressure but they are being asked to deliver inclusion in practice without the key resources they need in schools. That is not fair or sustainable. Inclusion is officially the national policy of the State but without adequate resourcing, it is meaningless. Every week, we all hear from principals, teachers and exhausted parents who are fighting for the appropriate supports for their children.

These problems are not going away. During the general election, Labour launched its children's charter, a roadmap for strengthening the rights of children in Ireland. Those in government have been failing children. Despite budget surpluses, we see the Government failing children in care, children in poverty or homelessness, and children with additional needs. Will the Taoiseach adopt a planned response to guarantee the rights of every child in Ireland, including the rights to a home and to a local school place?

I thank the Deputy for raising what is an extremely important issue. There is a child poverty unit within my Department which actually had a significant impact on the last budget but everybody attacked it because it just targeted those most in need. I hope the Deputy will agree with me that what was done with the child support payment was going in the right direction to deal with poverty among children. It is. Others want universality everywhere but we do need to target and make choices if we do want to reduce consistent poverty among children, and I am determined to do it. With the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, in the last budget, we took significant steps in that direction.

On the RTÉ documentary on special care, the care of young children and children coming into care, the experiences described are extremely disturbing. The Government takes that with the utmost seriousness. There has been considerable investment, structural reform and a very determined effort to eliminate inappropriate placements but demand for services is increasing at a very rapid rate. Demand for Tusla services has more than doubled since the agency’s establishment in 2014. In 2025 alone, 106,000 referrals to Tusla were received. That is a 10% increase on previous years. Clearly, there are complex societal pressures, including domestic violence, homelessness and addiction.

About 5,900 children are in foster or residential care. Close to 3,000 young people are in aftercare. We will continue to invest, to increase investment and to try to enhance services. Recruitment is not necessarily a funding issue alone; it is also about getting people of the right quality. We have more work to do in this area in terms of full therapeutic supports for children in care.

In terms of special education, the bottom line is that we brought forward a portal with an early date for applications for special classes and so forth. This has resulted in a significant increase compared with last year. That dramatic increase has seen us end up with 6,000 pupils. We will be providing for children for next September. We are now looking at over 26,000 special needs assistants. The Deputy said they will not be getting support but they will be. The new inclusive special-class approach will ensure one teacher and two SNAs for every six pupils. That will result in a very significant enhancement over and above what had already been provided for in terms of SNAs. The numbers are growing very significantly, as is the overall budget for special education. The Cabinet has approved €650 million extra in current funding for education, with a significant amount of it directed towards accommodating special education. I can go through all the various classes and special schools that have been established. We will meet what is required.

We acknowledge that the Government is spending money. That is not in doubt but our issue, and that of parents, teachers, SNAs and school communities all around the country, is the question of how it is spending it and the lack of a planned approach. The Taoiseach mentioned the €650 million bailout for the Department of education as if it were something to be proud of but the fact that it was necessary is exactly the problem. It shows the lack of planning. Parents are crying out for school places and supports for children with additional needs. We are seeing a lack of planning. The bailout is all over the place. How did the Taoiseach not know the money would be required? He knows the number of children who require additional school places.

The same applies to the care system. We are seeing money spent on special care centres that are unregulated, unregistered and under the radar. These are private facilities that lack supervision and inspection. The amount of money being spent is extraordinary. RTÉ has stated it costs €750,000 per child per year for a special placement.

The Taoiseach will now respond. The Deputy's time is up.

Yet we are failing children because the Taoiseach’s Government is failing to plan.

The Taoiseach to respond, please.

I disagree. It was a decision to bring forward the date so parents and schools would have ample time. It has transpired that parents of many children who were in mainstream classes have applied for special classes. The Deputy is now acknowledging that we are spending money but some weeks ago she was saying we were cutting back on SNAs.

We were because the Government got it so wrong.

The Government was.

Please. Allow the answer.

That is what the Deputy said last week, knowing full well-----

The Government was cutting back.

Allow the answer.

No, sorry. A rule of thumb is that if SNAs are not required in any school in any given year, they should not be there. There should always be regular checking.

But it was a matter of how it was done.

Deputy, please.

No, it is not. I get that when in opposition, politicians have to do what is required but the bottom line, I take it, is that the Deputy is not opposing the increase in SNAs.

Deputies, if you do not listen, the Taoiseach is entitled to resume his seat. I call Deputy Stanley.