The Agenda

Meath man who kept horses in what the judge describes as harrowing conditions pleads guilty

The Government’s apparent new criteria for children to qualify for Special Needs support has drawn criticism, with one Navan Cllr describing it as ‘stripped back and narrow’Aontú’s Cllr Emer Tóibín says:“I am deeply concerned over talk of Special Needs Assistants (SNA) Cuts and Redeployment.I have been contacted by so many SNA’s over the last few days who have told me that this government appears to be fundamentally narrowing the definition of what qualifies a child for SNA support.Under the revised deployment model introduced through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), allocation is now based almost exclusively on tightly defined primary care needs such as toileting, feeding, significant medical interventions, mobility or serious safety risks.Emotional regulation, sensory overload, communication difficulties, transitions, anxiety, or a child’s inability to cope in a busy mainstream classroom may no longer meet the threshold unless linked to intensive care needs.Councillor Toibin joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

Sinn Féin TD for Meath East, Darren O’Rourke, has expressed serious concern that there will not be enough school places for children in Dunshaughlin this September, warning that the issue has now become an annual crisis.Teachta O’Rourke is seeking a debate on the issue in the Dáil this week and is calling on the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughten, to take urgent action to ensure that every child in the area has access to a school place.He said:"Families in Dunshaughlin are facing yet another crisis as it becomes increasingly clear that there will not be enough school places for local children this September. At this stage, if no additional capacity is added to the local schools beyond what is currently planned, we could have many children without a school place come September. One local school has been unable to accommodate more than 80 children, for example”. Deputy O’Rourke joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

A judge in the case of two survivors who were excluded from the mother and baby home redress scheme has delivered a landmark ruling that the children’s minister was wrong in not considering adding two homes to the compensation deal.John Duncan Morris, who was in Stamullen in Co Meath, had taken the High Court action over being excluded from the redress scheme.They are two of an estimated 19,000 survivors excluded from the payment scheme, including those who spent less than six months in homes as well as those who were boarded out.We were joined on The Agenda this morning by John Duncan Morris.We also spoke to Alison O'Reilly from The Irish Examiner who has been following this story from the beginning.

Defence minister Helen McEntee has put forward a proposal for the Irish Defence Forces to board Russian oil tankers as a “deterrent”.The Meath-East Fine Gael TD said there is already a law in place that allows the Defence Forces to do this if there are “concerns” and her proposal specifically relates to Russian “shadow fleets”.The Minister said the details are set to be fine-tuned with engagement needed from other colleagues. She added that the proposal comes following discussions at the Munich Security Conference with countries such as Iceland and Canada.Minister McEntee joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.We also discussed the Irish holidaymakers heading to Cuba who have been told to contact their travel agents “immediately” after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) changed their travel advice for the country.

Bar sales in Leinster House increased by 34pc to nearly €445,000 last year, with current or former TDs and senators knocking back shots of tequila and sambuca, along with €27 measures of premium whiskey.Politicians racked up almost €60,000 on their tabs during the year in the parliament’s two pubs: the Visitors’ Bar and the Members’ Bar, exclusively for current and former Oireachtas members.

Calls to restore Drogheda Borough Council have returned to the political agenda after councillors backed a motion seeking Government support to reintroduce borough‑level powers to Ireland’s largest town.The motion, tabled by Cllr Kevin Callan at February’s meeting of Drogheda Borough District, comes as the national Local Democracy Taskforce prepares to publish its recommendations this spring.Cllr Callan said the timing offered “a genuine pathway” to reverse some of the sweeping changes introduced under the Local Government Act 2014, which abo

Bernard O’Byrne has called on sports administrators to “make a stand for Palestine” after standing down from the board of Fiba Europe.The former Basketball Ireland and FAI chief (who is from Athboy) had tabled a motion calling on the European body to suspend Israel from competition over the country’s actions in Gaza last November.