The Minister for Education has confirmed that there is no Department requirement for students to own a laptop and that schools should ensure no child is disadvantaged due to lack of access to technology. However, many families are being asked to spend hundreds of euro on specific devices, sometimes through single-supplier arrangements and third party financial institutions. The Department has also acknowledged concerns about the financial burden these schemes can place on families. As digital technology becomes increasingly important in education, national protections are needed to ensure affordability, choice and equal access for all students.

Calling all friends and families of Scoil Chualann, please sign the petition to request an appeal to Department of Education decision to reduce the number of permanent full time teachers in Scoil Chualann for Academic Year 2026- 2027. Scoil Chualann has been at the heart of education in Bray for generations building a proud tradition of academic excellence and cultural excellence. Scoil Chualann is a co-educational, all-Irish primary school (Gaelscoil) situated on Vevay Road in Bray, County Wicklow. Established in 1977 it is dedicated to providing Irish-medium education while nurturing Irish culture and heritage. A major milestone in its history occurred in the 1980s when a dedicated, permanent 8 classroom purpose built facility was opened to it's pupils.  For the academic year 2026 & 2027, parents have been informed following the release of Dept of Education Circular 0025/2026 there will multi grade class for Rang 3 & Rang 4 with proposed class size of 36 pupils. This proposal has naturally raised many concerns for parents of children currently enrolled, which we outlined below: 1.  A multi grade class of 36 children is 57% higher ratio than the recommended national ratio of 23 : 1 pupils to teacher ratio for primary school.  2. This local issue also highlights a national issue. According to the Department of Education, more than 43,000 Irish primary school pupils were in classes of 30 or more last year, while the average primary school class size remains at 22.5 pupils, which so happens to be the highest in the EU. Despite repeated commitments to reduce class sizes, many schools continue to operate overcrowded classrooms that place enormous pressure on children, teachers, and parents.  3. Gaelscoileanna operate through full immersion in Irish. Pupils are taught through Irish across all subjects, often with varying levels of fluency. Learning through Irish requires: additional classroom interaction,  engagement and reinforcement to ensure children can fully access the curriculum confidently through the Irish language. Introducing new concepts, encouraging participation through Irish, supporting language development maintaining immersive classroom environments 4. Protect the long-term sustainability, accessibility and growth of Irish-medium education across Ireland and align staffing policy with the State’s commitments to strengthening the Irish language. (Action Plan for 2026-2028 launched in support of the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2024-2030) 5. It is about recognising that equal numerical formulas do not always create equal educational outcomes. If Ireland truly values the Irish language, then our schools must be properly supported to deliver it. 6. If the Department of Education genuinely wants to support and grow the Irish language, then our education system must actively support the schools and communities doing that work every day.Children learning through Irish should be encouraged and properly supported, not expected to succeed within increasingly stretched classroom environments that fail to recognise the additional educational demands involved.

An Appointment, Not a Waiting List. This campaign is born out of my family's absolute worst nightmare. 19 months ago, we suffered the devastating, heart-breaking loss of my nephew to suicide. Today, we are living through the nightmare all over again. My niece has been diagnosed with ASD Level 1 and severe depression, yet she is currently stranded on a HSE CAMHS waiting list, denied the urgent care she needs. We know the terrifying cost of waiting. We are being pushed to the brink of crisis while the system stalls, and I refuse to sit by and watch the state fail another child. Right now, over 4,700 children across Ireland are stranded on HSE CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) waiting lists. Hundreds of them have been waiting for more than a year. Behind these statistics are real families in despair. Parents are forced to watch their children’s mental health deteriorate day by day in a broken system. Early intervention is vital, but the HSE is tied up in recruitment bottlenecks and systemic delays. If a child is waiting too long for a physical surgery, the state steps in through the National Treatment Purchase Fund to pay for them to be seen privately. Mental health deserves the exact same urgency. We are demanding that the Minister for Health and the Minister for Mental Health establish a Mental Health Treatment Purchase Fund. Our demand is simple: If the HSE cannot provide a child with a CAMHS appointment within 3 months, the state must automatically fund alternative, accredited private or community-based therapies. Access to life-saving mental health care should be based on a child's medical need, not their parents' ability to pay hundreds of Euros in private fees. If the state cannot provide the public care in time, the state must pay for the alternative. Sign this petition to demand immediate funding relief for the thousands of children left behind by CAMHS. Our children cannot afford to wait.

Raising a family in Tramore means facing an invisible wall when it comes to early years education and care. Parents are stuck on stagnant waiting lists, facing immense pressure, and frequently forced to delay returning to the workforce because our town's infrastructure has completely failed to keep pace with its growth. We love our community, but a thriving town cannot be built on housing developments alone; it requires functional, accessible public services. This campaign is a coordinated effort to get direct, actionable answers to the structural flaws stalling our town's childcare system. By joining us, you are adding your voice to five critical demands: • Pilot A State-Led Model  • Housing Planning Enforcement • Fast-Tracked Capital Funding • Joined-Up Town Planning • Accessible Financial Subsidies Our children deserve the opportunity to learn and grow in their own locality, and parents deserve a system that works.  Please sign this petition to support these targeted objectives, and join us at our public meeting on Thursday, June 11th, 2026, at 11:00 AM in the Coastguard Cultural Centre to present these demands directly to our elected representatives.

A local playground will: Provide a safe and welcoming space for children of all ages and abilities. Support physical and mental wellbeing through outdoor activity. Create a social hub where families can connect. Enhance the attractiveness and vibrancy of Cloughjordan village. Support local businesses by encouraging families to stay and spend locally.

Diamond Park may be officially closed, but every day more than 40 children still gather there because it is the only accessible play space in the area. Families have nowhere else to bring their children, and the current condition of the park is unsafe, damaged, and neglected. The broken equipment, weak fencing, and lack of security mean children are playing in an environment that is not fit for purpose. At night, the park is regularly trespassed and vandalised because the fencing is too weak to protect it. This leads to even more damage and makes the space even less safe for children the next day. The community is stuck in a cycle where the park is closed, but still heavily used, and yet no improvements are being made. Rebuilding Diamond Park, installing stronger fencing, and restoring it to a safe standard would immediately benefit dozens of children and families who rely on it daily. A safe, well‑maintained playground is essential for children’s development, physical activity, and social connection. The community deserves a safe place for children to play, and this petition asks Dublin City Council to take action now.

Gorey Hill School was officially opened at the beginning of 2025 in the same grounds as Gaelscoil Moshíológ. This was supposed to be a temporary location until a new purpose built school is built on a green field site. The department has now decided the current shared site to be the permanent home of Gorey Hill and plans to build modular buildings and car parks covering the majority of Gaelscoil’s green space. This is in direct contradiction to the department’s National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development which supports schools in creating sustainable learning environments and developing “healthy ecosystems, biodiversity and conservation - essential for humanity’s continued security”. Our objection is based on: 1. Massive impact of loss of greenspace to our students, especially those with special needs. 2. Firm belief that Gorey Hill deserves the green field, purpose build school they were promised. 3. Likely loss of Naíonra, breakfast and afterschool service which are now essential to the growth of the school and the families who utilise the service each day. 4. Unsustainable overcrowding of the of the area, putting pressure on utilities and causing health and safety issues regarding access and evacuation routes. We wish to make it very clear that we are not opposed to Gorey Hill School or to the children and families who attend it. We fully recognise the importance of appropriate long-term provision for children with additional needs, and we acknowledge the dedication of their families. It is also important to note that the Gaelscoil itself supports children with additional needs, and this must be properly considered in all planning decisions. However, we do not believe the current proposal represents a sustainable or workable solution for either school.  It appears the Department is forcing two minority educational experiences to squeeze onto a single site, which if it goes ahead, will become very built up. Both schools will lack green space and the opportunity to grow and expand.

The reason for this request is to protect our children, parents and guardians, from the traffic on the main road, R610. As the school is situated on a steep hill with no access for a school bus or coach, the children and teachers have to walk down to the main road and gather behind the Grass Island to catch a bus or coach, or to walk to the playground or the tennis courts in the village. Why should the county councillors care?                                                      Because the proposed plan to change the road layout has not been proven to be an improvement but will be a serious threat to Road Safety for parents and school children. The Grass Island has been and remains a safe solution for the traffic needs of the school and village.  The implementation of the Active Travel Greenways Improvements cannot threaten the daily life of our school children or their parents.

As a public facility, Mullingar Swimming Pool has a responsibility to remain inclusive and accessible to all members of the community.  In a country surrounded by water, the ability to swim is an essential life skill, and access to effective learning pathways must be protected.  We respectfully call on Westmeath County Council to:  • Review and reconsider the decision to ban private swimming lesson • Acknowledge and address the current shortfall in available classes and access within existing programmes • Engage with pool users, parents, instructors, and adult learners before implementing major policy changes • Explore balanced alternatives, such as designated times that allow private instruction to continue alongside public use We believe there is a fair and practical solution that supports safety, inclusion, and access for everyone.  

Because every child deserves Magic at Christmas, even children who are employed in slave labour in the cocoa industry who supply Cadbury's. " Mondelēz International — the food giant behind Oreos, Cadbury, and Toblerone — has spent years cultivating an image as a sustainability leader, earning high environmental scores and pledging to eliminate deforestation and human rights abuses from its supply chains. Investigative reporting, however, reveals a starkly different reality: of a company that appears more focused on protecting its reputation than preventing harm to vulnerable people and the planet. For decades, Mondelēz has faced scrutiny over its cocoa sourcing in West Africa, where child and forced labor are widely documented and an estimated 1.56 million children work on cocoa farms. In 2022, a Channel 4 investigation reported that children as young as ten were using machetes to harvest cocoa pods on a Ghanaian farm allegedly linked to Mondelēz. Mondelēz has emphasized that such practices violate its policies and has pointed to its child labor monitoring system. But that system does not cover all the farms in its supply chain, and the company lacks full traceability for its cocoa — meaning it cannot determine whether child labor is involved in some of the cocoa it uses." Source: https://www.ran.org/the-understory/mondelez-has-built-a-reputation-on-sustainability-we-call-it-deception/

Bus Eireann has confirmed that families will be paying almost twice as much next year for their children to get to school by bus.  This comes at a time when many families are already dealing with the mountingfuel costs and other price hikes driven by the conflict in the Middle East, and now those with school-age children are being asked to pay significantly more for next year's school transport. The price hikes were confirmed last week as transport portal opened for the 2026/27 bus tickes, with many families now facing almost double the cost for the coming academic year. Not only will this put additional financial pressure on parents getting their children to school - but it's also goes against the Government's commitment to ensuring that public transport is an affordable, reliable and attractive option for all, whether in our cities, towns or rural communities.

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