Results 3,501-3,520 of 3,699 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Engagement with Caranua (30 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: No, the waiting list.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I had intended to initiate a Bill to be taken in our Private Members' time next Wednesday but there was a mix up with the Bills Office last night. It seems I cannot initiate the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill but it will be presented next Wednesday. I understand I only need the signatures of Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and the Leader to allow that to happen. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I hope I am wrong and I will remain open to seeing what the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, does in his term of office but I am very concerned and disappointed by many of his comments throughout his campaign.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I join Senator Boyhan in inviting the Minister for Social Protection to come to the House to discuss the two specific issues highlighted by the Senator. I would like to mention another issue with payments, the effects of which women are most vulnerable to. Under the current system in Ireland, women are ordered by the one-parent family system to go to court to seek maintenance from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I thank everyone for their presentations. I tried as best I could to dissect them before the meeting but I did not understand some of the figures and I will seek clarification on them. The moment we allow the State to even step out slightly in respect of education, we will move towards the privatisation of our education system, which will not be a positive. I would like Dr. Corbet and Dr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: The suggestion is that the fees would be raised by €2,000 if income contingent loans were introduced. Therefore, those figures are wrong because they are based on €4,000 a year while the fees would actually go up to €5,000 per year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: There is no positive effect on it either.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: Is it fair to say that the effect of the student loan means those who come from poorer backgrounds are the ones burdened with the debt more so than the person whose family can afford to pay upfront? It is not about inequity of access to college but an inequality in terms of who is left burdened with debt.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I am talking about children whose parents pay upfront. They do not have the debt. They do not have the loan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: No. It still matters to the child who has no choice in such matters. We need a system to ensure that when a family's earning power falls below a certain amount that there is an option not to pay fees. The free fees system simply shifts the wealth to grinds and private school fees. The exact same thing will happen if we introduce income-contingent loans. The poor children will be the only...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: If a person stops paying because he or she leaves the workforce, would the State and whoever is administering the loans just him or her alone?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: The authorities would not keep checking in to encourage the person back into the workforce in order to pay his or her loan, which would be quite intimidating?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: In the UK, if I am correct, there was a 40% reduction in mature and part-time students when the ICL was introduced.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Higher Education Funding: Discussion (Resumed) (2 May 2017)

Lynn Ruane: Imagine having to do a whole day's work-----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: National Training Fund (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting the matter and I thank the Minister of State for giving his time today. The national training levy is crucial source of revenue in the context of the ongoing national debate on the funding of third level education. As the Minister of State will be aware, the Cassells report released last year has painted a bleak picture of the state of our higher...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: National Training Fund (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I have one or two more questions which I will send directly to the Department because the Minister will not have access to the information here. I wish to clarify whether I understood the Minister of State correctly. He said that additional funds cannot be allocated unless there is a reduction in the Exchequer fund. Will the increase be a replacement and not additional?

Seanad: Commencement Matters: National Training Fund (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I have another question. Obviously, much of the additional spend in previous years has gone to filling skills gaps at jobseeker level and third level funding has not received a great deal from the national training levy. Will the percentage increase be directly for third level? If so, and this ties in with the Cassells report, is it expected that the Department would not decide where that...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I wish to raise the issue of the child care subsidy. It has been announced that 9,000 families will miss out on the subsidy due to commence in September. It probably does not seem like much to some, but €48 per month for child care for some families, who would have already begun to consider it part of their budget from September, is a massive deal. The articles I have read today...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: I second the amendment. I will not go into too much detail on all the amendments, as Senator Norris and others will cover them. I will speak to amendments Nos. 10 and 11 specifically. As we all know, the canal waterways are not just for the enjoyment of tourists. For communities of people the canal is their home. In this context, with regard to our housing crisis, we must ensure any laws...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Apr 2017)

Lynn Ruane: It is more just a point of order than anything, to say that the amendment is not linked to inflation. It just takes inflation into account.