Results 5,241-5,260 of 10,862 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: 86. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he has taken to improve the pay and conditions of professionals in the childcare sector, and to reduce the cost of childcare to parents. [35755/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Will the Minister outline the steps that have been taken to improve the pay and conditions of professionals in the childcare sector and to reduce the cost of childcare to parents?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Families do not need to see their childcare costs frozen; they need to see them reduced dramatically. Sinn Féin has launched a document, Delivering Affordable Childcare, which outlines how we, in government, would reduce fees by two thirds. That is the type of support families and workers need in the here and now. Ireland has higher childcare rates than almost anywhere else in Europe....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: To be clear, in our alternative budget last year, we outlined mechanisms that would improve the pay and conditions of people working in the childcare sector and reduce childcare costs for families and workers. None of those things has happened. Many would argue that whatever was in the Government's budget amounted to a stunt. Childcare costs have not come down and the pay and conditions of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: I thank our guests for attending. In respect of SNA posts, it was announced in budget 2022 that 1,165 new posts would be created. How many of those posts are now filled and operational?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Of the 623 that have been allocated, have they all been filled and are they operational?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: I am sorry to interrupt, but time is tight. How many of the posts are actually filled?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: How many are on the payroll?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Ms Mannion has indicated that the Government announced the creation of 1,165 new SNA posts at budget time. As of 31 May, according to the information the Department is giving us now, only 623 of them have been allocated.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Of those that have been allocated, how many are actually filled? Of those 623, how many wages is the Department paying?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: I understand that, but surely the Department knows how many. Is there anybody here who can give me that information?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: That is disappointing, particularly considering we hear these big announcements. As elected representatives, we all deal with individuals and schools where families are in desperate need of supports for their children. In that context, we do not have a definitive number as to how many of the additional SNA posts are actually in place. I want to touch on school buildings and get some...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Twenty-four of those sites were in Dublin, and they cost €120 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes, but are the figures I have here are correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: That would suggest that 41 sites outside of Dublin were acquired for €15 million or, basically, that two thirds of all sites were acquired for under 10% of the cost. I understand and everybody recognises the cost difference between Dublin and other areas. Are the schools or the sites also substantially bigger or is it all down to variations in property prices?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: But the question I asked was as follows. Of the schools that were provided between 2014 and 2018, from which I have extrapolated the figures I have cited, were those in Dublin substantially larger than the others? Does Mr. Loftus have information as to the number of students who were catered for within the 24 sites in Dublin versus the 41 elsewhere? Do we have a-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes, but we are talking about the entire State outside Dublin. Has the Department yet carried out an analysis as to the new sites that will need to be purchased both in Dublin and in the rest of the State between now and 2040?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Can the Department provide us with the numbers for the new sites?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: Can I take it from that response that the Department does not have an actual figure as to the number of new sites that it plans to acquire in Dublin and outside of Dublin?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Matt Carthy: That would be useful. When we deal with school applications for minor works or emergency works, my understanding is - I have lost the figure. Maybe the witnesses could direct me to the cost of those works annually. It strikes me that those works are often school-led in the sense that a school will make an application to the Department, which generally takes quite a long time. Then there...