Results 641-660 of 6,887 for speaker:James Lawless

Proposed Approval of the Agreement Between the European Organization for Nuclear Research and Ireland: Motion (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: Established in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is an intergovernmental organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. It is headquartered in Geneva and currently comprises 24 member states and ten associate member states. Associate membership of CERN is a commitment in the programme for Government and a long-standing...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: It is a pleasure to be with the committee today and I look forward to working with the members. I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on her appointment as chair of this very important committee and all the members who have been appointed to serve on it. I spent many years in your chair until quite recently, a Chathaoirligh, so I know just how important these engagements are. Early engagement...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy for his comments and recently hosting me in Galway recently. On further course provision and the national imperative, I welcome the University of Galway's new pharmacy programme that we launched that day. There is also a rural GP programme that starts next year, which is critical. Having seen a paucity of rural GPs in my constituency, I welcome the initiative shown by...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir. I also thank her for coming to see me in Limerick where we had a productive day across multiple sites, both across the education and training board and the university. The successful roll-out of the biopharma course took place on that day.

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: That is really good to see. It is exactly the kind of industry collaboration that is central, particularly in that area where there is great strength from some of those companies represented on that day. There are a couple of points to address. With regard to student accommodation fees, a multipronged approach is being taken. That means we are doing a number of different things in...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank Deputy Feighan. I agree with him that St. Angela’s College is a wonderful site. I enjoyed my visit to it. I was really impressed at its activities. It is a wonderful site with its vista of the lakes and the actual point in the landscape it enjoys. Its provision is also wonderful. Councillor Edel McSharry, whom the Deputy knows from other fields, heads up the nursing team...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Senator for her continued interest in and advocacy for the sector. I very much acknowledge that. She raised a number of issues and I will try to run through them. Starting with student accommodation and housing, this is a challenging area and one I am very much aware of and intend to address. The strategy should be available by the end of the summer, certainly by the end of...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Senator for leading a recent motion in the Seanad in this area. It was a very useful engagement as well. All of these initial engagements with the committee, the Seanad and the Dáil are really helpful, certainly to me as Minister, to understand the interests of members and generate detailed discussion of areas of my brief. The Senator has raised a number of items today....

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: Yes. Indeed, the programme for Government commits to parity of esteem across different aspects of the TUs, including very much MTU. I will visit very soon. The point the Senator made on wages for apprentices is a difficult one. The Senator, quite legitimately, said that he would like student apprentices to be paid a higher wage. Recently I was in a room with employers who said that the...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I will take some of the points the Deputy made in reverse order. I will try to answer them all in the minute I have.

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I know how it works. I was on the Deputy's side of the table for a long time. It is hard to get it all in, but I will do my best. Twenty-five thousand euro is a lot more than €16,000, which was there previously. There has been a 37% increase in the past year or two. We heard people and we increased the stipend. I secured Cabinet approval for National Training Fund moneys to be...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: -----there is the fee piece as well, which should be noted. However, I get the importance of that sector. I intend to increase the number of PhD and postdoctoral students across the board and to have a big vehicle for funding the research ecosystem as a whole. That is something I am very much engaged on. On purpose-built student accommodation in Cork, there are some further initiatives...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I will not get involved in that one.

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest. We have had a few exchanges in the Dáil, which I welcome. She touched on a few of these topics there as well. That is very useful. Digs accommodation is an important part of the package but it is only one option among others. It has a useful role to serve. On its regulation, there is a licence agreement, which is available and...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: We have had some discussions on the mental health piece. Did the Deputy ask me when the strategy would be available?

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: It is not there yet. I will come back to the Deputy with a note on that, if that is okay. I do not have the detail with me today. There are a number of different mental health schemes within the colleges. Different supports are available. Some colleges have their own supports. A wider mechanism is available under some of the national schemes. We had an exchange previously about some...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy. I know he is interested in the shared island initiative, the Border regions, and Cavan in particular. The Deputy is a member of the Good Friday committee so will know the shared island fund now has a €1 billion budget going forward. There is an intention to develop an all-island apprenticeship strategy as part of that. I visited Queen's University and further...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: There is a degree of polemic there, which the Deputy is entitled to. He has a political view. I have a political view. They rarely coincide, although I hope we both support the investment in research, innovation and education at a broader level. However, I am not the Minister for housing. I work with him. I am part of the Government. We have a new proposal, which was introduced...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: Sorry, through the Chair. I was not actually finished.