Results 681-700 of 6,887 for speaker:James Lawless

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. She raised a number of important issues. In terms of industrial relations issues and the grade of adult educator, I am pretty supportive of that. The role was established through the industrial relations framework following engagements between ETBs and employers and workers. They engaged extensively and it was back and forth in the Labour Court. The grade was then...

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: This is an important topic - an Teachta Ó Súilleabháin touched on it earlier - and there is funding for it. There is an annual fund of €900,000 to support greater use of Irish by students and staff, not necessarily in terms of the educational provision but among themselves, in their day-to-day activities in the staffroom, etc. There is also the €1.8 million...

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 hosting me at those Limerick institutions. They were very productive visits and spanned quite well the entire spectrum, from the hospitality education at the Roxborough ETB right through to immersive bioscience degree, a very commericalised, high-end research piece. Regarding multi-annual funding, there are a couple of ways I can answer this question. My Department...

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 am not familiar with the situation in Shannon but I am quite happy to look into it if the Deputy sends me a note on it. If she does the same on the other point, I will get back to her in some detail.

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 have been no cuts to funding on my watch. However, there are localised situations. The ETBs are the employers and they have local engagement with their staff and there are different arrangements. When I attended the TUI conference, the sense I took from people on the floor and the executive was that there was a broad welcome for the adult educator grade being established. I note...

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, exactly.

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 hear what the Senator is saying. On the income disregard, my view is we should continue to revise it. It has progressed upwards in recent years. One thing it is useful to state at this point is that whatever I do, whatever I am guided to do in the context of the cost of education and consultation, is for next year because the budget for this year is already set. What is going to happen...

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 Cummins.

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. Regarding the disability courses, I can get her a note on the detail. To give some broad-brush details, nine different disciplines were identified in consultations with the Minister for Health, the Minister for education, and the Minister for disabilities as the priority areas to be front-loaded into the new provision. These included occupational therapy, physiotherapy,...

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: Turning to the ETBs, it is regrettable that not all ETBs have complied with national agreements. It is extremely regrettable and I have made this clear. There is a limit, though, in terms of the powers I can exercise in terms of compelling conformance, but it is extremely regrettable and I hope this is noted by the ETBs that have not done so to date. We will have to keep an eye on 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: Yes. It is a complex area and one I know the Deputy knows very well. Within the further education estate, we have several different historical paths into that area. It is, therefore, quite a complex tapestry. I am learning myself about the different moving parts within it. Different aspects have come through different trajectories to get there, so there can sometimes be a degree 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 committee very much.

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 wave the Leinster flag. Proposals are coming through from MTU Cork and UCC was included in the consultation. When we did the short-term activation, which produced accommodation at Maynooth and DCU, UCC was part of the consultation but it was not ready to take up the offer at that point. It is not for want of trying, to put it simply. I am not in the Department responsible for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: The table below sets out the information requested by the Deputy relating to the email and phone lines in use by Oireachtas members to which she refers. Contact Email Phone Line (general inquiries) Minister James Lawless james.lawless@oireachtas.ie 01 889 2448 / 01 889 2449 Minister of State Marian Harkin ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Contracts (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I can confirm that my Department has not provided any capital funding for IT services in the years identified by the Deputy. The information in respect of aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document, should the Deputy wish to contact the aegis bodies directly with her...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Artificial Intelligence (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: The European Union's AI Continent Action Plan was launched in April. It sets the objective for the EU to become a global leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) transforming Europe's strong traditional industries and its exceptional talent pool into powerful engines of AI innovation and acceleration. As the Deputy will be aware, one of the five key pillars of the Action Plan relates to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (11 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: The guidelines for consultancy which the Department of Further and Higher Education Research Innovation and Science complies with defines consultancy as "where a person, organization or group thereof is engaged to provide intellectual or knowledge-based services (e.g. expert analysis and advice) through delivering reports, studies, assessments, recommendations, proposals, etc. that contribute...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (10 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) is a pathway for degree holders who want to pursue a medical career on an accelerated four-year programme. Students pursuing GEM programmes do so as second degree courses and consequently are not eligible for free fees funding. They are also not eligible for funding under the Student Grant Scheme as they do not meet the progression criteria of the Scheme. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (10 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1646, 1647, 1664 and 1665 together. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is my Department's primary source of statistics in relation to the higher education sector. The HEA publishes socio-economic profile of the higher education student population, based on the home address of students and the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. The most recent report on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (10 Jun 2025)

James Lawless: I am committed to addressing the costs of education for students and their families progressively over the coming years. It's important to say up front that all proposals made in relation to education expenditure, including student grants, are considered in the context of the annual Budget in October. Ahead of Budget 2026, I will publish an options paper, which will identify costs and...