Results 1,301-1,320 of 5,148 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024: First Stage (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and to provide for related matters. I recognise the fact that representatives of USI, UCD and TU Dublin are present. They have done great work, not just in respect of digs accommodation, but in raising more generally the issue of student accommodation and its lack of...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024: First Stage (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: We see that thousands of people feel they have no choice but to go to Australia. I was contacted by one such person who emigrated to Australia recently. He said he has hit the one-year mark in Australia. He is 28 years old and applied for his visa in 2022 and left in 2023. He says he has absolutely loved his time there so far but while constant homesickness makes him want to move back...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the Chair and I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I attended the launch of the witnesses' report a few months ago. It was fascinating and I thank the witnesses for that research. The committee had other consultations on this matter approximately two weeks ago and one of the things mentioned, which was mentioned in the witnesses' opening statement as well, was the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: Okay, that is fair. What about northern students coming to the South?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: Okay, that is fair. One thing I have heard anecdotally is that, since Covid-19, there has been an increase in the number of students going from the South to the North. The witnesses highlighted the issues with the cost of living and housing. From speaking to people in universities in the North, it has come up that housing there is cheaper and, as a result, more students from the Border...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: Of course. One of my party colleagues is now the Minister for the Economy and he has a particular interest in North-South mobility. He is also interested in what I thought was fascinating about the witnesses' presentation, namely, that so many students who go to Britain do not return. This has a major impact on the wider economy and this is important. Foreign languages were also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: That is great. I thank Professor Smyth.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the Chair and the witnesses for coming in front of the committee. Obviously this is something we have been looking at for some time and it is important to acknowledge that we are seeing changes in relation to qualifying criteria for students from the North coming to the South. That is welcome and it is positive that the witnesses have had a major focus in relation to this. My party...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: In respect of phase 2, two things arise. Are specific craft apprenticeships going to the North in terms of the phase 2 capacity? Mr. Brownlee mentioned short-term capacity for phase 2 to deal with the backlog. Is that something he can envisage as being longer term in the sense of that collaboration? Obviously if there is a backlog now, the concern is that were that capacity to be removed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank Mr. Brownlee. Are there any barriers for that at the moment? Let us take the case where you are in Donegal and are doing your apprenticeship in Derry. This committee is naturally trying to learn as much as possible at the moment and to think of help and solutions as well. Are there any barriers that Mr. Brownlee can see at the moment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I would like to see as much North-South mobility as possible and breaking down barriers in that sense as well. In relation to the HEA opening statement, one thing that stood out to me and which I thought was quite interesting was that by mode of study, 59% were full-time students and 33% were part-time but 8% were remote students. That is quite fascinating because you would think that if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: Yes. It is such a low figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: That is very interesting. The more we can do on that, the better. The Department and the co-centred programme are quite interesting. It is good to see. I have met with different researchers who work collaboratively North and South in different universities and they have talked of the full benefits of doing that research in the longer term. Those co-centres are a recent thing. They are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: That is good. I will finish on a question on accommodation. It is obviously something that keeps coming up for students from the North and their ability to come to the South, together with a whole range of other issues. This is something that is coming up more. When I spoke to a university in the North, it said a reason it saw more students coming to that university was that it was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: The Department mentioned this a lot-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: If the Department does not have every response-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: North-South Student Mobility: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: I have questions with the Minister this evening. As reference was made to this in the statement, I thought I would ask about it. If Mr. McKenna could back with some information, that would be fantastic and I thank him.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: 26. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work that has been carried out to fast track the delivery of the proposed new veterinary school. [9111/24]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Feb 2024)

Mairéad Farrell: 29. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work his Department has carried out to promote the new guidelines in relation to student digs accommodation. [9110/24]