Results 2,321-2,340 of 23,956 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The €7 million refers to teaching posts in excess of the cap, be that 300, 400 or 500 teachers.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: I wish to clarify the issue of working capital under the capital assets test. The test is still on the table, in that it is still being discussed and has not been ruled out. I was trying to assess whether the Minister believed that working capital included, for example, business premises or land. He has indicated that it is cash flow.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The Minister has in mind cash rather than fixed assets like land or premises. I have no issue with that. If someone has €200,000 or €300,000 in the bank, grand. Whether one is PAYE or-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The Minister is considering cash assets. If a notional value was put on land or business premises, a person could only access that value for the purpose of sending someone to college by selling the asset.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The Minister does not believe that should be the case.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: Land and farming assets would be excluded from the capital assets test.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: We seem to be discussing savings. When a farming enterprise's accounts are done at the end of a year, its working cash is regarded as profit. The farm assist scheme, which is essentially the farmer's dole, is based on a previous year's income and may only amount to a small payment. The farmer is expected to make enough income over the course of that year to bring him or her up to the level...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: We seem to be discussing an assessment of savings and cash rather than working capital, that being fixtures and fittings, machinery, land and business premises.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: Will we have an opportunity to go through the Estimates in the format in which they are laid out, for example to discuss them under the headings programme 1, programme 2, programme 3, programme 4 and so on? The Chair is referring to programmes A, B and C, but they do not match the headings in the Estimates.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: I wish to ask a general question on third level funding. Over the lifetime of this Government and the Minister's period in the Department of Education and Skills, in what direction is funding going? Does he envisage putting forward proposals to address the issue of third level funding? The funding of third level institutions has been decreased by the guts of 20% at a time when student...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The Department has still not developed any kind of appeals system.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: I am referring specifically to the nearest school rule, which came in last year. There are some situations where a secondary school is stretched beyond capacity while other schools are within capacity and which students are currently attending. Under these rules recently introduced, those students are now being required to go to the school which is over subscribed in order to get free...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: This one would technically not succeed.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: In cases like that, the Department would not be spending the same amount of money transporting them to a different school than the school they are currently attending, so the transport costs still arise even though a classroom would also have to be built. I understand that the Department has to be strict in applying a rule, but there also has to be room for common sense. It is a question of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: Has the Minister ruled out any of the suite of options?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: The Department has put forward options for saving money in the education budget. It proposes a 10% reduction in special needs assistants, a 10% reduction in resource teachers, removal of the cap on capitation fees which would create significant pressure on one third of schools. I presume the Minister will rule out many of these options.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: I would prefer to hear the Minister say that-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: -----many of these options will not be considered rather than hear him skirting around the issue. Some of those options could not be countenanced. The Department's overall headline figure is €44 million. I do not understand why we are discussing €44 million today if the Minister is clear that funding for resource teachers next year will cost an extra €22 million. He...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: I have a final point which relates to savings on stationery expenditure for schools. This issue was discussed in the House by way of parliamentary questions. I ask for the most recent information on this matter.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: 2014 Pre-Budget Submission: Department of Education and Skills (17 Jul 2013)
Charlie McConalogue: To be clear, that flexibility is available for the schools.