Results 2,421-2,440 of 3,895 for speaker:John Halligan

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (2 May 2017)

John Halligan: A number of issues were raised. Approximately 114,000 children use school transport. This number has been increasing significantly. About 12,000 special needs students use school transport. The cost of school transport works out at about €182 million per year. Out of that, 30% is spent on special needs. Members should remember this is a very comprehensive and detailed service....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (2 May 2017)

John Halligan: We are looking at the appeals system about which many members rightly spoke and with which they have some difficulty. We expect to receive some information on the appeals process over the next five or six weeks. We carried out a complete review of concessionary transport. We will write to everyone over the next couple of weeks regarding changes we are proposing. The objective will then be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (3 May 2017)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. The purpose...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: SOLAS Training and Education Programmes Certification (9 May 2017)

John Halligan: SOLAS and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) have an agreement in place to facilitate people who hold a valid Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) Plant Operator's Card to acquire the equivalent SOLAS Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Plant Operator Card. To avail of this arrangement applicants must: - hold a valid CPCS Plant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Youth Employment Initiative (9 May 2017)

John Halligan: The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial resources to support the implementation of the EU youth guarantee. It is integrated into European Social Fund (ESF) programming as a dedicated priority axis within the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020 (PEIL) that was adopted by Commission Decision in February 2015. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (9 May 2017)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. Children are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (9 May 2017)

John Halligan: To satisfy the terms and conditions of the student grant scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course, having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another, where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course. The objective of this policy is to help as many students as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Data (10 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 115 and 116 together. A budget allocation of €98.7 million has been made available for apprenticeship training in 2017. This is an increase of almost 42% on the 2016 spend of €69.6 million.  Of the NTF allocation, €77.4 million has been allocated to SOLAS for both craft and new apprenticeships in the further education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (10 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 119 together. The table provides a current status report on the 24 apprenticeship proposals that have been approved development funding by the Apprenticeship Council. The report sets out numbers on the 2 programmes that are currently operational and also indicative start dates for other programmes. The first 20 on the attached list were in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Data (10 May 2017)

John Halligan: Based on the targets set out in the Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship 2016-2020, it is estimated that the cost of apprenticeship provision in 2020 will rise to approximately €200m.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Data (10 May 2017)

John Halligan: The average cost to the state of training an apprentice in one of the existing craft apprenticeships is approximately €6,700 per annum. Details on the annual cost in each of the 5 new apprenticeship programmes that have completed the development and validation process are set out in the table. Annual costs for further programmes will be determined as they move through...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Garda Vetting Applications (11 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 119 together. School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Redundancy Payments (11 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 86 and 87 together. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) is an EU co-funding instrument to assist workers made redundant as a result of globalisation or due to a global financial and economic crisis.  To be eligible for assistance there must be at least 500 redundancies in a specific company (including suppliers/downstream producers)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Youth Employment Initiative (11 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions No. 88 and No. 89 together. The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial resources to support the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee.  It is integrated into European Social Fund (ESF) programming as a dedicated priority axis within the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020 (PEIL) that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Data (11 May 2017)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 to 100, inclusive, together. I am informed by SOLAS that there are sufficient training places available to meet current demand in both the motor mechanic and the vehicle body repair apprenticeships. The information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of registrations and the numbers currently on a waiting list for their off-the-job...

Other Questions: Science Foundation Ireland Remit (16 May 2017)

John Halligan: I thank Deputy Lawless for his company in the visit to the European Space Agency, where a number of contracts were signed for Irish companies. The Deputy was part of the discussions and I am glad he was there. Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, funds a comprehensive suite of oriented basic and applied research funding programmes to deliver excellent research with impact in the fields of...

Other Questions: Science Foundation Ireland Remit (16 May 2017)

John Halligan: It is a very good question and I make the point that Action 3.8 of Innovation 2020, Ireland's strategy for research and development, science and technology provides for a new programme to fund frontier research. As I stated, in April 2017, I launched the Irish Research Council's frontier research laureate programme with initial funding of €2.5 million and I can assure the Deputy that...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Research Funding (16 May 2017)

John Halligan: The Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) has provided funding for top-class research infrastructure and human capital development across Ireland’s Higher Education Institutes in key strategic areas including bioscience, medical technologies, energy, social sciences and humanities, and ICT to name but a few. Since the PRTLI started in 1998, there have been 5...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (16 May 2017)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. The purpose...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 May 2017)

John Halligan: An allocation of €98.7m has been made available for apprenticeship training in 2017.  Currently, there are 30 apprenticeship programmes available, details of which can be found at www.apprenticeship.ie.  Subject to successful validation a further 10 programmes will commence during 2017.