Results 2,581-2,600 of 5,405 for speaker:Cathal Crowe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: I thank Mr. Hendrick, Mr. Malone and the team for being here today. Moreover I thank them for their ongoing engagement. There is a lesson for Mr. Dalton Philips and the Dublin Airport Authority in this ongoing engagement with our committee. I am aware of pitfalls in Clare, and I am sure all committee members are aware of them in their areas. Such pitfalls are raised routinely with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: Is the company on schedule in general?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: That is positive to hear. At our previous meeting the witnesses indicated there are areas at the tail end of the national broadband roll-out for which there is no silver lining, or certainly not one that is not a long way off. The witnesses indicated the company would try to move them forward and fast-track them. Will the witnesses update us on this? There are such places in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: At the previous meeting the witnesses mentioned the option of using satellites in particularly remote areas where it would take a number of years to get the wires and cables. Is the company still looking at this to any great extent? Will the witnesses comment on how it is going to fill the gap?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: For most people, it is either NBI or tethering to a hotspot on one's mobile phone. You either have it in your home or you do not. How much dialogue does NBI have with mobile phone service providers to ensure they are not going to the same place and leaving the same gaps? How much joined-up dialogue is there to ensure that, as separate entities, they are collectively covering all of Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: NBI is not operating in isolation; there is good communication between the various entities.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: I met members of NBI on site in Cratloe, County Clare, 12 months ago. They did a tour of various places in Ireland but we stopped at a level crossing. This could have been any level crossing in Ireland. The NBI staff told me that, at that time, licensing agreements with Irish Rail and other national entities were proving to be a barrier. NBI might get cabling a certain distance down a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: That is the last big agreement outstanding.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: Many people in County Clare want to know where national broadband overall is at. As luck would have it, broadband has reached my corner of the county because of its proximity to Limerick city. It is lightning quick and really welcome. There are other people in County Clare wondering where the roll-out is at in the context of their homes. I ask the witnesses to update the committee on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: In what parts of the county will we next see NBI crews pop up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: That sounds good. On costs, is NBI fully funded? Is it within budget? Is everything kosher in that regard? Are there any financial difficulties ahead for NBI?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: It is a source of concern. Some 12 months ago, Roadbridge, a large civil engineering company that was building roads all over the country, seemed to have been in the healthiest state one could imagine but, suddenly, the company folded. NBI is in a similar realm. It is doing civil works. It is excavating and it has fuel costs, road crews and everything else, yet there are certain caps to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: NBI is not seeking top-ups or anything like that from the Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: How does that work? If I am a contractor and NBI is telling me to drive down my costs yet all my outputs are going through the roof, how can those two factors be reconciled?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Crowe: I thank Mr. Hendrick and Mr. Malone for their engagement. It is appropriate that a telecommunications outfit have good communication. Our guests should keep up that good communication and keep engaging with the committee. We cannot tie up the whole meeting today with parish pump issues, but that kind of engagement with us, as Oireachtas representatives on the ground, is very much appreciated.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Ireland Prison Education Strategy 2019-2022: Discussion (5 Jul 2022)

Cathal Crowe: At the outset, I am delighted to be on this committee. I moved onto it this week. I am a teacher by profession. I have put down the books for a few years to hopefully serve my county in the Dáil. I have a few questions that I would like to put to the witnesses. Before coming in here today I read a report by the Regional Educational Laboratory in the US. It identifies that 41% of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Ireland Prison Education Strategy 2019-2022: Discussion (5 Jul 2022)

Cathal Crowe: As educators, would the witnesses like that to move from an anecdotal basis to empirical evidence? There are many causal factors behind someone ending up in the penal system, such as drug addiction, which was mentioned a moment ago, family situations and a whole number of factors that we cannot quantify because they are individual factors. Another reason is one's unmet needs as one was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Ireland Prison Education Strategy 2019-2022: Discussion (5 Jul 2022)

Cathal Crowe: Absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Ireland Prison Education Strategy 2019-2022: Discussion (5 Jul 2022)

Cathal Crowe: When the teachers are educating in the prison context there may be a range of telltale signs that someone may have dyslexia or dyscalculia. In that moment the teacher will have a hunch. When I was a primary school teacher, we had a referral mechanism to get someone screened and diagnosed. Is there a similar pathway for an adult, if the teachers suspect that the man or woman in front of...