Results 3,041-3,060 of 32,837 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I will go to climate change and back to the points raised by Deputy Cullinane. There is a window of opportunity and this is the last stall to have any opportunity to take action against climate change. What actions has the Department taken at policy level? What is happening on the ground in respect of climate change?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I have a list relating to energy efficiency, solar panels, etc.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Presumably, the 15 schools listed were all new. I will take them as an example, with Galway having one. Are they all energy efficient? Do they have solar panels?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Ó Foghlú said there is a special unit. If I follow this up separately, will there be documentation available? I am thinking of a scoil lán-Ghaeilge in Galway. It cost a fortune. That is not the Department's fault because it related to the compulsory purchase of the land. It must be the most expensive school in the country. I put my hands up because I supported the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I do not mean to interrupt but I am going to. Mr. Ó Foghlú has repeated that the standards are going up. I do not want to use up my time on this. If I follow up on this, will I see a total commitment to climate change measures in the Department's policy in respect of all buildings at primary, secondary and third level?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I will come back to this separately. The National Training Fund has three functions - upskilling those who are employed, upskilling those who are unemployed, and providing information about necessary skills. Who is responsible for advising the Government on what necessary skills are required? Where are we going in that regard? It is not the fault of the Department but of the Government...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: He will make an announcement.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Two weeks ago I had the privilege, among others, to present awards at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Galway. It was clearly acknowledged at that event that there was a lack of training in necessary skills. It was a very positive event in which prizes were awarded for first, second and third places in the leaving and junior certificate examinations. It was clear from speaking to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Will Ó Foghlú tell me about apprenticeships?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I am aware of them. I was referring to more practical skills on the ground which are becoming less and less practical as a result of technology. While I accept Mr. Ó Foghlú's answer, I am not happy with it. I do not know where to start with the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: That is a good start. The service is not available in every school. Which schools do not have a service? What is the position on NEPS? How can the Department stand over a system in which a certain number of hours are allocated to a school which then faces Solomon's choice as to which child it will select for assessment? When schools are at their wits' end, they will avail of a private...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Ó Foghlú should not set out the mission statement which I have read but the position on the ground.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I interrupt because I will be stopped very soon. Am I wrong in stating that until now the role of the service was to provide an assessment for schools based on numbers and that one or two assessments were provided each year, leaving schools with a Hobson's or Solomon's choice, whichever term one prefers to use, to make? Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I happen to agree with Mr. Ó Foghlú in the sense that I have the privilege of coming from that background. What the Department did was reduce the role of NEPS to one of carrying out assessments by giving a certain number of hours to schools. Is that correct? A certain number of assessments were allowed per annum. I ask Mr. Ó Foghlú to answer that question.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Good; now I have an answer. To bridge the gap Mr. Ó Foghlú outlined, schools were then left to use the private system, which meant ringing a psychologist with whom they were not familiar, paying €500 or €600 and recouping the money from the Department. Is that correct? The answer is either "Yes" or "No".

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Good; Mr. Ó Foghlú has answered "Yes" twice, although he will probably not answer "Yes" to my next question. NEPS provided a completely sketchy service. It was an insult to call it a psychological service to schools. I do not expect Mr. Ó Foghlú to agree with me, but what I want to know is whether a circular has been issued to change the system. What is in progress?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Has a circular been issued to change the system? Is the NEPS system in the process of being changed or has it been changed?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: What does "actively" mean in terms of a review?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (23 Mar 2017)

Catherine Connolly: That is good.