Results 3,321-3,340 of 3,895 for speaker:John Halligan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: Education and Training Boards offer a broad range of courses serving 320,000 learners each year. These courses seek to develop skills for the economy, to facilitate greater participation in society and to promote personal development. This Government has a major focus on upskilling and reskilling the working age population. During the recession the focus was mainly on supporting...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship 2016-2020 sets out a series of actions and annual targets to grow apprenticeship provision. The Plan targets 31,000 learner registrations on apprenticeship programmes over its lifetime. This represents a more than doubling of activity over the plan period. This growth will be achieved through expanding employer engagement with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: It is important that learners and workers consider their options in an informed way throughout their education and working lives. The wide range of opportunities offered through the apprenticeship system should be an important part of this process. This Government is committed to expanding the apprenticeship model into new sectors of the economy to give more choice to learners and to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 73 together. The 2014 Review of Apprenticeship in Ireland recommended that curriculum reviews should be carried out on existing apprenticeships to keep pace with new methods and technologies in the workplace and to ensure that apprentices have a broader range of literacy, numeracy, ICT and teamworking skills. The current motor mechanics...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The education and training system at all levels has a number of key strategies in place to ensure we meet existing and future skills demands in the workplace and equip young people with the skills to meet these demands, to enhance the level of human capital in Ireland and provide a solid basis for long-term economic sustainability and rising living standards.  These strategies...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Science Foundation Ireland Data (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: Science Foundation Ireland has an established network of 17 world-leading Research Centres. Representing a commitment of over €455 million from Science Foundation Ireland and an Industry commitment of €244 million, these major funding awards link scientists and engineers in partnerships across 19 research bodies, including all seven universities, and more than 350 companies in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Science Foundation Ireland (22 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Capital and Current funding allocations from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to Science Foundation Ireland for the years 2003 – 2019 is set out in tabular form. Year Current Capital Revised Estimates Volume allocation €000 Plus sanctioned Deferred Surrender (Capital Carryover) * €000 Supplementary Estimate ** €000 Total...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (23 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I apologise on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health issues, Deputy Jim Daly. I thank the Deputy for raising this very important and serious matter. In the recent budget an additional €55 million was provided to progress new developments in mental health services this year. It brings overall Health Service Executive, HSE, mental health service...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (23 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, wishes to reiterates that improving all aspects of policies and services for promoting positive mental health is a priority under the HSE service plan for 2019. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister of State has met him in the past regarding this issue. In addition, within the past few days, the Minister of State's office has been in touch about...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (23 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. A number of changes to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The school transport scheme is complicated and complex in the sense that thousands of vehicles are used to transport 117,000 children - 12,000 of whom have special needs - twice a day throughout the country and that 100 million km are covered in doing so. The transport of that number of children, some in buses and some in taxis, can be difficult. We are consistently having difficulty in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Fees (30 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. The child in question is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Research and Development Supports (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I thank the Deputy for her important question. Ireland has developed a reputation for excellence in research and development and we continue to perform well at international level. We rose to ninth place in the 2018 European innovation scoreboard and stand at tenth in the 2018 global innovation index. Overall expenditure on research and development in Ireland has been increasing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Research and Development Supports (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: European statistics are based on GDP rather than GNP. The difference is that the GNP totals domestic investment, foreign investment and so on. It is unlikely that many European countries will reach the target of 2.5%. On the Deputy's question about where Ireland stands and how well we are doing, we can only go on the European and global statistics we get. Under the heading, Excellent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Research and Development Supports (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Government strategy for research and innovation includes an action to scope out and develop a successor to the PRTLI, which was successful, and to support new investment in research infrastructure including buildings and equipment. The scoping of a future cycle of the PRTLI has been undertaken by my Department, working with the Department of Education and Skills. Through SFI, my...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: My Department is very aware of the serious impacts on businesses and consumers of high insurance costs. It is important that consumers and businesses can obtain insurance cover at a reasonable and fair price. The cost of insurance working group, chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, has undertaken a review of the factors influencing the increased cost of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: In my initial response, I did not get the opportunity to state that the other groups we met included the Bar Council of Ireland and the Law Reform Commission. We were seeking the co-operation of all of those groups in advancing the implementation of the recommendations in the report that are relevant to them. My officials have met the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, and other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The cost of insurance working group is undertaking a review of all factors influencing the increased cost of insurance. We have met that group on a number of occasions. Its objective is to identify immediate and long-term measures to address increasing costs, bearing in mind the need to maintain a stable insurance sector in the community. Everybody in government believes that we need to do...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has made regional development a top priority. Enterprise development, job creation and the promotion of innovation across all regions are key priorities of Government. We want all regions to realise their potential as contributors to economic recovery and growth and for regional disparities to be reduced. My Department’s 2019...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The answer is "Yes". We are certainly doing that. I did not get an opportunity to state that Project Ireland 2040 identified a number of specific priority investments in the area of innovation. These include the establishment of a €500 million disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF, which encompasses that to which the Deputy refers. The first call in this competitive process...