Results 3,501-3,520 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: 6. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures she is taking to address the ongoing lack of secondary school places in Wexford town, which is forcing many parents to send their children 25 kilometres each way to schools in Enniscorthy in County Wexford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43783/15]

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: There are not enough places for children in and around Wexford town for children to attend school close to their homes. The waiting list has reached crisis level. What does the Minister plan to do about it? The national programme is not really tackling the severe problem in Wexford town. Are there any further plans on the cards to deal with it?

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: At present four of the five schools in Wexford town have a waiting list of between 160 and 180 students. This is projected to get worse in the coming years. Loreto has capacity for 720 and that will increase with the new school to 900, an extra 180 places, but it alone has a waiting list of approximately 320 places. That will take six years to complete. We are not even close to addressing...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: It appears the figures on the ground are different. I am surprised the Minister, Deputy Howlin, did not bring back a starker picture because of what we hear from parents in the area.

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: It is good that work on Loreto is starting. It is interesting that one cannot open a regional newspaper now without seeing somebody from the Government parties turning a sod. What was the Government at for five years?

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: All of a sudden there is a surge to do something.

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: I do not understand how for five years-----

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: -----the Government did so little in this area.

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: It is a bit like the idea that people should vote for the Labour Party and it will repeal the 8th amendment to the Constitution. What has the party done in the past five years and why did it not repeal the amendment then?

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: It is beyond me how the party operates.

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: 7. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the construction of an additional secondary school in south Wexford, given the long waiting lists for schools in the region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43784/15]

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: This question is related to the previous question. Rather than repeating what I have said, I will discuss another dimension of the issue, although I realise it is not raised directly in the question. Many of these projects are operated under the public private partnership, PPP, system. I have put questions to the different Departments, including the Department of Education and Skills,...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: Will the Minister indicate if any of the four projects currently planned for Wexford are PPPs? I wrote to at least six Departments seeking information on PPPs, including the Minister's Department. The stock answer is: "In making the decision, I have considered the public interest and, on balance, I am satisfied that the public interest would not be better served in this instance by the...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister has stated the Government did not have the money to do it until now. I know PPP payments are current expenditure rather than capital. The Government can borrow money at 1.7% and it could do so for school building rather than being pushed into the arms of the PPPs - their cost can be up to 15%. It is surely a no-brainer. It will save a lot of money in the long term and is such...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (9 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister is misinterpreting me.

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (10 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: 7. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce specific measures targeted at increasing the capacity of local authorities to build social housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44125/15]

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (10 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: At this stage, most people would agree that the core of our housing problem is the lack of local authority social housing units. Until we decide to target the delivery of more local authority social housing new builds, we will continue to have a housing problem. Is the Government prepared to take more direct action to address the problem?

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (10 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: When the Government talks about figures, it is difficult to see the clarity. It always talks about local authorities and approved housing bodies. I honestly think we must be specific and say we need local authority social housing. How many local authority social housing new builds were delivered in the past four years and how many will be delivered up to 2020? I know of a Roma family with...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (10 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: NAMA has nominated Cerberus as the preferred bidder for Project Arrow. The deal has not yet gone through so I do not understand why the Government does not take some of the built units which are ready for use. I can live with the idea of the developer providing 10% of the units instead of 20% because it would be particularly difficult for small builders to finance it if they provide 20% and...

International Protection Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Government says that this is a short-term solution which will solve people's accommodation needs as they seek an application for protection in this country. I understood, from listening to the Minister for State, that direct provision would be abolished, given how poorly it had functioned over the years. Fast-tracking the process will not necessarily solve all of the problems. It will...