Results 35,201-35,220 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: I did not hear the name of the person the Minister of State was referencing.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Perhaps the Minister of State would respond to the questions I have asked, following which I would like to raise a couple of other issues with him.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: The amount seems very small in the context of the figures we have been talking about. Given that these are Irish assets, the value of which as the Minister of State will be aware, with the recovery, have begun to rise, that particular figure seems very small.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: On the €50 million, in the context of the range of estimates, high and low, was that on the low end at around 10% or was it on the high end?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: On that point, I assume we are speaking about entities that are funds or is the Minister of State saying that he and, perhaps, Revenue, associate particular figures very strongly with them?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: On the representations, I presume we can access them via freedom of information, FOI, requests. It would be helpful to the committee if we were to have the representations and the purpose of them. We are talking in technicalities about the potential effectiveness and fairness of the arrangements which have been made. Based on what the Minister of State is saying, there was negotiation, in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: I wish to make two final brief points. Given the difficulties experienced, as previously outlined by the Minister of State, why was the decision made to include charities and credit unions as exempt entities?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: I know that. In terms of a strategy around-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Last year, we had the notorious case of Clerys in Dublin, whereby a property was flipped rapidly from the then owners, at significant profit, to the new owners. There were strong suggestions some of these mechanisms might have been used and various State organisations have been looking at the matter. Did the Revenue Commissioners look at it? It was a very valuable...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: 25. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a progress report on junior certificate syllabus, subject and assessment reforms and his key priorities in this regard for 2017 and 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35239/16]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Where stands junior certificate reform? Does the resolution, up to a point ,of the dispute with the ASTI mean that the issues relating to junior certificate reform have been resolved? Will the Minister give students an assurance that they will not end up penalised or losing marks because their schools or some of the teachers in the schools may not be participating fully in junior...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: I do not know whether the Minister is aware that many students and their parents feel deeply unsure about what is happening with junior certificate reform. While the junior certificate is obviously not as big an exam as the leaving certificate, it is a major issue in the life and perspective of a student if he or she is working away and yet may be penalised because one particular union is...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: -----that the number of jobs which will change over the next ten to 20 years and which will affect these students right throughout their working life is very significant.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: However, I am very unclear, on foot of the Minister's reply, as to what actual progress has been achieved. Does he acknowledge that students still will not know-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: -----whether some will be at a ten-point disadvantage if their schools are overseen by ASTI members?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister tell us the number of students and schools affected by the non-collaboration of the ASTI and its members with the junior certificate cycle reforms? We are coming close to Christmas and the exams will happen not too long in the life of the students and parents after that. With due respect, it is not good enough for the Minister to say this is only for the State Examinations...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: 35. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposals he is reviewing, in conjunction with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, to realise the programme for Government commitment to have schools available for child care services outside school hours; if community groups and private providers will be allowed tender for access to those facilities; and if he will make a...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister provide an update on the proposals relating to granting access to schools after-school hours to child care providers, including community groups, in order that they might offer after-school care? Will they be allowed to apply for access to after-school facilities in schools? The Minister is aware that many schools are closed by the middle to late afternoon and for parents...

Other Questions: School Accommodation (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister tell us who is carrying out this review? Are there any civil servants left in either of the Departments who are not working full-time on reviews? It is the comment we have heard most from the Minister since he became a Minister in that everything seems to be subject to review. In this respect, as the Minister probably knows, quite a few schools in Dublin and around the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (16 Nov 2016)

Joan Burton: 37. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reduce class sizes and build on the measures to reduce class sizes in the previous budget. [34873/16]