Results 361-380 of 886 for speaker:Mark Wall

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I move amendment No. 150: In page 126, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(7) An tÚdarás shall not prepare or adopt and issue guidelines, codes or policies to designated institutions of higher education concerning the implementation of a policy or objective of the Minister or the Government unless— (a) the Minister has given a direction in...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I move amendment No. 151: In page 126, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(7) Where a designated institution of higher education departs from guidelines, codes or policies prepared under subsection (1), it shall be afforded an opportunity to provide an explanation as to the extent of and the reasons for such departure.”.

Seanad: School Transport: Motion (21 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank the Fine Gael team for putting forward this important motion and using Private Members' time to discuss this issue. I and a number of colleagues debated this problem in a Commencement matter with the Minister. I welcome the chance to discuss this issue again. This problem is still massive in my area of south Kildare, as mentioned by other...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Transport Costs (27 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I welcome the Minister of State into the House and I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. I hope the Minister of State comes with good news. I have heard, in the past number of days, that the young adult card will be extended to 16- to 18-year-olds. I hope the Minister of State will confirm that in his reply. I and, indeed, other colleagues have called for this...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Transport Costs (27 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: The Minister of State kept us waiting right until the very end to announce the good news, but it is very good news that he announced today, as before. I want to welcome this initiative. As the Minister of State said, it is very positive for students and public travel in this country. The one issue I would like to bring to his attention is the commercial bus operators, to ensure that they...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I was contacted last night by the excellent Labour Youth student branch at Maynooth University over its concerns that the proposed student centre and hub will not be going ahead as promised. My concern, which is shared by the Labour Youth student branch, is that students have been paying a student levy towards this building since 2015 with the promise that it would be built in the quickest...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I thank our five contributors to date. I am looking forward to everyone else's contribution. I wish to put my cards on the table. I am from the great county of Kildare which is in the middle of this great country which we have. I am very interested in this conversation. The most important thing is that we have said we are here as a committee to listen to what our guest speakers have to...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Mark Wall: I thank all 16 contributors. As I said at the start, this is very much a listening exercise for us. When I agreed to be part of this committee, we were told that there would be a report at the end of it but all reports are only as good as the people that participate in their making. Today has been a great start for us in that sense and the next couple of sessions promise to be very good....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: There has been a lot of talk about the commuting measures in the budget over the past week or so. I welcome the extension of the 20% discount to public transport fares and the extension of reduced fares for young adults to the end of 2023. It was great to receive confirmation that the youth travel card will be extended to those aged 16, 17 and 18 years of age, which we learned through a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: I thank our guests for coming before the committee. It has already been an informative meeting. I will go back to the issue of July provision that Deputy Carroll MacNeill spoke about earlier. Ms Fox mentioned the fact that there are 116,000 registered professionals, which is great to hear. Would they all be capable of completing or teaching in a July provision programme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: Ms Fox mentioned 1,200 teachers in her response to Deputy Carroll MacNeill. Was that the amount of teachers, of that 116,000, who took part in this year's programme or was that the number of student placements? I want to confirm that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: That would be good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: The issue over those summer months was the lack of routine. As Ms Fox will be aware from interacting with families, there was no July provision in major towns around this country. Has she any idea of the number of teachers who took part in July provision? Is that number available to her and will she share it with the committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: I appreciate that. I wish to raise one other issue. I wish to put on the record that I am not a teacher. This committee relates to autistic persons. Ms Fox mentioned the ongoing Droichead induction. How much of that is specific to autism? Is there a module specific to autism? Ms Fox also mentioned 24 or 30 weeks in special education. How much of that is specific to autism? Is that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: I have a lead-on question from there. The Chair has brought us around a number of special schools and one of the big issues was autistic person-specific training. Ms Fox has said it is dependent on the training teacher coming back and asking for that. Should there be autistic person-specific training, given the complexities many families and students have? Is that something the Teaching...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: It is all leading into that question. Ms Fox is saying there is a module that is autism-specific. I ask Ms Fox to tell us about that again and what it involves.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: They are very detailed and interesting answers. I thank all our guests for being with us this morning. It has been a very interesting discussion so far. I want to come back to school places. All the witnesses have mentioned forward planning. I am from the lovely county of Kildare and school places are a big issue for us there, including for special places. Every time I have met the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy in Education: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: I thank the Chairman.

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Mark Wall: I welcome the Minister back to the House this evening. He was here previously for discussions on Defence Forces matters but this is our first opportunity to discuss this important report. I thank him for making himself available to us this evening. I also thank those involved in producing the report, including the chairman and all those who were on the committee. That is important to say....