Results 5,621-5,640 of 6,467 for speaker:James Lawless
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (25 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: My Department has had no dealings to date with Coleg Cymraeg.
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Social Media (25 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: It is the policy of my department to include closed captioning on videos. All videos posted on the Department's social media accounts from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 are captioned. None include ISL interpretation. The information in respect of the state bodies within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my department. Contact details for these bodies are set...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (25 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 885 and 886 together. Pipefitting is a craft apprenticeship programme that takes four years to complete, with off-the-job training phases delivered through Education Training Boards (ETBs) and Technological Universities (TUs). Munster Technological University (MTU) is currently the sole provider of phase 6 off-the-job training for pipefitting at its...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Period Poverty (25 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: Funding of €500,000 was provided in May 2024 to support Higher Education and Further Education institutions in their efforts to ensure period dignity within their settings, by my Department. This seed funding was provided to assist with efforts in provision of free sustainable period products and dispensers and the impact of that funding will continue to be monitored, including via...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (26 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has recently received a tender report for the works at the facility in question. Department officials are currently reviewing the report with the intention of reverting, via SOLAS, to the relevant Education and Training Board as soon as possible. The timeframe for delivery of works will be established once a contractor is approved for...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Care and Education (26 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: As the Deputy will be aware Marino Institute of Education and the National College of Ireland are private higher education institutions. Private institutions play an important role in the overall higher education landscape. These institutions may be in receipt of some limited funding from the State for certain courses that are approved for funding under specific initiatives. These include...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Data Protection (26 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: My Department operates a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Education for Data Governance and Strategy. As such it is agreed that the Data Protection officer for the Department of Education is also the Data Protection officer for my Department. My Department is committed to the highest standards of data protection compliance and engages with the Data Protection Commission...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (26 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: Our higher education system plays an important role in supporting and promoting the use of the Irish language. This will undoubtedly support efforts to increase the use of Irish in the public sector workforce. The Higher Education Authority Act 2022 highlights the importance of the Irish language by placing a responsibility on the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to ensure that higher...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Weather Events (26 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: My Department has not been provided with any additional funding due to Storm Éowyn at this point in time.
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Scientific Research (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: I would like to thank the Deputy for his continued interest in and advocacy for Ireland's application for Membership of CERN which I am delighted to report is now coming to fruition. I had a very successful visit to CERN in February when I met with the Director-General, Dr Fabiola Gianotti and other senior management. The Director-General shared her vision for the future of CERN,...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: I am sure that the Deputy will appreciate, as Minister, I have no role in the operational day-to-day running of Education and Training Boards (ETBs) as the scheduling and programming of courses is a matter for each individual ETB, subject to their available budget and local needs. My Department has significantly increased its investment in further education and training by nearly...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: As a short-term measure to address the challenges faced by students in accessing accommodation, the Government approved funding for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to activate projects with planning permission that had stalled due to cost and viability challenges. The Maynooth University Student Accommodation project is being funded as part of this Short-term Activation Programme....
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: The number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes in State-funded Higher Education Institutions is determined by the Minister for Education, based on teacher supply and demand, and available resources. My Department fully supports workforce planning by the Department of Education to ensure a steady supply of teachers, including those for Irish-language...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: Irish students who study in Northern Ireland, in EU member states and in Britain are entitled to certain supports provided by SUSI, subject to certain conditions which are set out in the Student Support Act, Student Grant Scheme & Student Support Regulations. Such students are eligible for maintenance grants for undergraduate programmes across the EU and in Northern Ireland and...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: As part of the Student Accommodation Short-Term Activation Programme, the University of Galway (UG) received approval to progress a leasing project for approximately 242 additional beds over 15 years. An assessment was commenced by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) as part of the due diligence process, however during the assessment the proposal was withdrawn by the vendor. The...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: The Further Education and Training (FET) College of the Future Major Projects Fund was launched to address existing deficits in FET infrastructure, to support projects that drive reform of the FET sector and to facilitate consolidation and integration of further education and training. In September 2024 following an evaluation process, six proposals met the relevant criteria and were...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: With the new Student Accommodation Strategy, which is in development, I am seeking to both increase the supply of student accommodation to benefit students and also free up private rental homes. To achieve this, the focus is on a combination of digs accommodation, an examination of vacant property, and the development and leasing of purpose-built student accommodation. I will also examine...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: Under Budget 2025, additional funding was announced for Research Ireland in order to increase its PhD stipend level to €25,000, i.e. an increase of over 31% in two years. This announcement builds on the increases secured under preceding Budgets, demonstrating my Department’s consistent focus and progress on this issue. It has come into effect from 1 January 2025. In doing so,...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: Following the publication in 2015 of the Higher Education Authority's report on Student Accommodation: Demand & Supply, the first inter-departmental working group on student accommodation was established. This group supported the development of the first national student accommodation strategy 2017-2024 and monitored its implementation. The Departments of Finance, Public Expenditure...
- Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disability Services (27 Mar 2025)
James Lawless: This government is prioritising workforce planning needs across health and disability services. My officials and I are working closely with other Departments to support workforce planning responses by creating additional places in areas of acute skills need, ensuring a pipeline of qualified graduates for our health and social care workforce. I recently met with cabinet colleagues, the...