Results 6,421-6,440 of 6,467 for speaker:James Lawless

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: It is your party.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: Actually, that is exactly what happened. It was said and it happened in the last three budgets. Exactly the same process is playing out in this year as it did in every other year. I have listened with great sympathy and great interest to, and I have taken note of the detail of, many of the cases raised in debates in the House and elsewhere and a great number of students and their...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: Everybody under that threshold will get some support and many will get far more fulsome support. Sixty-five thousand students will get a full grant support from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI. One hundred and forty-three thousand students will have their tuition fees paid by the State. Those thresholds go up, again and again. I intend to revisit all of those measures in October...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I acknowledge the Deputy's integrity and interest in this subject. We have had a number of discussions on it in the past. The Deputy commented in the previous debate. Indeed, Deputy McGettigan did also, in fairness. Both Deputies, as spokespersons for their respective parties, engaged in the process constructively and I welcome that. I would ask that we continue that engagement. When...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I appreciate that. It is worth putting on record some of the increases that are already kicking in for this September. The threshold for 100% payment of the student contribution grant - this is aside from SUSI maintenance grants, which are paid out to help with the living expenses of students - rises from €55,924 to €64,315. That means that 44,500 extra people will now...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I acknowledge that. We have heard talk in the past week about a scheduled increase and a plan and an increase and an announcement of increases. Let us be clear. We have had none of that. There has been a lot of hyperbole. Some of the Opposition leaders and others have hyped it up a little bit. I suggest they listen to the interview that I gave on RTÉ and maybe read the transcript....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy is likely aware that the rate of pay of an apprentice is a contractual matter between the employer and the apprentice, depending on the nature of the apprenticeship. If it is a craft or consortia-led apprenticeship, it may come under a sectoral employment order, but it is sometimes governed by contract. Breaches of the contract, if any, come under the remit of the Payment of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I am meeting representatives of SOLAS this week and I will raise it with them because it is not good enough if that is happening on the ground. I will make sure I engage with them on that matter. To some extent, all of us in any job end up taking on additional tasks or roles that may be slightly outside what we might be tasked to do. However, it should not be at scale, should not be...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I will recap on some of the measures that are available if there is any breach. There is a code of practice for employers and apprentices and sanctions are available. SOLAS imposes those sanctions should they arise. Section 11 of the code of practice sets out such measures as a written warning, a final written warning, suspension from being able to take on apprenticeships for six months,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: Central to the Deputy's question is the provision of information in whatever form. The question mentioned an information hub. It goes back to a deeper question about how we guide young people - some not so young - but primarily school-leavers into the right choices in their career paths. We need to recognise that the day of a job for life is gone. We see the advent of digital and AI with...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy is absolutely right. As I said in my initial remarks, there is a programme for Government commitment to bring together the different portals into a shared information hub. That is very much a work in progress. I have canvassed the different agencies on that as I have been meeting them in my short time to date. We have tried to come up with an integrated tertiary system,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I studied accounting for my leaving cert and then studied mathematics as an undergraduate. Perhaps my focus on numbers has been unfortunate in recent days. Perhaps there is a bigger picture than the pure mathematical realities, something I am learning. Again I agree with the Deputy. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and I recently launched a subset of the overall system but a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: Is that your question?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: This is a really important question. We are bringing forward a successor apprenticeship action plan. We are also looking at an integrated apprenticeship model, something I will be canvassing with stakeholders at the labour economic forum shortly. I have already met the unions and others in the relevant space and that is something we will continue to engage on. We are undertaking a review...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I hear that, but neither my Department nor SOLAS is involved in the setting of apprenticeship wages. There are two types of apprentices. Under apprenticeship programmes developed before 2016, which are referred to as craft apprenticeships and are largely but not exclusively traditional construction-type apprenticeships, there are long-standing industrial relations mechanisms that determine...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate that. In the bulk of apprenticeships, the story is one of success and progression. In an apprenticeship survey conducted recently, 90% of apprentices who qualified were in employment in that field two years later. They stuck with it. There was high stickability and the median weekly earnings were €935 two years out. If we look at a sample of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy for the question. We have had some discussion on this in the Chamber previously. The funding SOLAS receives has increased substantially, with current funding in 2025 representing a €310 million, or 37%, uplift compared to 2020. That has enabled one in ten adults to engage in learning funded by SOLAS and highlights the vital role of further education and training...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: This came to my attention about a month ago. I addressed it in the Chamber shortly after that. That funding pressure arises from apprentices being in the system for longer than was ever anticipated because of backlogs that arose previously. They are on an incremental scale so, as they remain in the system, they become eligible for higher rates. This means there was a requirement for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: It absolutely will not be kicked down the road on my watch. I assure the Deputy of that. I intend to tackle this. That is why I am engaging with the Minister for public expenditure and directly with SOLAS. I am meeting the board on Thursday. This needs to be tackled and brought to a head. Like all other agencies funded under the Department's aegis, SOLAS makes submissions as part of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 105, 107, 110 and 112 together. I note that a number of Deputies have similar questions and that these have been grouped. We will probably go around the House to take supplementary questions. As I have said a number of times this evening and over recent months, I am acutely conscious of the financial challenges facing students and of the need for...