Results 841-860 of 1,013 for speaker:Colette Kelleher

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: We are not going back to segregated education, but will the delegates indicate which things from the past were helpful and should be reinstated? What new initiatives do they recommend? When he appeared before the committee, Mr. Thomas McCann spoke clearly about the mental health issues affecting members of the Traveller community and described an indifference to their difficulties. Do the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Is the Yellow Flag programme on a firm financial footing and is it wide ranging enough to do the job? It sounds like a very positive initiative but I wonder how stable it is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Will Ms Chaturvedi confirm that schools are applying to participate in the Yellow Flag programme but cannot be accepted because of a lack of resources and funding?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: That is a terrible shame.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Does it receive any funding from the Department of Education and Skills?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: It seems to be a very positive initiative.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: It needs to be placed on a much firmer footing to do the work that is important. I welcome Jack Leahy from Malahide community school, Anna Crowley from Mount Anville, Martin McGibney from St. Patrick's College in Cavan and Hannah Furey from St. Anne's College in Killaloe. They are all transition year students. We hope we are giving them food for thought. I detect a sense of weariness...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Political leadership from the State.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: As Deputy Gino Kenny said, we must move forwards, not backwards. The State must be an activist and interventionist to bring about a shift.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: We will have two more modules on education. We will have a chance to put the points made by the delegates to the Minister and his officials. I want to bang the drum for the Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill which has just passed through the Seanad. That is good, but it must continue its journey through the Dáil also. That is another part of the work that needs to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Business of Joint Committee (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: As we have a quorum, I call the meeting to order. Apologies have been received from Deputy Gino Kenny. I propose we go into private session to deal with some housekeeping matters.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I welcome members of the committee, and viewers who may be watching our proceedings on Oireachtas TV, to the meeting, the purpose of which is to continue the committee's deliberations on the topic of education and how it impacts on the Traveller community. This is our third session. The committee has heard from Ms Catherine Joyce of the Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank Dr. O'Doherty for her presentation and call on Deputy O'Sullivan. I know she has had a tough time getting here this morning. If she is ready, we would be interested to hear from her. She and I are co-chairs of the Oireachtas group on Travellers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan. I now call on Mr. Patrick McDonagh, Traveller and PhD student in medieval history, to make his presentation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank Mr. McDonagh. I hope everyone had a chance to read his very succinct and practical submission. It would be helpful to tease it out. I now open the debate up to my fellow committee members.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Who would like to go first?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I strongly suggest that we circulate that interim report. The Minister for Education and Skills will come before the committee next week. We can ask him what action is being taken on foot of the report. It would be helpful for us to make common cause with the Joint Committee on Education and Skills on this matter which, as Deputy Jan O'Sullivan stated , was hidden in plain sight and not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Mr. McDonagh, do you have any comments to make in response?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: From the groups of Traveller parents that I have met down through the years, there is plenty of ambition and there is plenty of aspiration, it is just that the system does not support Travellers. Their children get excluded, are on a reduced timetable, are getting bullied and listening to nasty words and hate speech. Then there are the practicalities of the cost. Staying in education is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: We are hearing a recurring theme in the areas of education, health and mental health that great work is happening but is often funded on a wing and a prayer. We heard that this morning about the yellow flag programme, the Tobar initiative and the Ballyfermot group, and it is important that this committee recommends action in this area. These initiatives work, but they need mainstream...