Results 16,681-16,700 of 17,012 for speaker:Paul Kehoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Following up on that, is Ms Murphy from a rural part of Ireland and where is she from?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Okay, Ms Murphy is from Dublin. I presume none of the rest of our guests are from rural Ireland and are from urban centres. If Ms Doyle takes County Wexford, we now have bus services from almost 85% of the villages in our county which operate four, five or six times a day going into the main town centres. An awful lot of people are crying out for these services yet when you see the bus...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: My next question is for Mr. Irfan and Ms Murphy. Regarding getting younger people involved, and we are talking about a generational change, Tidy Towns groups across Ireland do a fantastic job. They do a really good job in their local communities but one of the biggest challenges they have is encouraging younger people to participate. It does take time. It involves going out on Saturday or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: There is an issue I have often thought about. We have a day for this and a day for the other or whatever the story is but to get young and older people involved, should there be a national clean-up day? There might be one already but if there is, it is badly promoted. On that day everybody could get out into their own local community - young and old - supported by Government, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Would anyone else like to comment on such an initiative?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: The Department of Education is definitely going in that direction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion. (28 May 2024)

Paul Kehoe: In fairness, the Department is very much aware of renewables and renewable energy when it is building new schools. We have a couple of them in County Wexford - as Senator Malcolm Byrne will attest to. The biggest issue we have is old school buildings that we must ensure have environmentally friendly heating systems. I thank the witnesses for coming here today. The discussion has been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: No apologies have been received. I ask members to ensure their mobile phones are switched off because they interfere with the broadcasting equipment, even if they are on silent mode. Are the minutes of the meeting of 28 May agreed? Agreed. We will have two sessions, the first of which will be a round-table discussion on climate action and sustainable development in primary and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: I thank Ms Rush. I have a number of questions. On the issue of agri-education that Deputy Nolan has spoken about, agriculture has come in for a lot of criticism over the past while. Some of the secondary schools and two vocational colleges in my constituency offer the opportunity for students to study the green cert, which I very much welcome. An awful lot of young students do not want to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: With specific reference to primary schools, and the huge number of local primary schools based in parishes and villages, we have seen a huge number of local environmental groups that are all around sustainable energy goals in their own local communities. Can the witnesses see primary schools playing a part with their own local community leaders in that, and, if so, how do they see that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: That was the one I was about to mention.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Before Ms De Khors comes in, I can only speak of my local authority and am not sure if it is the same with others across the country. We have the environmental awards once per year and primary schools are part of that with art competitions and everything like that. I am big into litter-picking and so on. Not all, but many, young people still do not get the importance of using bins....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: The report on STEM by this committee recommended STEM subjects should be commenced as early as preschool, getting children talking about STEM and its importance. There are huge challenges in secondary school getting teachers for physics and subjects like that. What are the witnesses' thoughts on that recommendation? Some primary schools are really good, and witnesses who have previously...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Ms O'Connor might send a list to the clerk and we will send it to the members.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: I thank the officials for coming here today. It has been very informative and beneficial. We will suspend for a few minutes to allow the next group of officials to take their seats.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: I welcome Ms Fiona O'Byrne, principal officer, higher education policy and reform; Ms Aideen Foley, principal officer, climate action and capital planning; Ms Caoimhe Hope, principal officer, student accommodation; Mr. David Keating, principal officer, research policy programmes; and Ms Sarah Miley, principal officer, construction and green skills, Department of Further and Higher Education,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: I call Deputy Nolan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: That is no bother. I have a couple of questions. Interestingly, the representatives are very well aware of the value of the bike to work scheme. Representatives of the Union of Students in Ireland were before the committee at our meeting on 28 May and spoke about the potential value of a bike to college scheme, similar to a bike to work scheme. That makes sense. I wonder if the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: How does the issue we are discussing today fit into Ms Hope’s role in student accommodation, etc.?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Climate Action and Sustainable Development Education: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jun 2024)

Paul Kehoe: Ms Hope spoke of standardised designs. Is she modelling that on any other European country or a country outside Europe where there are more advanced standardised designs than we have? When she speaks of standardised designs, is she working with other Departments on the island of Ireland regarding their designs and how they manage new buildings, climate actions and all the different systems...