Results 1,881-1,900 of 3,895 for speaker:John Halligan

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Deputy, if one looks across the page, one will see where it was distributed - it went to the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and so on. The Deputy should be able to get a breakdown of that.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Yes, no problem.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: I will take up some of the points made by Deputy Neville. There is no question that we lost many skilled people during the recession. At one stage in 2007, there were 50,000 people serving their apprenticeship, and that number reduced to approximately 5,000. Let us look at the apprenticeships that were on offer during the boom, such as electrics, carpentry, brickwork, plastering and so...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: One of the difficulties in research and development as the Deputy will probably know is that some of the major multinational companies do their own research and development and do much of it outside of Ireland. That is a well known factor. The objective of the Innovation 2020 is to try to persuade those countries that Ireland has quality people to do research and development competitively....

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Deputy Donnelly indicated that he had come across some scientists or business people who were afraid to speak their minds. If, at any stage, any of those people would like to meet me, in the strictest confidence, with the Deputy, that will be no problem. If the Deputy wants to meet me afterwards, it would be between ourselves.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Deputy Stephen Donnelly referred to finance for research and development. There is an ambitious target to get €1.25 billion in competitive funding from Horizon 2020. In 2015, Ireland won €251 million in competitive funding from Horizon 2020, including €52 million for SMEs. This performance was on track to achieve the Horizon 2020 target. It looks pretty good....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (23 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The purpose of the School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. The estimated reduction in output targets for school transport reflects the impact of the changes to the school transport scheme which were introduced at the commencement of the 2011/12 school year. School...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Transport Administration (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: I thank the Deputy for his question. This is a complex issue in the sense that the school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. Approximately 113,000 children, including 10,000 children with special educational needs, are transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles each school day. The overall costs of the scheme have reduced by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Transport Administration (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The Deputy is aware that the seats for concessionary applicants are allocated after all eligible children have been accommodated on the school transport service. I accept there are some difficulties with respect to routes, the sizes of buses and so on: of that there is no question. I am inundated with requests for school transport from applicants throughout the country. I give the Deputy a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Transport Administration (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Once again, I want to be clear on this. Once all eligible children have their place on the school bus on a particular route, if students with concessionary places already have seats on that route, they will not lose their places, and there is no reason they should lose their place. As the Deputy is probably well aware, if other eligible students who need school transport come into the...

Other Questions: New Skills Agenda (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The European Commission adopted its proposal for a New Skills Agenda for Europe on 10 June. It noted that all member states faced similar problems and opportunities with skills acquisition and development, the quality and relevance of the education and training available, including teaching standards, and learning in settings outside formal education. The Skills Agenda for Europe proposal...

Other Questions: New Skills Agenda (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: I acknowledge what the Deputy said. Some 70 million Europeans lack sufficient reading, writing and numeracy skills. Some 40% of the EU population lack sufficient digital skills, putting them at high risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. On the other hand, 40% of European employers report that they cannot find people with the right skills to grow and innovate. At the same...

Other Questions: New Skills Agenda (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Certainly, but the Deputy should not forget the Erasmus programme supports skills development, education and training. There is nearly €15 billion in that fund right across Europe. We get some funding from this. I am not too sure about the amount we get but I will most certainly revert to the Deputy on it. There are also other funds, including the Asylum, Migration and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The Student Grant Scheme supported approximately 81,500 students in the academic year 2015/16 at a cost of circa €380 million. Under the student grant scheme, eligible candidates may receive funding, provided they are attending an approved course at an approved institution and meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those which relate to nationality, residency,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: As the Deputy will be aware, the route to an apprenticeship is through gaining employment with an approved employer. A campaign to promote apprenticeship is currently being developed by SOLAS in consultation with key partners including the Apprenticeship Council. The campaign will raise awareness and promote the value of apprenticeship for individual apprentices and for employers and it...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. School Transport is a very significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the region of 113,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The Deputy is aware that Bus Éireann has advised my Department that in response to the expressed wishes of many school bus drivers - both Bus Éireann and private contractor school bus drivers - who wanted to remain in the position upon reaching retirement age at sixty-five years, and following the advice of their Medical Department, the Company decided to alter the compulsory...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Changes to the School Transport Schemes, including the 'Closed School Rule (CSR)', were announced in Budget 2011 and derived from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the Scheme. From the commencement of the 2011/12 school year the distance eligibility criterion of 3.2 kilometres was applied nationally to all children travelling under the primary school transport scheme, including...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: The reference to contract maintenance as referred to by the Deputy relates to the overall activities undertaken by Bus Éireann as opposed to the specific services provided under the School Transport Scheme. My Department is satisfied that the financial accounting for Bus Éireann's operation of the School Transport Scheme, including the Bus Éireann Annual Report and the annual...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (28 Jun 2016)

John Halligan: Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Bus Éireann has advised that children residing in the Dublin 15 area are not eligible for...