Results 181-200 of 2,732 for speaker:Niall Collins in 'Dáil debates'

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (13 Oct 2021)

Niall Collins: I could not agree with the Deputy more. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I have taken every opportunity to seek to promote the whole area of apprenticeships. In conjunction with the action plan, we are taking concrete steps to embed apprenticeship offerings and further education and training options into the Central Applications Office, CAO, process. This will mainstream apprenticeships...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Oct 2021)

Niall Collins: There is a big difference between a nightclub and a delivery ward.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: I was alluding to the oversight group which comprised SOLAS, ETBs and SIPTU. Revised emergency curriculum and assessments, which will be 18 months long rather than the existing 12-week programme, will be delivered in a blended approach. Three technical teams are being put in place to devise an emergency curriculum over the coming weeks, and it is intended to pilot elements of the approach...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for her question. I assure the Deputy and apprentices that apprentices are not being abandoned and that it is a matter that we are acutely aware of. Craft apprenticeships account for 25 of the 61 existing available apprenticeship programmes. Off-the-job training for these programmes is delivered in training centres or institutes of technology and technological...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: I reiterate that nobody is being abandoned. What is being done to rectify the issue? To date, €2 million has been allocated in capital expenditure to SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority to facilitate 4,000 additional craft apprenticeship places across the system. This is in addition to €12 million already allocated to support additional classes and teaching capacity to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: I will address the Deputy's remarks. She is right with regard to regional skills needs. One of the functions of the new national apprenticeships office will be to identify such needs and to liaise with all relevant stakeholders. The Deputy cited the road haulage industry in that regard. We have seen that the new sector-specific apprenticeships we have developed, led by consortia, are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: A key strength of the apprenticeship model, as highlighted in the recent action plan for apprenticeship, is that it is a demand-led approach to meeting workforce and skill requirements in our economy. In the case of craft apprenticeship, for example, the number of places is determined by employers, with off-the-job training provided to all registered apprentices. Apprenticeships established...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: About 60 different apprenticeship schemes are available and a further 18 schemes are in development across a range of areas, including some that the Deputy mentioned. I take the Deputy's example about school bus drivers. This is something that I have raised with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. That is an acute issue because drivers are prohibited from doing this work on reaching...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: The Deputy is 100% right. Along with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and our Government colleagues, I have set out to bring apprenticeships into the mainstream - into the middle of our further and higher education offerings. The Deputy mentioned guidance counsellors. We are in discussions with the CAO, which will also bring guidance counsellors into the equation, to give people the...

Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of the Technological Universities Act 2018 (Section 36) (Appointed Day) Order 2021: Motion (7 Jul 2021)

Niall Collins: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Technological Universities Act 2018 (Section 36) (Appointed Day) Order 2021, copies of which have been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 11th June, 2021.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Further and Higher Education (24 Jun 2021)

Niall Collins: I am very happy to take up Deputy Smyth's invitation to visit Cavan and the barracks site and, indeed, any other sites which she deems appropriate, in order to press the case and help assist in the delivery of what is required. The development of the barracks site for Cavan Institute will enable delivery of a range of post-leaving certificate, PLC, programmes, including, but not limited to,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Further and Higher Education (24 Jun 2021)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as it gives me the opportunity to set out for her, the House and the people of Cavan and elsewhere in the Border region the position as regards Cavan Institute and further education provision for Cavan town. I acknowledge the Deputy's strong advocacy for and championing of the cause of Cavan Institute and the region. She has raised this matter a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Niall Collins: Our Department continually liaises with the higher education authority and the ETBs in relation to the workings and runnings of our local training initiatives. As I stated in my earlier contribution, these initiatives are a recognition of local needs and they are a response to local needs. In the main, local training providers are also used to deliver them, so they are local collaborations...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy for the question. Local training initiatives, LTIs, are training and work experience programmes carried out in partnership with community and voluntary organisations. They provide a basis for the 16 education and training boards, ETBs, to contract with community bodies to provide a service initiative in a locality where there are identified community needs. Training...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Niall Collins: I thank Deputy Durkan for his supplementary question. I do not have the county-by-county analysis which the Deputy is requesting, but we can ask for that and have the information furnished to him. Turning to the percentage of people who complete their courses, and despite the impact of Covid-19, as I mentioned in my initial reply, the numbers who completed or partially completed their...

Young People and Access to Further and Higher Education: Motion [Private Members] (11 Mar 2021)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate. I know that access to education is an issue close to the heart of many Members. As the Minister, Deputy Harris, outlined, since the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was formed last August we have been working to build a strong, flexible and inclusive further and higher education sector...