Results 2,041-2,060 of 11,766 for speaker:Niall Collins

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: The Deputy alluded to the CAO in the preamble to his question. Recently the Department has completely broadened the information and the provision of information and options on the CAO website in order that people can now access full information such as where and when to apply through the CAO options for further and higher education and apprenticeships. Built into that is the availability of...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: Earlier this year we published our safe return to on-campus in-person guidelines following extensive collaboration with all of the stakeholders in the sector, including students and staff unions. That provided a roadmap and a template to reopen in a structured manner given the public health climate and guidance. Right now universities, technological colleges and further education...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: We are very conscious of this matter. Housing for All is a massive house building programme that the State is undertaking. For that programme to succeed we need a pipeline of skilled workers. We are also conscious of the State’s obligation in respect of climate change. There is a focus on green skills and the nearly zero energy building, NZEB, centres. I do not have the exact...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: He also asked about PLCs. A total of €2 million is allocated in the budget for next year to abolish the €200 fee for students taking those courses.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: This issue was raised in the Dáil this week on Question Time, during which the Minister told the Deputy and others that the institute itself must make an application, after which we will do everything humanly possible at our end to make it happen. The Minister will, of course, meet with Oireachtas Members from County Louth, as he has indicated. I am available to travel to DkIT in the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: I spoke earlier about the apprenticeship action plan, of which members are well aware, and the targets contained therein. Our primary role is to support SOLAS, aided by the HEA and the ETBs in the role they play in the area of apprenticeships. In the case of almost every apprenticeship programme, there is a basic requirement that there cannot be an apprentice without an employer, who is the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: We will do so, if the Chair does not mind. Obviously, the TU project is a priority. That has advanced, thankfully, and it is the first for the region. The provision of a campus in Wexford is a priority for us all. We will get back to the Chair with an information note on where exactly we are.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: I referenced that in my earlier remarks. I am well aware of it. What I can say is TUS and the HEA have been engaged and we are pretty much near the end of the process. The final funding of which TUS seeks to avail is there, but the details of the drawdown are being finalised between the college authorities and the authority.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: The short answer to the question on the student assistance fund is "Yes". It has increased significantly. It is our firm intention to keep it at least at the level to which we have got it, if not increase it. The purpose or rationale behind it is to provide for exceptional circumstances. If that is for the provision of hardware or IT support for individual students, that is fine. How it...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: If any training facility, whether it is part of SOLAS, an ETB, or an independent stand-alone, approaches us through the channel of the Higher Education Authority with a demonstrable need or a viable proposal, that is judged on its merits.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: We will get SOLAS to revert directly to the Deputy.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: We will forward information to the Deputy after this meeting. He asked about skills. I have spoken to people in the regional skills fora, including regional skills managers. There is also the National Skills Council, which is the umbrella group that sits above them. All of that is guided by the national skills strategy that runs from 2016 to 2025. As part of that, which is what we would...

Workplace Ventilation (Covid-19) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (1 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: I reiterate that the Government supports the principle, and the objectives behind this Bill. I assure the Deputy Murphy that the Minister of State, Deputy English, and his officials, will work with him on determining the best approach to achieving its objectives. It is important that the objectives of the Bill can be delivered in an effective and efficient way. Officials of the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Natural Resources (1 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: In my initial response, I outlined the number of contacts between the different State agencies and the mining operators. I will convey the Deputy's request to the Minister with responsibility for the OPW that the OPW make contact with the mining operator to see if any assistance can be offered. There is robust legislation and regulation in place to ensure that mining in this State...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Natural Resources (1 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who is unavailable this morning. I thank Deputy Guirke for raising this very important matter for his constituency and for County Meath. I concur with his concerns and also with his comments on the workforce, which is very skilled and dedicated and works in a high-pressure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (1 Dec 2021)

Niall Collins: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136, 137, 138, 139 and 140 together. Officials in my Department have been in direct contact with Kerry Education and Training Board (KETB) in relation to this matter and have been informed of the following: The manager appointed will have responsibility for managing all programmes and activities in the Centre which ‘shall be used exclusively and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Nov 2021)

Niall Collins: Every way.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Nov 2021)

Niall Collins: As the Deputy will be aware, meeting the education and training needs of all groups in our society is a long-standing core principle of the Further Education and Training (FET) system. In that context, a fully inclusive FET system is a priority for me in my role as Minister for State and for the Department. Inclusion is one of my Department's six strategic goals in its Statement of Strategy,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (30 Nov 2021)

Niall Collins: The Adult Literacy for Life, or ALL, Strategy sets out a cross-government, cross-economy, cross-society approach to address this priority. It sets out the detailed pathway to achieve the vision of an Ireland where every adult has the necessary literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to engage in society and realise their potential. I believe that the Strategy can be transformative in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (30 Nov 2021)

Niall Collins: As the Deputy will appreciate, the CAO is a company whose membership is representative of the higher education sector with the participating institutions retaining full control over their admission policies and admission decisions. Against that background, the developments to the CAO website for the 2022 application process are particularly welcome. A key goal for my Department is to...