Results 2,701-2,720 of 9,810 for speaker:Thomas Byrne
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: The budget relating to schools is by far the largest. I have one very quick question and the Minister has touched on it. I find the capital programme and the figures on school places frightening. The Minister mentioned Gorey. My colleagues from the area have contacted me. I keep mentioning Ashbourne and I need an answer on this also. I have had a colleague on from Ennis and I have heard...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: I will move on to skills development, which is programme B. Does the Minister wish to speak about this or will we go straight to questions?
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: I will briefly add a question about the results from apprenticeships. In 2017, the Department targeted 13 new apprenticeship programmes and the outturn was 11. Last year, the target was reduced to ten and this year the target is 35. It has been very slow progress. If we make 35 extra programmes this year it will be fantastic, but is the Minister confident this will happen given that we...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: What the Minister has just said is that the Department knew how many teachers would be retiring but did not provide for it in the Estimate.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: It did not provide for them because it had to present a Supplementary Estimate.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Therefore, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sanctioned funding that was less than expenditure.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Previously the reason given for presenting a Supplementary Estimate was there had been unanticipated additional retirees. We are now getting a slightly different story, that the numbers had been anticipated but the money was not available.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: We move on to programme C, third level. Does the Minister wish to comment?
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Subhead C4 is for general current grants to universities, institutes of technology and other designated institutions. The Estimate here appears to have been cut by €15.5 million in 2019. Will the Minister explain the reason for that, particularly given the ever-increasing number of students? It has been predicted that the number of full-time undergraduates will increase from 159,000...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Nobody has raised the issue of the National Training Fund, which is mentioned on page 106. The issue is slightly off-balance sheet so we will deal with it after this round of questions. Is that okay?
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: I want to ask questions on the issue. I also want to ask questions about the Estimates in terms of €10 million for the children's hospital. I ask the Minister to go ahead.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Funding has been withdrawn.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: The amount that the Department gives has been cut because there is more coming from the National Training Fund.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Cutting funding was not the idea when my party supported the initiative. The Minister has been very open about the matter but a cut was not part of the idea.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: It is a cut.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: It is a cut of €15.5 million.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: It is €15.5 million less that the Department is paying to third level colleges because the National Training Fund has been increased. In fact, the purpose of that fund was to provide extra funding, not replace departmental funding.
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: Is the Minister finished on that?
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: I will go back to the NTF and third level funding. The Minister has taken the opportunity to cut third level funding from the Exchequer, which is unprecedented in the past number of years since the economy started to turn. It has been replaced with a NTF levy. One of the recommendations of the Cassells report is to try to get additional funding into the third level sector and training. It...
- Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (26 Feb 2019) Thomas Byrne: All I know is €1.007 billion was put into third level institutions from the Department in 2018 but, for 2019, it is proposed to put in €991.926 million. A cut is a cut. Funding has been received from employers and the Department thinks it does not have to pay that amount. It is breaching the trust that employers have placed in the Department. Let us be fair as they did not...