Results 21-40 of 185 for speaker:Gareth Scahill

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence and the State: Discussion (21 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: Okay, but on what Mr. Herrick was saying about capacity and expertise, one of the benefits of the AI office is it will have expertise it can make available to the Departments, regulatory bodies and authorities. That is built in there at the moment, is it not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth: Curriculum Reform at Senior Cycle: Discussion (16 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the witnesses for their words this morning. It is good to see some of them returning to the committee. They are welcome back. The reform is welcome, similar to the reform of the junior cycle and the primary sector earlier. This review has been in place since 2016 and has taken a substantial time. Do the witnesses feel that they have built a sufficiently dynamic structure that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth: Curriculum Reform at Senior Cycle: Discussion (16 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: Will the council keep the committee updated on this process and how it is going?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth: Curriculum Reform at Senior Cycle: Discussion (16 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I had a different question but I am going to jump to this one because of who is here. We discussed additional time for students with dyslexia and dyspraxia last week. Has work already taken place to take into consideration students requiring reasonable accommodation for the additional assessment components, AAC?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó – Order of Business (15 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I, too, echo colleague's sentiments and unwavering support for the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. I also echo my colleagues who have called this out for what it is and pointed out the Tánaiste is upstanding and hard-working, and has delivered in every role he has ever taken on. Today is SUDEP Action Day - sudden unexpected deaths in epilepsy day. SUDEP is one of the most...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I mention a particular issue, namely, a report that was published earlier today which ranks Roscommon as the highest tallied scorer, making it statistically the safest place in Ireland to raise a family in 2025. Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare, Kilkenny, Longford and Galway all follow in the top ten. This is something that I have personally known about for years and something...

Seanad: Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I propose to share time with Senator Noel O’Donovan.

Seanad: Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: The Minister stated, "Budget 2026 is a pro-enterprise budget that recognises the critical link between industrial development, infrastructure investment and job creation." In this volatile time, the focus was on protecting the 2.81 million jobs in our economy that we cannot take for granted. First and foremost, the reduction of the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% has straight away saved and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the witnesses for coming in. The discussion has been very interesting. It is extremely important that we hear from them on where the guidelines are going. The guidelines that were launched in April or May contain seven principles, which are: responsible AI; human agency and oversight; technical robustness and safety; privacy and data governance; transparency; diversity,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: My next question is about the algorithmic bias. On this committee, I feel like we are moving at a slow pace because of the information we are trying to take in from all the representative bodies coming in and the questions we are asking. Given that 90% of investment in AI projects fails, what advice do the witnesses have for this committee? Should we try to get the representatives of big...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I will be quick. Looking forward, is there a provision to publish annual reports to use for the outcomes of AI in the public service going forward? Mr. Lowry highlighted successes no one knows about and that is internal. It would also be to learn from issues, potentially bias issues, that have come up within certain departments so that other departments can learn from that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: Looking at best practice and being dynamic on this, are there any plans to eventually involve academia in future reviewing or updating of the guidelines?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: Like my colleague before me, I welcome Senator Andrews back. I cannot wait to hear the stories about his ordeal. It is good to see him return safely. Following on from the budget, I want to acknowledge the €130 million in grants for older people for housing adaptations; the €140 million for the retrofitting of social homes; the €558 million in funding for residential...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Electricity Grid (8 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber this morning. This is my fifth Commencement matter for the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and he has not entered the Chamber at all yet. I just want to put that on the record. We have just had Storm Amy and a lot of my constituents in Roscommon once again spent the weekend without power. That follows on from Storm Éowyn back in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Electricity Grid (8 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the Minister of State very much for the response. A total of 768,000 customers were without electricity in February. We face another winter with the same uncertainty. Probably the only certainty is the chance that we will have power outages. I could bring anybody in the Chamber to forestry in west Roscommon right now and show them which trees are going to come down and take out...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I had a Commencement matter this morning on Storm Amy. I failed to acknowledge and recognise the staff of the local authority who worked all weekend across Roscommon and the west cleaning up the mess, along with the staff from the ESB and the forestry management services. I want to congratulate them now and thank them for doing this work in difficult times. I also want to congratulate...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I wish to raise an issue following Storm Amy last Friday. We were protected up here in Leinster but in other parts of Ireland there were widespread power outages and issues with Irish Water and the water supply. I was dealing with this all across the weekend because hundreds of people and households were affected by power outages. I made phone calls to PowerCheck and the ESB yesterday with...

Seanad: Budget 2026 (Finance): Statements (7 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to give us the opportunity to make statements on the budget. I compliment him and his Cabinet colleagues on the delivery of the budget. To remind people, budget 2026 is worth €9.4 billion, €8.1 billion of which is spending and €1.3 billion is tax. It represents increased spending of 7%. Through budget 2026 we will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth: Issues Affecting People with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia: Discussion (2 Oct 2025)

Gareth Scahill: I thank the witnesses for coming before us. I am a former member of Roscommon County Council. In February 2025, Councillor Laurence Fallon put a motion to the chamber proposing that the council write to the Minister for Education and Youth requesting the introduction of extra time for students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties sitting second level examinations. There was a very...