Results 4,641-4,660 of 6,632 for speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We will see what is delivered.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 55. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when he will bring forward a plan to reduce student fees for third level students; if this will be in place for the next academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6450/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We are facing a crisis in the cost of living and students and families have to pay the highest fees in the EU. As a means of taking the pressure off students and their parents, will the Minister and the Department reduce fees as part of a sustainable funding model for third level education? I am also conscious of the fact that they need help now so I again call on the Minister to increase...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We have to be conscious of families who are really struggling at this stage, and of students who, because they cannot get accommodation even at a very high price, are driving long distances and of the extra cost that is putting on students. In addition, it is time for a new accommodation strategy because the cost of accommodation is prohibiting students from attending and participating in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The Minister should not worry. He should concentrate of the students down here-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: -----where he has a mandate.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The difference between Sinn Féin and this Government is that we listen to students and to what they want. The Minister knows that the only reason the fees in the North are not £9,250 as they are in England is that Sinn Féin in is government in the North as well. The Minister twisting his play of words is not fooling anybody.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is not; it is a truthful answer. I want fees here to be reduced. I do not want the highest fees in the EU; that is not a label we want in this State.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We must work together to make sure they are reduced. The Minister said that some people do not pay fees. Yes, many do not. However, we see the people who are working day and night, the people who are excluded, locked out and not entitled to anything because they are just above the thresholds. We must help those students. We must give those students and their families the opportunities...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister of State. On the phases, in September, we had 1,000 in phase 6 and 2,000 in phase 4, but the vast majority - 7,000 - were in phase 2 at that time. In one sense, when the Minister of State gives the figures and says that phases 4 and 6 will be cleared by April, I obviously welcome that, but the vast majority are in phase 2. We need to be careful of that. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: There are 500-odd fewer apprentices who became qualified tradespeople in 2021 than in 2020, despite the reopening in September. I want to know when the waiting lists will be cleared and the apprentices will be able to complete the training in the allocated four years, like every other student? The people with the skills we need to meet housing and retrofit targets need to be valued and the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 50. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cause of the 17% increase in apprentices waiting to access off-the-job training in the past two months, which has brought the total back up to half of all craft apprentices currently on waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6458/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Too many apprentices have been failed throughout the pandemic. They were unable to access the offsite training they needed to complete or advance their apprenticeships and become the qualified tradespeople we sorely need. It is truly alarming that there has been a 17% increase in apprentices waiting to access off-the-job training in the past two months, with figures back up to just under...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 48. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that are being taken to increase places at third level for in-demand courses to address skill shortages and take unnecessary pressure off the leaving certificate system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6457/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The Government has decided to deny the students the choice when it comes to this year's leaving certificate. This is despite students having come through years of a severely disrupted leaving certificate cycle. I and Sinn Féin believe that that is wrong and they should have had a choice. Students deserve to be given a choice. What steps has the Minister taken to ensure additional...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: When Fine Gael has representation in the North, we will deal with that. I look forward to it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We are not taking anybody for fools.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Right, Minister.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Do not worry.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Feb 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: We need to recognise that grade inflation is only part of the story. The fact that CAO points are going up is also about how many places are available. Every year more students are sitting the leaving certificate, but as the Minister has admitted so many times, third-level education is not adequately funded. He must take responsibility for that. His party has been in government since...