Results 461-480 of 1,024,759 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:James Browne)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: All options will be on the table when I discuss this matter with the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and McGrath. Regarding Deputy Boyd Barrett's comment about the 19th century, if we had a 19th-century approach to third level education, I would never have had the chance to go to university because I did not go to a private school. That is the reality. This country has been transformed through...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Further and Higher Education

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: 7. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the major capital projects that will be progressed this year in the further education sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23273/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in his new role. I very much welcome the emphasis that has been placed on the development of further education since the Government took office in June 2020. I spoke to the Minister's predecessor on many occasions about the opportunities that exist to develop the further education sector on an all-Ireland, cross-Border basis....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank the Deputy for his warm words. In 2022, two new capital infrastructure programmes were launched to provide for significant investment in further education and training, FET. These programmes are the FET college of the future major projects fund and the strategic infrastructure upgrade fund. The college of the future major projects fund will support projects that can help drive...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I thank the Minister for his reply. He would be very welcome to visit Cavan Institute, which has been a very successful institute since its establishment. I was very much involved with Cavan Institute as I was the chair of the first board of management of the college. I was involved in having the initial buildings and accommodation provided. It was actually the first dedicated PLC college...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I agree with the Deputy. One of the statistics that bears testimony to what he is saying is that in a very short period, the budget for FET has grown from €5 million to €65 million. This comes from the creation of the Department, which was a commitment in the programme for Government. Let us be realistic, when all of this was part of the remit of the Department of Education,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (23 May 2024)

Brendan Smith: I can assure the Minister that Cavan and Monaghan ETB will work very diligently on this. It has put together a very strong business case to advance this accommodation proposal. I do not think that we in this House can emphasise enough the importance of the further education sector. Over the years I have seen many young people who may have come from communities where there was not a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy will be aware, the rent-a-room scheme is under the remit of the Minister for Finance, my colleague Deputy McGrath. However, I acknowledge that my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are the main users of the scheme. Therefore, I am very conscious of the need to safeguard our students in digs accommodations, which are typically more informal...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (23 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: The Minister mentioned a cliff edge. Has he read my legislation and where does he thinks it would result in a cliff edge? It would not provide an equal level of protection as someone in a typical tenancy because I have recognised that these students would be living in someone's home. However, it would have ensured they could not be made homeless overnight. I think that is reasonable. It...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: No. The Department will consider and will have regard to absolutely everything. One of the things we do not want to do, by virtue of the introduction of any measure, is for people are already participating in the scheme to feel threatened. In many cases these are retired people and will have to make a declaration of interests. I stayed in digs myself when I was in college and the person I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (23 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I totally get that, and that is why I put together reasonable legislation that was regularly mentioned by the Minister's predecessor. Because of the housing crisis and the disastrous response by the Government, people do not realistically have much other choice than to go into digs. Digs are fantastic and it can benefit both the person living in them and the homeowner. My Bill is very...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Again, this is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for housing. I am sure there are very good elements in the Deputy's Bill and I am not saying there are not. I understand what the Deputy is saying. However, I would caution against the kind of narrative - I am not suggesting for one minute that Deputy Farrell is saying it - that digs are somehow a last resort. They should not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions (23 May 2024)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Education Costs

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 6. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is considering further funding to abolish higher education tuition fees and move to a fully free public education system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19521/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have never thought that fees for higher education made any sense. Why on earth would one ration access to higher education, college or university? But when we are looking at absolutely chronic skills and labour shortages in just about every sector of our society at the moment, is it not time to remove all obstacles to people getting trained, skilled and educated in key areas where we need...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising matters on the cost of supporting students and higher education tuition fees. As the Deputy will be aware and will appreciate, at this time it is not possible to provide an indication of the measures that may be introduced in budget 2025. However, in advance of budget 2025, I will be publishing an options paper which will set out the various...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education Costs (23 May 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: These are under-pressure, slow and incremental moves by the Government. We are in a very serious situation, however, and we need a bit of bold and radical thinking. Take, for example, the area of special needs which I and others have been campaigning on, particularly over recent times because of such a dire situation there. There is a lack of teachers, special education teachers,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Strong demand for craft apprenticeships, which is a good thing, reflecting a very buoyant construction sector, has resulted in a 25% increase in craft apprenticeship registrations since 2019. My Department is overseeing the implementation of a plan put in place by the National Apprenticeship Office which has, to date, nearly halved the number of craft apprentices waiting more than six...