Results 541-560 of 3,895 for speaker:John Halligan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Appeals (12 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. Under the terms of my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Budgets (7 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: The 2019 capital allocation for skills development amounting to €13.204m is spread across three expenditure subheads of my Department: 1.B1 Administration (Non Pay) - €0.204 m€3 million has been provided for the capital expenditure element of the Departmental Administration Costs in the 2019 REV allocations. This money is allocated for Departmental IT capital costs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (7 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. Bus Éireann has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Adult Education Provision (7 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: I understand that Kerry ETB recommends a minimum of 13 learners starting on any new Back To Education Initiative (BTEI) course offering a QQI Major award to maximise utilisation of resources. Officials in my Department have consulted with Kerry ETB, who have advised that there were 5 applicants for the course in question, and unfortunately this was not a viable number to run the course. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (5 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: The SOLAS apprenticeship scheduling management system aims to call apprentices for their off-the-job training, on a longest waiting basis on the day of scheduling to the nearest available Education and Training Board or Institute of Technology. Whilst every effort is made to eliminate unnecessary travel, unfortunately for some apprentices it is impossible to avoid having to attend training...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (5 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. The purpose of the School...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Data (5 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: The training courses that the deputy refers to are run under the Local Training Initiative programme (LTI). This programme is a project-based training and work experience programme carried out in the local community run by local community groups and associations. Staff delivering courses are typically employed by the relevant community group or association. The programme is designed for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: SOLAS Training and Education Programmes (5 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: Participants undertaking a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) programme are charged a participation fee by their Approved Training Organisation (ATO). The fee covers the cost of the training programme and also includes a charge for Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) certification and for the administration of the CSCS Registration Card by SOLAS. SOLAS is undertaking an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: SOLAS Training and Education Programmes (5 Feb 2019)

John Halligan: The High Court decision in 2017, which the Deputy refers to, relates to the renewal of CSCS and QSCS cards only and made no reference to Safe Pass registration cards. Since this decision SOLAS no longer requires applicants who wish to renew their CSCS and QSCS cards to complete reassessments or to provide statements of relevant experience. Renewals for these CSCS and QSCS cards are now on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The answer is "Yes". We are certainly doing that. I did not get an opportunity to state that Project Ireland 2040 identified a number of specific priority investments in the area of innovation. These include the establishment of a €500 million disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF, which encompasses that to which the Deputy refers. The first call in this competitive process...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: We are in constant contact with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, SFI. It is also important for people to know that we have regional fora which collaborate and co-operate with multinational companies in all regions to ascertain skills shortages and what is needed from industry. The Deputy's final question is very important because we have ongoing meetings with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: IDA Ireland (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I have a lot of information about this issue that I will probably have to send to the Deputy. However, I will do my best to reply. Regional development is a key priority for my Department. We understand the importance of achieving the best possible spread of employment and investment throughout the country. My Department and its agencies have been working hard towards that goal....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: IDA Ireland (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I emphasise that IDA Ireland does its utmost to encourage clients to locate in and expand to the regions. I previously made the point that the agency has a global perspective. As the Deputy probably knows, the same tax incentives and the same geographical infrastructure exist throughout the country. In the south east, particularly Waterford, Cork and Wexford, IDA Ireland has the same...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: IDA Ireland (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I could not agree more. Looking at the statistics, we are achieving real results and deepening the spread of FDI companies across the regions. I can only go by IDA Ireland's 2018 results, which bear out that assessment. Last year, the agency delivered 113 regional investments, which is the equivalent of 56% of new jobs created outside Dublin. In the past four years, 44,000 FDI-driven jobs...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has made regional development a top priority. Enterprise development, job creation and the promotion of innovation across all regions are key priorities of Government. We want all regions to realise their potential as contributors to economic recovery and growth and for regional disparities to be reduced. My Department’s 2019...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: The cost of insurance working group is undertaking a review of all factors influencing the increased cost of insurance. We have met that group on a number of occasions. Its objective is to identify immediate and long-term measures to address increasing costs, bearing in mind the need to maintain a stable insurance sector in the community. Everybody in government believes that we need to do...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: My Department is very aware of the serious impacts on businesses and consumers of high insurance costs. It is important that consumers and businesses can obtain insurance cover at a reasonable and fair price. The cost of insurance working group, chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, has undertaken a review of the factors influencing the increased cost of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Costs (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: In my initial response, I did not get the opportunity to state that the other groups we met included the Bar Council of Ireland and the Law Reform Commission. We were seeking the co-operation of all of those groups in advancing the implementation of the recommendations in the report that are relevant to them. My officials have met the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, and other...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Research and Development Supports (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: I thank the Deputy for her important question. Ireland has developed a reputation for excellence in research and development and we continue to perform well at international level. We rose to ninth place in the 2018 European innovation scoreboard and stand at tenth in the 2018 global innovation index. Overall expenditure on research and development in Ireland has been increasing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Research and Development Supports (31 Jan 2019)

John Halligan: European statistics are based on GDP rather than GNP. The difference is that the GNP totals domestic investment, foreign investment and so on. It is unlikely that many European countries will reach the target of 2.5%. On the Deputy's question about where Ireland stands and how well we are doing, we can only go on the European and global statistics we get. Under the heading, Excellent...