Results 5,581-5,600 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, has welcomed the opportunity to address the concerns raised by Deputies and to outline in detail the many positive developments in the provision of preschool care and education. I echo his words and thank Deputies for their contributions. Access to affordable and high-quality child care is an important issue for parents,...

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: That is why people have high mortgages hanging around them. To assist parents with the cost of child care, more than €250 million is provided each year by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Every Deputy agrees that this is not nearly enough and everyone would like to see more, but the money is just not there. Maintaining the current level has been difficult in light of...

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: Fianna Fáil did not know how to manage the finances when it was in power and has certainly not learned its lesson. It can still not explain how it would pay for the additional spending being proposed.

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: I agree with some of the proposals and they would be nice if we had money for them, but Fianna Fáil cannot back them up. In contrast, this Government wants a considered, coherent, whole-of-Government approach to investment in child care and is taking action to ensure that outcome and that we achieve the quality we need.

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: How did the Deputy's meeting go? Is that next week?

Child Care: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: I agree.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: We have them.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Damien English: It is happening.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Bus Fleet (10 Feb 2015)

Damien English: Buses provide services to carry schoolchildren both under the Department of Education and Skills School Transport Scheme and also in a private capacity hired by, for example, parents of schoolchildren or schools. Every school bus is required to be tested under the Road Safety Authority's (RSA) Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test (CVRT), which is the primary annual vehicle safety...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Bus Fleet (10 Feb 2015)

Damien English: Bus Éireann has advised that depreciation is charged as a direct cost to the Department of Education and Skills in relation to Bus Éireann School Transport vehicles. Depreciation in this context relates to the amortisation of the capital cost of the vehicles and for the purposes of the direct cost is calculated on the replacement costs, which is in line with the approach agreed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (10 Feb 2015)

Damien English: The purpose of my Department's Primary and Post Primary School Transport Schemes is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school or education centre. The distance eligibility criterion is 3.2 kilometres and 4.8 kilometres for primary and post primary children respectively. Bus Éireann is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (3 Feb 2015)

Damien English: My Department is responsible for the provision of school transport within this jurisdiction. As the college referred to by the Deputy is not within this jurisdiction the provision of school transport does not arise.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (29 Jan 2015)

Damien English: Officials in my Department have reviewed the application for school transport for the child in question. They are satisfied that this child is not eligible for school transport, under the terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme, as she is not attending her nearest Gaelcholáiste. Furthermore, under the terms of my Department's Remote Area Boarding Grant scheme, provision is...

Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He is right in saying it is an important issue, one of which the Department is aware, and it needs resolving. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who cannot be here today as she is attending some meetings down the country. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the...

Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: I am shaking in my boots at the prospect of Kildare coming at us. The Deputy should start threatening the Dubs first after last week. Likewise, the population of Meath is growing as well, so there might be increased competition between Kildare and Meath in the years ahead, but neither of us have much to boast about at the moment, so we will have to work on that. On the issues raised by...

Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments Data (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: The Deputy has raised several issues and I have undertaken to come back to him with information on those which I cannot answer at present. The information on religion, ethnicity and culture is collected on an optional consent basis. I am not sure whether the Deputy is aware of this. Information on religion is collected solely for statistical purposes, and the data collected on ethnicity...

Topical Issue Debate: School Enrolments Data (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for giving us the opportunity to discuss it and to deal with some of his concerns. I agree that parents are concerned. There is misinformation and exaggeration associated with this issue. It has long been recognised that there is a need for individualised pupil information to be collected at primary level to fulfil our requirements as a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Job Losses (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. My thoughts are with the workers at BOSE and their families as they face into an extremely difficult time following the announcement of the pending closure of the plant in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan. The Minister hoped to be present for this debate after attending the meeting yesterday, but the Dáil schedule changed and he had to take a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Job Losses (28 Jan 2015)

Damien English: I am sure there will no difficulty with doing what the Senators suggests. As he knows, the Minister always tries to involve everybody on these occasions, certainly on a cross-party issue. That is why a delegation from the county council, with Oireachtas Members, attended a meeting yesterday. As it is important that we all work together on this issue, I will certainly pass on the Senator's...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Administration (27 Jan 2015)

Damien English: The Deputies covered a couple of issues. I am glad Deputy O'Brien mentioned not only higher education, but also further education. We must get the message out that further education and training is just as important in some cases to one's access to a job or career as education through the higher education institutions. As most will agree, much work is going on in that area. Hopefully, we...