Results 5,681-5,700 of 6,633 for speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to improve the working conditions for PhD researchers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26992/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: What are the Minister's plans to improve the working conditions for PhD students? PhD researchers need to have their work recognised. They deserve rights and conditions that reflect the contribution they make to education and research. The recently published general scheme of the Higher Education Authority Bill contains no mention of a role for the reformed HEA to promote better conditions...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I welcome that and I thank the Minister for it. I also welcome the announcement of the additional investment from the Irish Research Council. The postgraduate stipend is increased from €16,000 to €18,500 per annum and funding for postdoctoral researchers also increased. However, the €18,500 is still below the minimum wage. The Irish Research Council does not mean all...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister for that. The situation with precarious working conditions for those working in third level institutions is unacceptable on two fronts. First, there is the economic disadvantage and financial stress in which it puts people. It also gives the message to our students that it is okay to work in an environment where one is treated like that. We must stop it. Will the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: That was a bit of a mixed answer in a sense. It is not good enough to say that we are not as bad as others. We have the highest rate in this regard in the EU. In the last decade or so, according to the Irish Universities Association, IUA, we have seen the State embark on a sustained period of disinvestment from higher education. We have seen a withdrawal of the State from higher...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The Minister can dress it up all he likes, but we still have the highest fees here. We compare them with 2008. The Minister knows the situation in the North is one where we are dependent on a block grant. Please God, however, it will not be long until we have Irish unity and an all-island approach to education. I hope the Minister will agree that such an approach will serve all the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason third level students here are required to pay the highest fees in the EU; his plans to address this inequality before the next academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26990/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Why are third level students here required to pay the highest fees in the EU? What does the Minister plan to do to address that inequality before the next academic year? I am concerned that households which are paying up to 60% of their income on rent or mortgage payments do not have the money for these huge fees to send their children to third level education.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Admissions (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the barriers facing students accessing graduate-entry medicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27378/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Admissions (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I am asking the Minister to address the barriers facing students accessing graduate-entry medicine. Only approximately half of the places in medicine in the State go to students from Ireland. There has been essentially no increase in the quota of 708 Irish and other EU students who can study medicine here. In the same period, approximately 100 new places were added for more lucrative...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Admissions (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Every year gets more competitive for the Irish student to study medicine and, as the Minister stated, other students begin with another degree and then try to get back in and study medicine. This graduate-entry medicine route is even more dominated by the more lucrative international students. If it is possible to imagine, this is even more difficult to get into than directly from the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Admissions (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister for that. That needs to be done sooner rather than later because becoming a doctor, the Minister will agree, should not be the reserve of one class in our society. Can the Minister also provide details on the arrangement Bank of Ireland has with the universities for giving loans to graduate-entry medicine and what action will he take to allow more people to address...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Higher Education Grants (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 75. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if students who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic will be pushed out of SUSI for accepting the pandemic unemployment payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27377/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Higher Education Grants (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I want to ask the Minister about students who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and who now believe they will be pushed out of SUSI for accepting the pandemic unemployment payment. Will the Minister please clear this up because it is causing huge concern?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Higher Education Grants (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister. I know he agrees it is unacceptable that students would be pushed out and denied SUSI grants because they accepted the pandemic unemployment payment. I would treat it as an exceptional needs payment. Nobody should be penalised for accepting the pandemic unemployment payment, particularly not working students who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. This is where...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Higher Education Grants (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Would the situation of this mother be considered a change of circumstances? She has three boys on the pandemic unemployment payment who are still in college and living at home. They are in Maynooth, Dublin and Sligo. If the pandemic unemployment payment is not disregarded it will push her over the threshold and she will not be able to take out a loan for €30,000 to pay for their...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Forestry Sector (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Deputy Carthy can come in. We have one minute left.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Consumer Protection (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 30. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the office of the food ombudsman will be given statutory power to enforce the Competition Acts for the protection of primary food producers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27008/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Proposed Legislation (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 40. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to introduce legislation to ensure primary producers are paid costs plus a margin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27007/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (20 May 2021)

Rose Conway-Walsh: 150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the backlog of apprentices on the waiting list for off-the-job training will be cleared; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26989/21]