Results 1-20 of 2,052 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not have anything more to add. We are taking this issue very seriously. I hope to be in a position to make an announcement with regard to this as soon as possible. However, there is a caveat having had regard to all of the indicators I set out, which the Deputy will appreciate as a former Minister.

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

Patrick O'Donovan: Before the Deputy entered the Chamber, I referred to the movement from second level to tertiary level, particularly for those who are in receipt of personal assistance hours. In many cases, they move from primary to secondary with school special needs assistants or other forms of assistance and then there is a cliff edge. There is no doubt that this cliff edge is extremely daunting. It...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I have no problem at all in doing so. In the context of the discussion on personal assistants, we are in the same place now as our predecessors were 20 years ago in their discussions about special needs assistants in the primary sector. It is a natural and good progression. It is a good progression because many of the people we are talking about have come through extremely challenging...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Higher Education Authority recently ran a process to identify options to expand higher education provision in a number of priority skills areas, including veterinary medicine. Proposals were put forward by a range of higher education institutions under this process. The options identified have the potential to significantly increase the numbers of students...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I thank the Deputy for his warm wishes. The decision relating to this matter will be based on a number of key indicators I have already outlined with regard to the provision of additional spaces. I know that the Deputy has a particular interest in one location is his area. He is to be commended for raising this in the Dail. The decision will be made in a collaboration between ourselves,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dental Services (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: For the academic year 2022-23, UCC had an intake of 50 and Trinity had 45, so the total is 100 or thereabouts. I do not disagree. This goes back to much of what the previous contributor asked about with regard to workforce planning. These are the dialogues we are having in respect of not only dentists but also pharmacists, vets, carpenters, builders and bricklayers. Regardless of the...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: Inclusion is one of six strategic goals set out in my Department's statement of strategy. The national access plan, NAP, has identified a number of priority groups who are under-represented in higher education and need additional focus, including students with disabilities. The Department has provided funding of an additional €35 million to support the objectives of the NAP over its...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: As I said in response to other Deputies who raised issues regarding the budget, I will be guided to a large degree by many of the issues that are raised directly by Members of the House, including people such as the Deputy. The proportion of new entrants in 2022 who had a disability was 12.5%, whereas the current figure is 13.8%, with a target of 16%, so we are going in the right direction....

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not disagree with the Deputy. His county colleague Deputy Stanton raised circumstances for people that may seem simple but can be very challenging, relating to, for instance, access to the most basic of facilities on campuses, including bathrooms, and the tying-up of transport. There will definitely be a requirement for local authorities, some State agencies and other Government actors...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department is carrying out an information-gathering exercise that will facilitate the signposting of courses and associated supports for people with disabilities as they move from second to tertiary level, and this is part of a broader scheme of work planned by the Department, which will also include a diagnostic review of the tertiary offering for people with disabilities as part of work...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I am sorry to disappoint the Deputy-----

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

Patrick O'Donovan: There is continuous engagement between our Department, the Department of Health and the HSE with regard to workforce planning and our burgeoning population in view of the fact that the economy has been completely revived since 2011. I know the Deputy and her party like to create the impression that everybody is leaving the country, but the reality is that they are not. We have a growing...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not agree there is any problem with foreign students coming into Irish universities. Plenty of Irish pharmacists, doctors and physiotherapists train in Scotland, Wales and England every year. This has been the case for some time. That is a good thing. I do not agree with that at all. The Deputy referred to it being underfunded. I accept that there is a figure to which we would...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: With regard to population, I take my statistics from the Central Statistics Office. I represent a rural constituency. The Deputy knows as well as I do that every district electoral division has experienced an increase in population. This cant that people are leaving the country is just not true.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dental Services (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department of further and higher education is working closely with the Department of Health to expand the healthcare workforce capacity of the country, including oral healthcare. The Department does not place a quota on the number of places on dental courses, and the number of places offered is therefore a matter for the higher education institutions in line with their autonomy. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dental Services (23 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is important to point out that UCC has received substantial government investment in recent years under a capital programme. These would have been identified by UCC. With regard to the dental school, we have to go back to 2016 when it was announced that UCC had secured a loan from the European Investment Bank, including €37 million to build a new Cork university dental school,...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: Fostering inclusion is a core pillar of future of further education: transforming learning, the national further education and training strategy 2020-24. It identifies the needs of people with disabilities as a primary focus, acknowledging the need for more consistent support for this group. Widening participation is also a national target under the strategic performance agreements for...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: They are practical questions. I will come back to the Deputy about them. Regarding toilets in public places, for a lot of places of learning, whether FETs, universities or ETBs, it depends on their ownership, but the building regulations apply to them. If they are public buildings, there is need to have regard to all users and all people's ability to be mobile, regardless of who they are...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: It is interesting that the Deputy has raised this issue. I had a discussion yesterday on the fact that if a child enters primary school, requires assistance and gets a special needs assistant, moves on to the second level system and has access to the same level of support and physical supports, whether sensory rooms or quiet spaces, that need does not stop when he or she transitions to third...

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

Patrick O'Donovan: I will answer the question regarding nursing and medicine first. Ensuring an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified professionals in nursing and medicine is a key priority for me and my Department. I want to build on the progress made in the past few years in expanding the number of places in these disciplines. In 2020 and 2021, in response to particular circumstances relating to the...