Results 181-200 of 5,554 for speaker:Fiona O'Loughlin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: The Senator can come back in later. The last point is very interesting and I understand there are three separate sets of data - those of the CSO, those of the preliminary census and those of the Department. It is a bit of a quagmire when it comes to deciding which we should be using.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: The Minister will respond directly after Deputy Daly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I will hand back to the Minister now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I absolutely share Deputy Clare Daly's view on that because there are very dedicated committed teachers working in difficult situations who are struggling with the pay parity issue. Many teachers are affected by this and feel they are being penalised. I also feel they are being penalised. We will agree our work programme later but on 27 October we hope to have representatives from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: That is the $1 million question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: We have had a brief debate but we are waiting with bated breath for the Minister's reply to Senator Gallagher's question on the third level issue. The third level sector is competing within the education budget, which, in turn, is competing with those of all other Departments. According to the most recent OECD survey, average spending on education between 2008 and 2013 increased by 8% among...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: We had agreed that we would discuss a number of subheads consecutively, but I will take them together and members can indicate if they have questions. Subhead A, second and early years education is first. Then there is skills development, higher education, a matter we have dealt with to a large extent, capital services, a matter we have also dealt with to a large extent, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: To be fair, that is not really relevant to the Estimates. It is more of a policy issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: He might. The Minister can see that the crisis over third-level funding engages this committee significantly. I assure him that when we enter private session we will be agreeing a work programme in this regard. There is to be a very substantive piece on consultation with all the relevant stakeholders in respect of the Cassells report. As has been mentioned by my colleagues, we are facing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: On a point of clarification, the Minister mentioned that the action plan is in draft from and he would welcome an input by the committee. I understood that the plan had been published and was in final form.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I thank the Minister for his clarification. We need to add consideration of the action plan to our work programme later. To clarify, I made a point about preschools and understanding the important role played by the Department. I tried to acknowledge the frustrations preschool operators have voiced about having to deal with four different Departments. They feel under-appreciated and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: Deputy Cannon has indicated a wish to comment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I thank the Minister and his officials for their input today. We appreciate his frankness and openness to discussion. We appreciate the level of commitment he and his officials have shown in improving the level of detail and the quality and type of information he has given to us as a committee as part of the Estimates process. It is a good opportunity to allow us as members, as well as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 26 – Department of Education and Skills (29 Sep 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: Do not forget Deputy Shane Cassells.

Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (4 Oct 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I propose to share time with my colleague, Deputy Murphy O'Mahony, who is co-sponsoring the Bill. I am delighted to bring forward the Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016 before the Dáil. This Bill essentially seeks to tackle hate crimes in an effective and a robust manner. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson for...

Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (4 Oct 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: Ultimately, the reason we brought forward this Bill is to do with the type of society we live in. Our society is out of sync. The one word that is hugely important in any of the communities we represent is "respect", and that is respect for everybody in our communities and respect for everybody in society, including respect for different voices in the Dáil. It is not about taking...

Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (4 Oct 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: -----the final paragraph of which reads:The Deputies are again to be commended for seeking to address hate through the criminal law. We look forward to working with you in developing this issue further. It is very unfair to say that we were asked to withdraw this Bill. I only became aware of this on Friday and only got a copy of the heads of the Bill that the former Minister, now Senator...

Criminal Justice (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (4 Oct 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: I am sure it has had an influence in that regard. I welcome the debate we have had. Is important we have brought the Bill to the floor of the House. As Deputy Murphy O'Mahony and I have said, we are completely open to debating the Bill on Committee Stage. We accept there are flaws in what we put forward. I intend to put forward amendments to the Bill. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Second Stage (5 Oct 2016)

Fiona O'Loughlin: My esteemed colleague has outlined very clearly and concisely the position of our party but I certainly welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill which I know reflects years of research and investigation. It is great to see the 2012 recommendations of the justice committee being progressed at this point and I commend the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality on her work and...