Results 241-260 of 4,510 for speaker:Cathal Crowe

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: 390. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the latest breakdown, by county of apprenticeship registration levels and total apprenticeship population levels by trade, sector for each of the years from 2020 to 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [4847/24]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Broadband Infrastructure (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: 397. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the total number of hubs onboarded in each county since the National Hub Network (connectedhubs.ie) was launched; and the total amount of funding in each county towards this, in tabular form. [4833/24]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Broadband Infrastructure (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: 398. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the total number of broadband connection points installed in each county; and the total number have been installed in schools by NBI in each county, in tabular form. [4834/24]

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: That will be greatly appreciated by the community in the Curragh as well as all the troops.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: It will also be something that is very visible. When people see investment going in anywhere-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: And you survived.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: It was in progress when we were there.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I have three small matters left. The Tánaiste asked for my views on psychometric testing. I am in favour of it for pilots, air traffic controllers or specialists, but I am not in favour of it for general induction at all. It could be brought in because 20,000 people might be applying for 100 jobs, as a blunt instrument and objective way of whittling the numbers down because everybody...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: The other option is you could do the test-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: The test could be used and taken into consideration at interview as part of a holistic approach, rather than a pass-fail, which is kind of ridiculous.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: The Tánaiste mentioned the pay issue for people with more than three years' service. The advice I will give is there should be long service increments, LSIs-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: Exactly. Specialised instructors allowance-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Crowe: Yes. There should also be specialised instructors allowance and tech pay. For instance, many of our aircraft technicians can get multiples of what they are on in Baldonnel with Ryanair or Aer Lingus. I have a last open-ended question about the geopolitical situation in the world. The Tánaiste is getting better briefings than anybody in the room. At present, Ireland is dealing...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I thank the Minister for attending and for her positive engagement. I have quite a few things I want to get through, so I will go straight into the questions. Will the Minister provide an update on the free schoolbook scheme for junior cycle?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Crowe: That is all very positive. The fact that it will be in place by September will be music to the years of so many families. I congratulate the Minister for leading on this. It has been very successful at primary level. It was a stress-free and cost-free summer for many families, so this is a good outcome. The media will speculate as to when the general election is going take place. What...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I thank the Minister. There is also an issue, which I have raised with some of the Minister's officials in the last weeks. Knockanean National School in County Clare is one of a handful of 12 schools in the country that are to have their new builds led by the Office of Public Works. The Knockanean school was one of these. The project is at a very advanced stage and is with the devolved...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Crowe: Because of those enrolment restrictions, children are now applying within the county for schools. The local schools are full. They are applying in south Clare for Ennis. The obvious thing is for a new school somewhere around there. Sixmilebridge fits that more than others.