Results 1-20 of 411 for speaker:Maeve O'Connell

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I wish to take the opportunity to ask the Taoiseach to talk to the Minister for Transport and ask him to urgently introduce the policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems. This regards the guidelines for the commercial operation of drones. In my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, there is a plan to open a drone delivery hub right in the heart of Dundrum village, next to Holy Cross Church....

Select Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I asked about the funding for the ETBs.

Select Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I asked whether that is being addressed going forward because there has been a lot of highlighting in the media about-----

Select Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the Minister for being here. It was a long night for him last night. I appreciate he is having a couple of busy days with us. I have a few questions. Coming back to the student fees discussion, in the options paper the Minister will submit, will he consider including that as an option to try to address that issue? People have referred to the students we met today and it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Discussion (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming in today. I have a couple of questions, first to Professor McCarthy and Mr. Gavin. Listening to the contributions so far, we do not really have any limitations on noise, we do not have any limitations on the number of drones that can fly in open airspace and we do not have a lower limit that drones can fly at. It does sound more like a bit of a wild west...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Discussion (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank Mr. Gavin for that clarification. It is very useful. Mr. Curran mentioned that Dublin City Council were planning to have a series of public engagements on drones. Is this something he would recommend for other local authorities before they seek to license drone operators in their area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Discussion (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: Okay. Would planning permission purposes be more appropriate?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Discussion (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming in today. We all know it is voluntary that they are here. It is an important part of the public engagement that they and the previous witnesses talked about, and part of the educational piece for all of us. I specifically ask about an application Manna has in for a drone base in Dundrum, which is adjacent to Holy Cross Church. In the absence of planning...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport: Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Discussion (9 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: Mr. Healy made a comment earlier about the CO2 emissions and the comparison to how Manna saves. What was the comparator? Was it compared with e-bikes or car deliveries?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the Minister of State. There have been some notable successes. For example, with aircraft mechanics, women's participation has gone from 11% to 18%. That is possibly an area from where we could take some learnings on it. One of the other things I wanted to follow up on is the fact the targets for female participation are quite ambitious. From 2023 to 2025, we are looking for an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the Minister of State. I will come back to the bursary again. Are there specific sectors where the uptake was more than others? Is there thus an opportunity to target other sectors with low representation, particularly of women? I agree and assumed hairdressing was the one area where there might be a balance to be struck. Are there learnings from sectors which may have been more...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the Minister. Will he detail the update on supports to help to achieve a better gender balance in apprenticeships?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I have one thing to add. I represent Dublin Rathdown, and UCD is obviously a significant institution within Dublin Rathdown. The key recommendation of the students' union there, in last year's report on student accommodation, was that reducing the student contribution fee is the most effective way to support students and their families. I think that highlights where the students are coming...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: 107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on his Department's plans for the reduction of the student contribution fee as per the commitments in the programme for Government. [37331/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: 100. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department will create a centralised third level information hub for students. [37814/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank both Minister and Minister of State for being with us here tonight. Does the Minister have plans to create a centralised third level information hub for students?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: As the Minister is aware in the programme for Government outlines plans to create a single application portal for further and third level education. I would have thought that a first step in that is to create an information hub. The Minister correctly identified four different websites that people have to try to go through. It is quite challenging for young people to navigate all of this,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I welcome that the Minister is trying to understand the behaviours. One of the potential problems of the CAO system is that it is easy. Students fill in their top choices and then they are done. They may not be considering the other options because they are much more difficult to navigate. I will give a specific example. Only about 12% or 14% of students study accounting at leaving cert...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: 132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the means by which his Department is working to simplify apprenticeship pathways. [37330/25]

Committee on Defence and National Security: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Jul 2025)

Maeve O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for attending. I have a number of questions for them. I commend them on having those roadshows about neutrality. It is useful to try to engage. They made a point that we should be having a discussion about what sort of future Ireland we want. That is important. My view on many of these discussions is that this is really the first stepping stone. Perhaps there...