Results 1-20 of 1,024,865 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Thomas Pringle) in 'Committee meetings'
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: I thank our witnesses for coming before the committee. I would also like to commend Mr. Ó Luain for doing this on a pro bono basis. It is important to acknowledge that. I learned from another statement from the people coming in later that we have around 128,000 language students in Ireland. Would that be about right, Mr. Ó Luain?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: Obviously Mr. Ó Luain cannot speak for all language students, but I presume a significant majority of them have to work. Is that Mr. Ó Luain's assessment of the people they represent?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: One of Mr. Ó Luain's concerns is that under the rules language students can only work for 20 hours. He would like to see that extended to 30 hours as is the case in some other European countries.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: Does Mr. Alves De Oliveira want to come in?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: Can I ask Mr. Nieto if, having worked here, he thinks 20 hours is sufficient or does a person need to work longer than 20 hours?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: When Mr. Nieto was a student, what percentage of his time was spent working? How many hours was he working?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: What about Mr. Karakayun? How did he manage to combine being a student and working, or did he?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: Okay. In terms of the working experience, did the witness find it difficult to survive when they were studying English?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the witness.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: I thank Mr. Ó Luain and everybody else for their contributions. I have a couple of questions. Obviously, the model we have in Ireland for student workers does not work. Do the witnesses have an idea of a model that works in advance for people to prepare themselves for coming here? If so, can they explain what it is?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: So, under the Canadian model, or if we had a similar type of model here, you could apply for your PPS number and all that before getting here, and it would be here waiting for you. When you come in now, you spend months waiting and waiting for those to arrive. That is a problem.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: Earlier, Mr. Ó Luain spoke about the agents and so on. Just so I understand it, is it the case that schools give the role of dealing with the students over to the agencies and that there is no legal basis for this?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: There is no follow-up. Nobody who oversees the whole situation and identifies that agencies are wrong and should not be there. There is no Department that is responsible.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: I thank our guests for presenting their evidence. I will ask a couple of questions. EEA students have the ability to work at any time of the day or night while in Ireland in order to support their studies, but students from outside the EEA are restricted to morning or afternoon work. While the witnesses are not the ones who decide this, what are their views on the matter? Should students...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: The MEI has no problem with a change.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: Earlier, we heard about the use of agents to collect fees. How does Mr. O'Shea view the use of agents? Does he recommend agents to MEI members? Could the use of agents cause problems for students?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: When will the IEM be implemented?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: Earlier, we heard from ELSU about a meeting that it and the MEI had with the Minister at the time - the current Taoiseach. It was explained to him that the schools were going to reopen after Covid with existing students. When they did reopen, however, new students were mixed in existing students. Was that good practice? Did it happen?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: So new students were not recruited at that time.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)
Thomas Pringle: Earlier we heard about the discussions between SIPTU, Unite the union and MEI on remuneration for teachers, etc. How is that coming along and when is it likely it will be completed?