Results 1-20 of 1,023,687 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Josepha Madigan OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Mairead Farrell)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I thank the witnesses for coming in and sharing their experiences. I know the experiences have been very difficult, but to have to come forward can be very difficult as well. We really appreciate them coming before this committee. I thank them very much for that because it has been incredibly important. Mr. Ó Luain's opening statement set out the challenges and experiences very well....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Before she does so, Mr. Ó Luain mentioned that Department officials confirmed that significant knowledge gaps had been uncovered within the sector. What kind of improvement in data collection oversight is needed? Could this be added to the experiences?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: How is the accreditation and coordination of English language services, ACELS, functioning? Have the witnesses had any engagement with it on the various issues that students have encountered? I am aware I only have limited time but there will be other questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: I might finish with one question. Why has it been so slow in terms of regulation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: That is why Mr. Ó Luain thinks it has been so slow in terms of regulation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: While people are suffering.

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)

Mairead Farrell: I thank our guests for their presentation. The Irish Council for International Students made a presentation in the AV room and it does incredible work to try to raise this issue. My first question is about the lack inspections of schools that Mr. Ó Luain mentioned. Why is there light-touch regulation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: Mr. Hearne mentioned self-assessment and monitoring. We have seen in many sectors that self-regulation can, unfortunately, often lead to no regulation. I am not saying that is the case in this sector but one would obviously have a concern. Instead of such a system, what are our guests saying needs to be done, how and by whom, to ensure there is regulation? If they had three buzzwords to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Regulation of the English Language Sector: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Mairead Farrell: That is fair. Ms Harmon said the industry is worth €1 billion. What are our guests' fears in respect of the long-term impact if the situation continues as it is at the moment and if something is not done? We have heard so clearly about the real-life impact these issues have on people and the thousands of euro they save and lose through scams and all of that. The real-life impact is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes (9 May 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the official response but he really cut to the chase in his closing comments. I have no issue with the welfare partners portal. Indeed, community employment scheme supervisors recognise it as a top-class piece of kit. The reality, however, is that a serious situation is evolving. There is an eminently sensible situation to the problem, which is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Community Employment Schemes (9 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am aware of Abbeyshrule and the improvements that were made there through the community employment scheme. It is well known around the country. I appreciate the benefits of community employment schemes. I will take the specific issues the Deputy raised to the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to see whether he has any specific knowledge of them. He may engage directly with the...