Results 241-260 of 953,599 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:David Stanton)

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (1 Dec 2022)

Paul Murphy: 94. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will engage with PhD researcher unions (details supplied) to ensure that all PhD research students receive a living wage income or above via their stipend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59820/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (1 Dec 2022)

Paul Murphy: Will the Minister engage with PhD researchers' unions to ensure that all PhD students receive a living wage income and that they are treated as workers? The truth is that they are well below the minimum wage. The highest available PhD stipends are €18,500 over a 40-hour week. Most of them do significantly more than that, which works out at less than €9 per hour.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Dec 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: What I want to know is when the backlog will be dealt with because I get a different answer every time I ask this question. It is difficult to compare figures. Last year we were working on a waiting list of more than 8,000 people. This year we get the number of people that are waiting just under six months. The figures are difficult to decipher. In the meantime, we have a situation where...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: The answers the Deputy gets are not changing. There was more than 11,000 people waiting at the peak in August 2021. We engaged very intensively with SOLAS to find out how long somebody would generally wait, forgetting Covid-19. If Covid-19 had never happened, the normal time somebody would generally wait between one phase and the other is six months. That is the standard time people wait...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Dec 2022)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister. Going into a new apprenticeship needs to be attractive to young people and indeed to people throughout their life cycle. They get paid very little for the very hard work they do and the Government and SOLAS needs to get this right. We know that years of under-investment have left a shortage of capacity in the system but the fact is that only 1,798 apprentices became...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: I agree with the last point but the Deputy knows when quoting those figures that obviously Covid-19 had an impact on the pace at which people were able to fully qualify as an apprentice. I do not think that is news; that is a reality of the Covid-19 pandemic when our training centres had to shut down for sustained periods of time to keep people safe. The more important figure is that more...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Technological Universities

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Seán Canney: 91. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that is being made on the delivery of the new STEM building for the Galway Campus of the Atlantic Technology University; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60119/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Seán Canney: I raise an important issue that is close to my own heart which is the development of what we call the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, building in the Galway campus of the Atlantic Technological University, ATU. As we know, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths. This project has been talked about for a long number of years and as a former lecturer...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: Objectively, this was a really great week for education in Galway. We saw approximately €100 million announced in projects for further education and higher education in the city and county of Galway. We saw a multi-million euro development in the Deputy's own bailiwick where I know he lectured, in the Atlantic Technological University - some €19 million from memory - that will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Seán Canney: I thank the Minister and acknowledge the fact that he was down in Galway. These investments are vitally important and that is a lot of money in a good week for the region in terms of educational facilities. Referring to the STEM building, when I was lecturing there seven years ago, and for a number of years before that, we were talking about what the Minister called bundle 2 and those five...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: I agree with the Deputy's sentiments. I am aware this bundle has been on the run for a while and I hear his frustration on that point. I want to assure him and his constituents, and the staff and students in ATU Galway in particular, that things have not been standing still. There is a very live process underway in relation to bundle 2 which includes this STEM project for Galway. I have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Technological Universities (1 Dec 2022)

Seán Canney: I thank the Minister for all of that and there is a huge amount of investment to come yet. Crowley Park is a significant acquisition for the facility. It is only right that was done. In fact, we should have bought the hotel across the way when it was available through NAMA and secured that site as well. At the time it did not happen for various reasons, none more so than the fact that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I appreciate that. I think they would appreciate meeting the Minister. While the opportunity for them to make submissions is important, the end game is the critical thing here. The vast majority of people doing PhD research in this country are living in poverty. That seriously impacts on their ability to do their research or even continue as PhD researchers. We give more than €700...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: This is a root-and-branch review. It is not simply looking at what the level of the stipend should be; it is looking at all the issues, including how a PhD researcher is classified and whether they are students or employees. I have had engagement with postgraduates. There are some countries people reference as good examples of how PhD researchers are looked after where they are employees...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is welcome that we want to be best in class but let us be clear what the starting point is: we are worst in class.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: I do not think that is right.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The average PhD pay in Europe is €32,000. In the Nordic countries, it starts at €50,000 and progresses to €55,000 on a fixed-term, four-year contract. In the Netherlands, researchers get about 10% more. Indeed, a lot of our people who are doing postgraduate and research work are going to the Netherlands because everything, from housing to fees to the cost of living, is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Dec 2022)

Simon Harris: We can certainly agree that retaining and recruiting the best talent into our country is key. It is key to our future economic and social well-being. That is why in Impact 2030, Ireland's national research and innovation strategy, we quite rightly place a real focus on the researchers themselves. This review stems from that and from listening directly to researchers and postgraduate...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Dec 2022)

Apprenticeship Programmes