Results 101-120 of 1,055,344 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Eamon Gilmore OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Denise Mitchell OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Paul McAuliffe)

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: I have to say, that was the most non-answer answer I have ever heard in this Chamber. It is not good enough. To suggest the ETBs are fiefdoms making decisions independent of the Government is simply ludicrous. It is the Government that sets policy and allocates budgets, so for the Minister of State to say he is aware of funding constraints within the ETB and further education sector,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: I have been contacted by tutors and by students who want to undertake these courses, and the tutors were given very little notice. They were contacted within days of when they assumed they were going to start delivering their classes. One tutor who delivers up to six art classes a week suddenly has no classes. She depends on that funding; it is her job. Students who have been in contact...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: I think both Deputies will understand the structure of ETBs and their governance, and to say otherwise would be to misrepresent their structure. To address the funding of further education, our Department has significantly increased its investment in further education and training in recent years, from about €909 million in 2020 to more than €1.055 billion in 2024, excluding...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: The Minister of State is now blaming the members of the board of the ETB, who, I can tell him, were not aware of this decision until after it had been made at an executive level. It was made at an executive level because there is clearly a funding gap, and we know about the funding gap because tutors and students were initially told their courses would be delayed. They were later told they...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Pauline Tully: The members of the board were not aware this was happening. I know there was a changeover of membership because of the local elections, but the members both before and after the elections were not aware. They had put forward proposals to get an overdraft and so on but were just shot down. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, intimated to me that some of the funding related to the large number...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: Nobody is washing their hands of it. The Deputies may not want to take local responsibility or may think there should not be local responsibility, but it is my view the members of the Cavan and Monaghan ETB should be aware of this. It is their duty to be aware of what is happening in the organisation for which they have a corporate governance remit and oversight. Whether or not there was a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

Third Level Education

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: 7. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way he is ensuring that third-level institutions are supplied with the most up-to-date, cutting edge technological equipment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40057/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: How is the Minister of State ensuring third-level institutions and universities are supplied with the most up-to-date, cutting edge technological and research equipment? How is he supporting them in that regard?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs, including the management of academic affairs and how they utilise core funding allocations. As part of budget 2025, the Government agreed a total National Training Fund funding package of €1.485...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I welcome that information about those who will benefit. As I stated previously, there is a large number of people who still do not benefit and are under severe pressure. We have to deal with the whole issue right through from the cost of living to the huge cost of accommodation. At times some students are under pressure. The USI produced a survey showing that some students are having to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy. He referred to the student assistance fund which, since the establishment of this Department in July 2020, has grown significantly to north of €25 million. The Deputy will also be aware that the autonomy afforded to our higher education institutions in terms of administering the student assistance fund locally is crucially important. The student services offices...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (8 Oct 2024)

Question No. 4 taken with Written Answers.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Further and Higher Education

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: 5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of technical or academic students who can expect to improve their respective skills by way of extra higher education options now being provided for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40050/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: My question seeks to ascertain the extent to which students in the academic and technical areas can expect to benefit from the measures proposed by Government throughout the course of the coming year.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy. Our further and higher education system plays a central role in ensuring that graduates are equipped with the essential skills that will enhance their employability. It allows graduates to adapt to diverse tasks and contribute meaningfully to the workforce and society. There are approximately 400,000 people enrolled in further and higher education in Ireland, and this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister of State. May I ask the extent to which the respective students in the academic and technical areas can see the improvement manifest itself for them in the course of the coming year and how this is likely to reflect on the market requirements in that area, given that the requirements are increasing all the time?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Niall Collins: I wish to point out to the Deputy that our National Skills Council and the nine regional skills fora created under our national skills strategy foster engagement and collaboration between relevant Departments and agencies, the education and training system and enterprise. To secure more effective governance of Ireland's skills ecosystem, the National Skills Council has been reformed in line...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (8 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister of State for the positive information. May I ask the degree to which indications have been sought or research done into the extent to which this is likely to impact on the marketplace in terms of addressing shortages of skills in each of the areas mentioned?