Results 1-20 of 1,136,538 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Mary Butler OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Brendan Howlin OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Catherine Connolly OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Eamon Ryan OR speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire) in 'Committee meetings'

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I begin by wishing the Chairman a speedy recovery. I am pleased to be here this morning together with officials from my Department. I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak with its members and ask for their consideration of the Department's Supplementary Estimates for 2024. Following approval by the Government, the Department is...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: On school secretaries and caretakers, the Deputy will be aware that all school secretaries who were keen to come onto the payroll of the Department of Education have now signed up and crossed over. They are now automatically paid by the Department of Education as distinct from receiving payment from their school board or through grants received by the board. I gave a commitment that a...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Yes. As regards school transport, a number of recommendations came out of the review of school transport. A phased implementation of the review has begun, and that includes the pilot projects. We have funding in place to continue the pilot projects and add to them. Our ambition is, as we have outlined previously to this committee, to ensure that by 2030 we will have a further 100,000...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Mr. Loftus is very keen to cover that one.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I was giving the committee the opportunity to hear from the head of planning and building. The subhead is used to fund school accommodation. This is A15: to buy sites, deliver smaller scale works in schools, provide furniture and equipment and address remediation works. The current allocation subhead provides for grants towards rental of temporary school premises at primary and...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: By infrastructure, we mean school buildings, really, specifically the project roll-out of those school buildings. I am very happy to come back-----

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Yes, absolutely.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: We have a forward planning unit within the Department and it is very successful. We now liaise with local authorities, for example, on their future projections. We also gather all the data that is necessary. It is a GIS system. We engage with child benefit and so on. As regards the figures we are talking about here, we have currently 350 projects on the ground at construction, and the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: 100%. We have a very strong record of being on time and on budget. I acknowledge the work of the planning and building unit and am here in the company of Mr. Loftus, but I also acknowledge the work of all those who work with the Department to ensure there is strong delivery.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: Yes.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: In the first instance I want to talk about the National Council for Special Education and how we have expanded it significantly. We made provision in the previous budget for an additional 160 staff and that they would be specifically people who were on the ground, such as the special needs organisers who are engaging directly on the ground with the schools. We also see it now as part of...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary) (22 Oct 2024)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy very much.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: I thank the Minister for her statement. I have a few questions. I note the offset in the underspends. First, there is not enough spending on the Garda Reserve due to delays in recruitment. Is that likely to happen this year? What are the reasons for the delays?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: No new people have been recruited. Is that what the Minister is saying?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: Does the Minister accept there are fewer than 100 members of the Garda Reserve in Dublin at this stage?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: Is the Minister happy with the pace of recruitment? There is an issue with Garda visibility on the streets of Dublin in particular for a long time now.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: The Minister must have misheard me. Is she happy with the pace of recruitment to the Garda Reserve?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Pa Daly: As for the Garda College, one of the other underspends, the underspend is due to a lower number of trainees than anticipated. The Minister stated she wants between 800 and 1,000 new trainees entering Templemore Garda College per year. She will be aware that the number of retirements will peak in three or four years, with some 1,400 retirements in 2028. It is clear there will be a problem,...