Maeve O'Connell

I look forward to the outcomes of the process I have outlined and to working positively with the Minister to deliver positively for dogs, their families and our wider communities.

We are debating something important here - the National Training Fund - but it is effectively a tax on employers. They have been quite happy to contribute to that fund over the years because ultimately they get the benefit of it from the upskilling of their current and potential future workers. While I have concerns with the proposed amendments, the spirit of what they are proposing is a concern I…

Has the Department examined international best practice in public transport app design? Are lessons from other jurisdictions are being considered in the digital strategy for TFI?

The Minister of State highlighted some of the issues. Deputy Currie also highlighted the issue of ghost buses and the unreliability of the app. Deputy Timmins also highlighted this issue as well. It is also very frustrating that there is not one single accessible platform. There are effectively five different apps that people might find themselves having to interact with to plan their journey. The…

I am delighted to hear the comments are being taken on board. At the moment, we expect we might have to hop off a bus and onto a Luas or a DART, but we have to hop between applications as well to do it. This is not something that makes it easy for people to use our public transportation network. I appreciate the Minister of State's comments about the regional providers as well and that he is looki…

85. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Transport if analysis has been completed to study the way in which or if the completion of active travel projects have had a material effect on the carbon emissions of commuters in County Dublin, or across the country. [63312/25]

I ask the Minister for Transport if any analysis has been conducted on the completion of active travel projects and, in particular, any impact they may have had on the carbon emissions of commuters in Dublin or across the country.

My constituency of Dublin-Rathdown has seen significant change during the past five years through the development of active travel greenways and other similar schemes. Over €80 million has been spent, with €29 million allocated in 2025 alone, to support the various commitments in the national sustainable mobility policy to get people out of cars to walk and cycle instead, as well as the climate ac…

I appreciate that the Minister of State and I seem to be singing off the same hymn sheet. I attended one of the original proposal meetings on what are now called "active travel schemes" back in 2020. The overseeing consultants assured us then that traffic would just disappear if we implemented these schemes. The only real, empirical report I am aware of is on Kilmacud after new cycle lanes, road c…

If we cannot say, do not know or do not know yet, then do we know if we are pouring good money after bad?

Although I trained as a lawyer, science has always been part of my life. My mother was a dentist and my father was an engineer. They encouraged us to watch every television show on science. They subscribed to the New Scientist magazine and the National Geographic to encourage a love of science in us. My sister got the bug and she went on to get her PhD in chemistry. She and her husband have worked…

I take this opportunity to raise the issue of the cost of further and higher education. Is the Department planning to publish a roadmap to address the cost of education at higher and further level? As a fellow graduate of UCC, no doubt the Taoiseach will remember the days in the Kampus Kitchen or the main restaurant when he would have counted his change before buying a warming bowl of soup or cup …

I thank the Taoiseach. I am delighted to hear that he was a fellow tea-drinker as well. As a Corkman, I have to assume that is good old Barry's Tea too. I welcome that. I also support our investment in research but I do not see that it is a trade-off. We need to invest in our students, but the cost of education can encourage students to work more hours and damage their education. There is anothe…

I welcome the opportunity to debate Second Stage of the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill. In progressing this Bill through the Oireachtas, it is vitally important that we ensure the National Training Fund's original principles are maintained. Established in 2000, the National Training Fund has spent more than two decades, as we know, funding training for those in employment and those seeki…

I am delighted to stand here today and say I have great confidence in the Tánaiste, Simon Harris. Before I was elected, which was only last year, I was a lecturer in TU Dublin and I saw at first hand the work he did to transform that sector when he was the first Minister for higher education. I saw him raise the status of apprenticeships. I saw the pride of those students increase when they could…

14. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures his Department is evaluating to promote the conversion of older buildings for housing delivery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53387/25]

Will the Minister of State outline the measures his Department is evaluating to promote the conversion of older buildings for housing delivery?

I welcome all those supports. In my constituency, we have some of these issues in the context of neighbourhood centres, which are neither shops nor accommodation. That is frustrating. I would like to follow up on the derelict sites levy, which is to become a tax. When do we anticipate that it will be activated to try to encourage more of these properties to be brought back into use?

I wish to take the opportunity to ask the Taoiseach to talk to the Minister for Transport and ask him to urgently introduce the policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems. This regards the guidelines for the commercial operation of drones. In my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, there is a plan to open a drone delivery hub right in the heart of Dundrum village, next to Holy Cross Church. The de…

100. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department will create a centralised third level information hub for students. [37814/25]

I thank both Minister and Minister of State for being with us here tonight. Does the Minister have plans to create a centralised third level information hub for students?

As the Minister is aware in the programme for Government outlines plans to create a single application portal for further and third level education. I would have thought that a first step in that is to create an information hub. The Minister correctly identified four different websites that people have to try to go through. It is quite challenging for young people to navigate all of this, particul…

I welcome that the Minister is trying to understand the behaviours. One of the potential problems of the CAO system is that it is easy. Students fill in their top choices and then they are done. They may not be considering the other options because they are much more difficult to navigate. I will give a specific example. Only about 12% or 14% of students study accounting at leaving cert but there …

107. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on his Department's plans for the reduction of the student contribution fee as per the commitments in the programme for Government. [37331/25]

I have one thing to add. I represent Dublin Rathdown, and UCD is obviously a significant institution within Dublin Rathdown. The key recommendation of the students' union there, in last year's report on student accommodation, was that reducing the student contribution fee is the most effective way to support students and their families. I think that highlights where the students are coming from an…