As we begin National Adult Literacy Awareness Week 2010, we have an excellent opportunity to reflect on the absence of a National Adult Literacy Strategy since 2006. It is vital that the government should begin to address this as a national priority. Literacy and numeracy are often ignored in the debate about up-skilling and retraining. [...]

Labour Spokesperson on Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn TD today called for FÁS to be closed down and its functions transferred. The recent controversies in FÁS have completely destroyed any public confidence in the organisation and there is a widespread perception that the agency is unable to cope with the massive unemployment crisis Ireland is [...]

The revelation by the Department of Education and Skills that 107,000 primary school children are in classes with over 30 pupils highlights the damaging impacts cutbacks are having in our primary schools. 15,000 additional students are attending primary school in our overcrowded and under-funded education system since last year’s survey was published. This is the [...]

Last week saw the McGill summer school take place in Glenties, Co. Donegal. There was a good Labour presence at the event and speeches by a number of Labour TDs illustrate the reforms Labour would deliver if in government. Eamon Gilmore’s speech set out his long-term vision for a New Republic, Pat Rabbitte’s talked about [...]

The Labour Party proposed the following amendment during the Report Stage of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill on 30th June 2010. This amendment would require the HSE to maintain St. Luke’s Hospital for the treatment of cancer. In page 4, lines 29 to 31, to delete all words from and including “may” in line 29 [...]

Below is the video of my speech made in the Dáil today during the Motion of No Confidence in Táoiseach Brian Cowen. You can read the text of the speech further below.

I welcome the comments made by Michael Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs, that Mandarin should be introduced as a Leaving Certificate subject. However, the Minister’s comments are at odds with those of the Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan TD. The Tánaiste told me on the 20th of April, in a parliamentary question, (see [...]

The Dublin South East Labour Party is currently distributing its Summer 2010 Newsletter. This edition focuses on Education and sets out Labour’s Priorities for our schools and students. There is also detailed local news from all parts of the Dublin South East constituency. If you have any questions, please get in touch with me.

There is a serious problem for people who are having difficulties with the registration of the title of ‘Architect’. The Building Control Act 2007 was passed with a very rigourous set of requirements for architects who lacked a formal qualification to prove to the authorities. This was done to eliminate ‘cowboy’ architects, but  this law [...]

Yesterday, I had a comment piece published in the Irish Times on how to improve the quality of educational outcomes in our schools. You can read the article in full below. MUCH HAS been written, and even more promised, about a knowledge economy. Yet, too often the focus has been on the high-level goals of [...]