The relationship between strengthening employment standards for teachers and staff working in this sector and enhancing Ireland’s considerable reputation as a quality learning destination for international students was strongly highlighted in the debates – in both the Seanad and the Dáil – on the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019 which I successfully brought through the Oireachtas prior to the summer recess.

“Following recent media and political commentary, I wish to state that at all times I have been compliant with rules for attendance at Leinster House.

The Leader of Fine Gael, An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD, has welcomed Cllr Aisling Dolan to the Fine Gael team and to the Party’s General Election ticket in Roscommon- Galway.

The Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. and the Minister of State with special responsibility for Housing and Urban Development, Damien English T.D. today released the end Q3 2019 progress report on the National Student Accommodation Strategy.

The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. today (Thursday 28th November) opened the 5th National Forum on Education for Sustainable Development in the Hibernia Conference Centre, Dublin Castle.

COUNCILLOR Aisling Dolan will contest the next General Election in the Roscommon-Galway constituency as a Fine Gael candidate.

Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor T.D. today, on World Access to Higher Education Day, launched the Action Plan to Promote Traveller Participation in Higher Education. The Minister was joined at the launch, held in TU Dublin, by several third level students and recent graduates from the Traveller community, who told their own stories of studying in universities and colleges around Ireland, and gave insights into the supports that are most useful to students.

A BILL to examine lavish spending proposals from opposition parties by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) ahead of every budget is being introduced to the Dáil today.

Dublin’s small and medium businesses will be hit with increased rates when they can least afford it because Fianna Fáil Councillors were looking for a soft target, a Fine Gael General Election candidate has said.

• Bill would mean that Local Authorities would be free to remove social housing requirement from build-to-rent developments • Darragh O’Brien’s Private Members Bill the latest FF housing initiative that doesn’t pass basic scrutiny • Fine Gael calls on other Dáil parties not to back this poorly thought out Bill