Results 1-20 of 4,938 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a pilot part time grant scheme will be introduced from September 2024. It will provide fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. The scheme is currently being finalised and the Department is working closely with SUSI on this. Details of the Scheme will be issued in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As outlined in previous responses, officials from my Department have submitted a business case to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to support access to the single public service pension scheme for those researchers who are not currently able to join the scheme. The business case remains under review, and DFHERIS will only be able to progress...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Broadband Infrastructure (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department's communications infrastructure is provided and managed by the Department of Education as part of a shared service agreement. The Department of Education currently has 11 ISDN/PSTN lines and 42 DSL lines. The lines are predominantly in use by the Department's regional offices. The necessity for PSTN/ISDN and DSL technology is mainly due to the unavailability of fibre...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: All of the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) offer English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training, as part of their adult literacy provision, to meet the day-to-day social, cultural and work-related language needs of migrants/refugees. All ESOL provision is free, and caters for all competency levels of learners, from beginner, to intermediate, and advanced. My officials are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ukraine War (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Following the Government decision to ensure supports delivered to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) are aligned with those available to Irish citizens, my Department, in common with all other Departments, is currently reviewing supports delivered in the context of Further and Higher Education. I anticipate that the outcome of this process will be concluded shortly, and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Examinations (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The HPAT is independently administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) on behalf of the universities’ medical schools and the RCSI. The selection criteria and process for admission to medical schools is a matter for those institutions in line with their statutory autonomy in relation to academic affairs. Neither the Minister nor the Department has a function...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Information and Communications Technology (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 757, 758, 759 and 760 together. Since 2005 the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) has made high-performance computing (HPC) resources available to all researchers based in Irish third-level institutions. Their services are also available to users in industry and the public sector. ICHEC’s current high-performance computer, Kay, was due...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Visa Applications (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: My department has not been made aware of any issues impacting non-EU citizens working in Irish further and higher education institutions in securing appointments for these types of visas. As Ireland is not a member of the Schengen area, it therefore has has no role in setting the conditions attached to visiting Schengen area countries.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: European Union (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Since 2020 when my Department was established, it has transposed one EU Regulation, the details of which are as follows: S.I. No. 413/2022 - European Union (Regulated Professions Proportionality Assessment) Regulations 2022 was signed into law on 15 August, 2022. It transposed Directive (EU) 2018/958 on a proportionality test before adoption of new regulation of professions.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Thank you Deputy for your question. I understand that the UCD Professional Academy is part of University College Dublin (UCD) and has a particular focus on the provision of short industry specific courses. As the Deputy will be aware, UCD is an autonomous body which is funded in a variety of ways including State grants; competitive funding; tuition fees and commercial/private income...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Local Authorities (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I can advise the Deputy that no grant-aid has been returned or surrendered to my Department by a local authority in 2022, 2023 or to date in 2024.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The information requested by the Deputy of the number of people who begin apprenticeships in the construction trades but drop out before completion, broken down by apprenticeship type, in tabular form, from 2010 to present, is being compiled by SOLAS. An answer will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as the information is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am committed to addressing the supply of more affordable student accommodation for priority group students, in line with policy commitments set out in the National Access Plan (NAP). The NAP aims to support inclusion and diversity in the student body, address the wider struggles and challenges for students, and deliver sustainable progress. It recognises the needs of vulnerable learners,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Officials in this Department have contacted SOLAS on this matter, and they have advised that they are currently reviewing the invoice received with regard to compliance requirements for current public sector workers and will revert directly to the referred to person in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As autonomous institutions, admissions policies, including advanced entry through prior learning in a Higher Education Institution abroad, is a matter for each University.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (25 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: 2,583 electrical, plumbing and carpentry apprentices completed their course in 2023, the table below gives the breakdown by the year in which they first registered for their course. It should be noted that registration may take place on any date, while completion takes place on all days of the year following completion of the mandatory requirements of on-the-job and off-the-job phases. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (25 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The White Paper on Enterprise 2022 – 2030 states that Social Enterprises, mostly micro-enterprises or SMEs, are an important and growing part of Ireland’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, creating jobs and stimulating local economic activity, and are recognised as an integral part of Ireland’s broad enterprise policy landscape. Requests for information in relation to grants or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (25 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As you are aware, Officials from my Department have been engaging with officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the decision of private student accommodation providers to move to 51-week leases. Officials from both Departments are examining a number of potential legislative amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004-2022, which will require Government...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (24 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: This Government is committed to removing accommodation as a barrier to education. In November 2022, the Government approved the development of both a short and long term policy responses to increase the supply of student accommodation. In the short term, as part of this response, Government supported the activation of student accommodation projects in our Universities with planning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (24 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is not possible to provide the requested information on a county-by-county basis. The information is available by Education and Training Board (ETB). Therefore, the following information is for Louth & Meath ETB (LMETB), which operates in the Louth and Meath. However, its catchment area may extend beyond these counties. The list of apprenticeship programmes currently available...