Results 181-200 of 33,688 for speaker:Simon Harris in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the attached spreadsheet, the data was sourced from the HEA student records system and is rounded to the nearest 5.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Research and Innovation Bill was approved by Government for publication in December 2023. The Bill was published on the 8th of January. It is available from the Bills Office, or to view on the Oireachtas website, and on my Department's website. The Research and Innovation Bill will take Second Stage in the Dáil in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question. The Deputy will be aware that Dublin Dun Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) have been working with and supported by SOLAS in developing their preliminary business case proposal for Swords under the College of the Future Major Projects fund for the last number of months. The development of a robust Preliminary Business Case (PBC) is fundamental to the requirements...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: An inclusive higher education system is a national and European priority. Supporting Inclusion is one of the six strategic goals set out in my Department’s Statement of Strategy. I have stated that it is a priority of mine to deliver a more equitable higher education system. At Higher Education level the new National Access Plan which was launched on 31st August 2022 aims to support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: Green skills are essential for achieving a low-carbon economy, and for maximising the social and economic benefits of the green transition. These skills are needed in key sectors including renewable energy and offshore wind, electric vehicles and nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB)/retrofit. In the area of offshore wind, my Department is working with key partners to identify skill...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: Lifelong Learning is key to leveraging the opportunities and challenges of an ever-changing world of work. This focus is underpinned by the OECD’s Skills Strategy Review published on 9 May 2023, and by our commitments on same. Under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, we have defined our ambition of annual participation rate in Lifelong Learning of 64.2% of all adults...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: As of 16 January 2024, there is a total of 282 apprentices employed by public sector employers, 111 apprentices employed by Civil Service departments and 620 apprentices employed by semi-state employers. As such, there an overall total of 1,013 apprentices employed across the public sector, Civil Service and semi-state organisations combined. Among the public sector employers currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: An inclusive higher education system is a national and European priority. Inclusion is one of the six strategic goals set out in my Department’s Statement of Strategy and our National Access Plan identifies students with a disability including students with an intellectual disability as a group who are underrepresented in higher education. Since the launch of the plan I have taken a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: In July, 2023, Minister Donnelly and I announced over 400 additional permanent places across Health and Social Care Profession programmes from September 2023. This included five places on the Radiation Therapy programme in Trinity College Dublin I met with Deputy Burke and representatives from the Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork Radiation Therapy programme as well as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The Deputy will be aware that Kerry ETB has been working with and supported by SOLAS in developing their preliminary business case proposal for Killarney under the College of the Future Major Projects fund for the last number of months. The development of a robust Preliminary Business Case (PBC) is fundamental to the requirements of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: In 2022, there were a total of 8,286 apprenticeship registrations. This compares to 8,712 registrations in 2023, an increase of 5%. The information is broken down in tabular form in the attached table.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: An inclusive higher education system is a national and European priority. Supporting Inclusion is one of the six strategic goals set out in my Department’s Statement of Strategy. At Higher Education level the new National Access Plan which was launched on 31st August 2022 aims to support inclusion and diversity in our student body, address the wider struggles and challenges for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The University of Limerick (UL) is the only HEI in Limerick with on-campus accommodation of 2,934 beds. Mary Immaculate College (MIC), who are academically linked to UL provide an additional 136 Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) beds. For the current academic year an additional 83 PBSA beds have been delivered in Limerick. The latest data available from Building Information Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021 provided clarity on Departmental capital ceilings for the period 2022 – 2025. A dedicated capital envelope was established for the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, amounting to €300m over the decade 2018-2027. Available funding has increased from €5.5 million in 2018 to €17.5 million in 2020 and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The Deputy will be aware that Cavan Monaghan ETB have been working with and supported by SOLAS in developing their preliminary business case proposal for Cavan Town under the College of the Future Major Projects fund for the last number of months. The development of a robust Preliminary Business Case (PBC) is fundamental to the requirements of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: As Minister I have ensured an unrelenting focus on growing participation in apprenticeships. Underpinned by the measures in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, the impact is very clear and positive, with significant growth of apprenticeship over the past number of years. Since 2021, over 27,000 people have registered as apprentices. Craft apprenticeship registrations for 2021- 2023 were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The National Access Plan has called for more flexible forms of learning for target groups and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. One of the priorities for Budget 2024 is reducing child poverty. We know that Education has the power to transform lives, lift people out of poverty and break down cycles of intergenerational poverty. I have been consistent in my position that we...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Employment Support Services (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: It is essential more than ever that our skills ecosystem has the agility and flexibility to adapt to changing priorities in the skills and workforce development landscape, with the backdrop of the accelerating and intensifying digital and green transitions. In this context, one of the key themes of the OECD Review of Ireland's National Skills Strategy published last May was the need to secure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Construction Industry (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: A key government priority is to increase the number of people employed in the construction sector. This is essential to the Government meeting its ambitious targets under Housing for All. The CSO Labour force survey of Q3 2023 shows when compared with pre-Covid levels of Q3 2019 the total employment in the sector has grown by 17,600. The Department works with sectoral partners such as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The report as referenced from the Irish Federation of University Teachers does not seem to suggest that one-third of higher education teaching staff are planning to leave Ireland. This is not to say however that the report does not highlight some concerning issues and is a useful contribution to ongoing consideration of precarious employment. The issue of academic career precarity is...