Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will highlight a couple of the figures. The Department's allocation includes a package of almost €99 million in measures in the tertiary education system. This includes almost €70 million in funding arising from an increase in the national training fund levy, more than €16 million Exchequer funding for demographics in higher education and almost €14 million reallocated funding in further education and training to reflect changing economic priorities. This will deliver additional places on Springboard courses, support for the higher education performance and innovation fund, a research fund for technological universities and institutes of technology, increased provision for flexible learning, management and leadership capacity building in higher education institutions, increased apprenticeship registrations and new apprenticeship schemes. As part of budget 2019, the Government also announced a new human capital initiative that will involve an investment of €300 million in higher education over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, with €60 million available in each of those years.