Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak to it as part of its consideration of the Department’s Revised Estimates. I am accompanied today by the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, who has responsibility for skills and further education and by officials from the Department. I am conscious that I have only five minutes to deliver my opening statement so I will be very brief and give an overview of the Revised Estimates for my Department for 2021. I can pick up on issues in the exchanges with members.

The allocation for the Department’s 2021 Estimate was drawn up in late 2020 as part of the 2021 Estimates process, which allocated an additional €236 million. The increased allocation for the Department allowed me to fund a number of major priorities, including provision for increased undergraduate places to support leaving certificate students, meeting demographic increases and support skills development, increasing supports for postgraduate students in the SUSI scheme and increasing the allocation to meet demand for SUSI grants, increasing funding for access programmes, providing additional funding to support the research system, and investing in skills provision, particularly as we try to rebuild and repair after the Covid pandemic. These measures were in addition to the Covid supports provided to the further and higher education sector and to students during 2020. In total, these supports amounted to €216 million, with an additional €100 million for skills provision from the National Training Fund.

The Department’s capital ceiling was also increased, and funding was also provided to meet the costs associated with the public sector pay deal. Indeed, 47% of the Department’s gross Vote is allocated to pay and pensions, reflecting the crucial work our public servants carry out in the further and higher education system and in the science and innovation sector. This Department provides the funding for more than 25,000 public servants and more than 11,000 public servant pensioners.

Today marks the first time the Department’s Vote inclusive of research, innovation and science funding will be discussed at the committee. In many ways, the timing could not be better, as on 8 March we launched the new Department’s statement of strategy. This outlines our goals to develop talent and skills, support learning for all, and promote Irish research, knowledge and innovation on the world stage.

The Revised Estimate for Vote 45 before the committee provides for a net allocation of €2.7 billion, representing a gross allocation of €2.8 billion reduced by appropriations-in-aid of €100 million. When taken with the National Training Fund expenditure available, the overall gross expenditure allocation for my Department in 2021 increases to €3.5 billion.

The Vote 45 allocation comprises a number of key elements. These are an allocation of more than €2.5 billion to meet the various requirements of the Department in the areas of further and higher education, including some increase during the 2021 Estimates process reflecting the public sector pay deal, an increase to the capital ceiling and other assorted expenditure, the transfer of €226 million in funding from Vote 32 relating to research, innovation and science along with additional research funding secured as part of the budget for 2021, and an allocation of €20 million in budget 2021 to fund Covid-19 student grants through Student Universal Support Ireland in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

We are all well aware of the profound impact that Covid-19 has had globally over the past year. I place on record my gratitude to all involved in ensuring the continued health and safety of our students, lecturers and researchers, and to those working on a plan to safely reopen our institutions and establishments as much as possible in the near future. I want to students to have more on-site attendance in the next academic year. I pay tribute to students. Sometimes there can be an unfair narrative about students. They have overwhelmingly worked to follow the public health advice and play their part in the national effort against Covid-19.

I trust this overview is of some assistance to the committee and I look forward to discussing these issues in more detail. I commend the Revised Estimate to the committee.