Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all our contributors. We are here today to discuss, as Dr. Ryan mentioned, a return to campus. Very many of our colleges and universities kept going all through the pandemic. We know that a return to campus is about having students’ best interests at heart. It is about students having the most wonderful student experience, especially for those who have been extremely disheartened during the past year or two years. Our students are resilient. That strength has come through our primary and secondary school educational structure and that will continue as they enter college.

I have a few questions. Many interesting topics have been raised. Professor Ó hÓgartaigh, go raibh míle agaibh. It is great to see you here today. The UniCov project on antigen testing has kicked off and it has been running since 14 June. It is being led by Professor Breda Smyth. It is a link between the colleges and public health. Can Professor Ó hÓgartaigh give us a taster of how it is going? Will he give us an update on it? It is a comparative study in its initial stages. He might advise on the different groups that are working together and the researchers involved.

On behalf of the committee, I want to thank, as the Chairman has done, the thousands of staff and students who will be involved in this testing across four of the universities They are doing this to ensure we can build and have an evidence base that will stand alongside PCR testing, but we can only make decisions based on evidence. Research has been crucial in developing the vaccines. They are all based on research. Researchers are crucial to dealing with this pandemic.

I thank Mr. Kearney for his contribution on the education and training boards. I am a pure advocate of them. The statistics he mentioned, that there are 200 centres, are amazing. Those centres are to be found in every town and village across Ireland. No matter where one is based in whatever county, there is a college of further education with which one can engage and continue to do further education and training, FET, courses. It is great that 32,000 staff and more than 220,000 FET learners have been back on track for the past few months.

I wish to ask Mr. Kearney about the apprenticeships, in particular. We are promoting that programme in terms of earning and learning. There will be a high number of school leavers and career changers at any point in their lives who may want to engage in this programme, particularly now when there is a changing of roles. Can he give an update on that programme? There are 60 courses available and it is anticipated another 18 will be provided. How has the apprenticeship programme been running across the education and training boards?

Dr. Ryan also contributed when he appeared before this committee earlier this week on Tuesday. We are getting to meet twice this week. I was delighted to see an opening date for Athlone Institute of Technology, AIT, and a brand new TUS, Technological University of Shannon: Midlands Midwest. It is wonderful news that it will be opening in October. Dr. Ryan mentioned our facilities and infrastructure have provided us with the vaccination centres. I went to the AIT international arena to get my vaccine and it was very well co-ordinated. The universities and staff in the colleges are working with the HSE's public health staff, community healthcare, the Army, Civil Defence and stewards. It was incredible to see all these groups working together.

Dr. Ryan mentioned the welcome supports for students. Will he expand on that? We have spoken briefly on funding. I am mindful of international students on an Erasmus programme. As a former Erasmus student, I would be very supportive of that programme. Will he comment briefly on that? Budgets are tight and this year and funding will be difficult, but we are here to support the colleges in whatever way we can, particularly the international students sector. I appreciate that will be dependent on the roll-out of the Covid passport.