Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator covered a lot of ground so I hope she will bear with me. I thank her for working with me on the Higher Education Authority Bill. I enjoyed and appreciated her input.

I am pleased we have managed to reduce the student contribution fee by €1,000 on a one-off basis. I am equally, if not more, proud that we have come up with a proper structure to look at the issue of registration fees and grants in the round from next year. Senator Malcolm Byrne and I debated this point at different times but I think we have landed in a good place, because we have said everybody will receive €1,000. That is a cost-of-living measure and like many cost-of-living measures, it is universal and will be paid before the end of the year. Some 94,000 students will benefit. From next year, we have made a permanent reduction of €500 and linked it to the SUSI system. We have introduced an income threshold of €100,000 and a reduction of €500. That gives me and any future Ministers or Governments the ability to look at the registration fee as part of the overall grant system in future budgets. That is a good way of doing it as we will not be having separate conversations about SUSI and the registration fee. We are looking at the system and structure of the cost of education.

One of the good ideas to come out of the Funding the Future paper was a recommendation by one of my officials that we publish an annual cost-of-higher-education paper in advance of the budget. It has been done by the Department of Social Protection for many years. Papers on tax and welfare are published. We had not exactly been forgotten, but we were not up in lights in advance of the budget. This means that every year the Oireachtas, media, stakeholders and everyone else will get to see, debate and consider what could be done to help to reduce the cost of education, how much it would cost and the best choices available. That can only be good.

I am pleased that SUSI will issue double payments on 16 December 2022. That will come at a welcome time for many families and crucially the SUSI grants will rise by between 10% and 14% from January 2023. Last year and in most previous years, when SUSI grants rose, students had to wait until the following college year. They will rise from January 2023, which is important considering the pressure people are feeling.

I am interested in hearing more about the learning gates and perhaps going to see some of them. It is a good idea. The technological universities at their core are about regional development. They are about bringing access to education into the regions. They are about moving beyond the outdated concept that all roads from an educational point of view must lead to a big city. We have had a lot of success in recent years in setting up technological universities. I thank the committee for its work on this.

Capital investment is badly needed in the facilities. We will have an announcement at the end of this month or the beginning of next month on significant capital funding for technological universities. Many have applied.

That will come shortly. On research, we are making sure there are research-intensive institutions, looking forward to the ring-fenced funding for the TUs that will come through the European Regional Development Fund. I think it is a fund of approximately €80 million. The third is a meaty piece of work. There is a lot of work going on in my Department and with the OECD on academic contracts. Again, this is not about foisting something on people; it is about engaging and offering the contract so these TUs can reach their full potential. Now that they are set up, they are the three big things that are important.

On the PhD review, the timeline is that it will kick off in November and conclude in early 2023. We need to talk to them first, but I will announce the external chair or chairs of that by the end of the week, I hope, or certainly in the next week or so.

On the 674 beds in Galway, I had a chance to view the site when in Galway with the Senator for the renaming of the University of Galway. My understanding is that construction is due to be completed in January. There is then the fit-out process and all of that, so they will be on stream for the next academic year. The membership of the implementation group is quite broad but it contains the heads of SOLAS, Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, Irish Universities Association, IUA, the president of the Students' Union, the general secretary of ICTU, representatives from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the head of Aontas, representatives from the Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the Department of Education, my own Department, IBEC and me and the two co-chairs, Professors Tom Collins and Anne Looney. I think I have covered all the questions. I would also like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to Patricia King on her retirement from ICTU.