James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am thankful for the opportunity to present the 2025 Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. My officials have provided a briefing to the secretariat of the committee that I hope will be of assistance to members in analysing it.

This Supplementary Estimate provides a gross increase of €96 million to bring the overall allocation for my Department to €4.693 billion in 2025. This represents an increase of 2% on our Revised Estimate allocation for 2025. Furthermore, as part of this process, my Department has agreed some technical adjustments to manage our 2025 allocation effectively, including additional expenditure costs that were offset by savings.

Through the additional funding provided, careful resource management and the use of technical adjustments, this Supplementary Estimate targets almost €180 million towards the following priorities. A sum of €30 million is provided to meet funding pressures relating to the increased number of apprentices due to be trained in 2025. In line with programme for Government commitments, I have prioritised the resolution of this funding pressure, through ongoing engagement with key stakeholders and the Department of public expenditure. This additional funding enables education and training boards, ETBs, to proceed with the scheduling and delivery of apprenticeship courses without delay. I issued a directive in the summer, when the funding pressure came to light, that no apprenticeship course should be affected, because it was imperative that apprenticeship delivery occur without delay.

A sum of €25 million is provided for in-year Government decisions. This includes €22 million to support beneficiaries of temporary protection, BOTPs, to access further and higher education under a more sustainable model, aligned more closely with the supports available to Irish students. This measure provides assurance and clarity to current and prospective BOTPs regarding the supports available to those wishing to pursue tertiary education. It is actually a fairer system all round and brings the system into line with the Irish student experience, in comparison with which it was out of kilter.

Also included are sums of €2.8 million to fund over 300 additional student places across nine priority health and social care disciplines, which places were introduced in September of this year, and €750,000 towards additional social welfare commitments in December. A sum of €13.6 million has been allocated to support increased demands on the student support scheme and the student assistance fund in 2025. The student assistance fund is a very important element of the supports and interventions available to students. It provides financial assistance at the institutional level to those facing difficulties in meeting everyday costs of participating in higher education. For many, this assistance can be the deciding factor in whether they remain in college or are forced to leave.

This Supplementary Estimate also provides €111 million for public sector pay and pension costs. This includes the funding of Building Momentum pay costs, public-only consultancy contracts and pension obligations in the higher education sector.

I trust that this overview is of assistance to the committee and hope the briefing documents provided have been of some assistance. I am happy to take questions. I commend the Supplementary Estimate to the committee.