Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 8 July 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion

Dr. Joseph Ryan:

I will happily come in. I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the question. On the numbers coming in, as of today we are working on the basis of the current public health advice. We are anticipating a considerable increase in September. It will depend on the domains and so on but we are talking about a commitment to a significant increase. As I have said, that will depend on domains. While I have the floor, I will mention the question of apprenticeships. If we go on as we are going today, we will be in very serious trouble. That is why I talk about a national mobilisation. Something has to change. Some €10 million has been granted for further education and another €10 million for higher education. It will involve the recruitment of new staff. We are working with social partners on that. We are looking at things like summer blocks and increased blocks. We are also looking at different approaches to assessment and different pedagogical approaches. Architectural change is required to address this.