Results 4,221-4,240 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The ‘Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025’ sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship accessible to employers and learners. The ambitions of the Plan spans both financial and non-financial measures. Significant financial supports to employers that have been introduced include:The annual Employer Grant of €2,000 per...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Galway Roscommon ETBs (GRETB) strategic proposal is to develop a new state-of-the-art FET campus on a site adjacent to its Mervue Training facility. The aim of the proposal is to not only facilitate the strengthening of Further Education and Training provision in Galway City but also in the wider region due to its close proximity to the training centre in Mervue, the Atlantic Technological...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021 provided clarity on Departmental capital ceilings for the period 2022 – 2025. A dedicated capital envelope was established for the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, amounting to €300 million over the decade 2018-2027. Available funding has increased from €5.5 million in 2018 to €17.5 million in 2020...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Surveys (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The tertiary education and training system is designed to ensure that learners and graduates are enabled to flourish, both here in Ireland and abroad. Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) not only works to ensure the quality and integrity of national awards but also that those awards are, and remain, recognised internationally. The existing International Education Strategy highlights...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2024 (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Through Budget 2024, I am continuing to invest in our apprenticeship system. Apprenticeships have a crucial role to play in meeting Ireland’s skills needs now and into the future, and significantly contribute to meeting the Government’s commitments on Housing for All, and the Climate Action Plan. An additional core €67m investment will help to grow the apprenticeship...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021 provided clarity on Departmental capital ceilings for the period 2022 – 2025. A dedicated capital envelope was established for the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, amounting to €300m over the decade 2018-2027. Available funding has increased from €5.5 million in 2018 to €17.5 million in 2020 and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2024 (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: In November 2022, I appointed Dr Andrea Johnson and Mr David Cagney to undertake an independent National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers. In their first report, the Co-Chairs recommended an increased stipend toward an optimum level of €25,000, subject to funding availability. Under Budget 2024, I am increasing the PhD stipends provided by the competitive funding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: It is this Government’s ambition to right-size apprenticeship capacity in line with labour market demands, the ambitions of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, and in support of Government objectives under Housing For All, retrofitting, and green skills. As a demand-led system, there are no restrictions on the number of apprentices that can register. The apprenticeship system is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The ‘Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025’ sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship more accessible to employers and learners. Expansion to date has widened the impact of apprenticeship to areas of skills shortage such as agriculture, engineering, technology skills, logistics, and fintech. It will also support skills...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Firstly, I would like to inform the Deputy that from this academic year, the income threshold to avail of a Student Contribution grant has been increased from €62,000 to €100,000, opening the Scheme up to a significant number of additional students and their families. In addition for 2023/2024 the Student Contribution charge has been reduced by €1000 for free fees...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2024 (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: I am actively prioritising the supply and affordability of student accommodation, in recognition of the challenges our students are facing. Through “Housing for All”, the Government has approved development of policy and provision of funding to increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodation. Student accommodation is a capital funding allocation which will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that Budget 2024 contains a package of measures to support households with the cost of living. These include a number of measures targeted at further and higher education students and their families. These include:A €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee for higher education students eligible for the free fees initiative;An increase to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: In November 2022, I appointed Dr Andrea Johnson and Mr David Cagney to undertake an independent National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers. This is the first time that State supports for PhD students have been considered holistically in this manner. Of the approximately 10,000 PhD students currently enrolled across the higher education sector, 4,000 undertake their studies using...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021 provided clarity on Departmental capital ceilings for the period 2022 – 2025. A dedicated capital envelope was established for the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, amounting to €300m over the decade 2018-2027. Available funding has increased from €5.5 million in 2018 to €17.5 million in 2020 and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Talent development remains vital for our workforce. One of my core objectives is strengthening our skills ecosystem to ensure it has the agility and flexibility to adapt to changing priorities in the skills and workforce development landscape - including increasingly rapid, technologically driven changes in the world of work. These changes place a premium on supporting individuals and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Energy Conservation (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: An Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme (EEDPP) in Higher Education was first introduced in 2020 and is co-funded by my Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) under Project Ireland 2040, and administered through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Higher Education Authority (HEA). The purpose of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is administered by the centralised national grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) on behalf of my Department. SUSI regularly reviews their systems, processes and service to identify improvements in service delivery and have made significant strides in this regard in recent years, through for example the development of an online student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Louth Meath ETB (LMETB) put forward a proposal under the Strategic Infrastructure Upgrade Fund (SIUF), which I announced in February 2022, for multipurpose tertiary facilities for Drogheda Institute for Further Education (DIFE). The primary purpose of the SIUF is to support ETB capital projects that will upgrade existing FET infrastructure and provide a high quality teaching and learning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: In recognition of the need to increase the supply of student accommodation, my Department is developing policy responses to stimulate the development of new and additional student accommodation for public higher education institutions. This landmark policy response will, for the first time, see the State providing financial support in the construction of student accommodation, and underpins...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (19 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that Budget 2024 contains a package of measures to support households with the cost of living. These cost of living measures include a €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee for higher education students applies to those students who are eligible for the free fees initiative which operates within the State. Under the Free Fees Initiative...