Results 761-780 of 11,834 for speaker:Niall Collins

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the opportunity to speak to them this evening to present the 2024 Revised Estimates for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. My officials have provided a briefing on our Estimate to the secretariat of the committee which hopefully will be of assistance to members. The Estimate we are presenting...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: On rates of pay to apprentices, fundamentally, the apprenticeship relationship is employer-employee. The rates are in many instances set by sectoral agreements within the different sectors. Obviously, there are supports there for apprentices when they go on their off-the-job training, similar to many other students. We do not have a direct input on the rates of pay. It is a national...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: I will take that question on subhead B15, which relates to miscellaneous grants and services. It is made up of an allocation of €0.75 million under Housing for All, €0.6 million for accommodation, €0.55 million for Traveller apprenticeships, which are bursaries, and €0.2 million for what is described here as HE funding. I will supply the committee with a full...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: I will get that information for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: The reduction under subhead C4 reflects a transfer to subhead B12. The provision is all being kept within research activity. It is just a recategorisation and relates to moneys for the Irish Research Council, IRC. There is no net reduction in expenditure. There is a good deal to go through on student accommodation. I will give the Deputy a high-level summary. As of November 2023, the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: We are writing to them. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has either written in the last day or two or is about to write to each TU to get them to tell us what their requirements are in the medium to long term. As members know, an exercise was carried out last year whereby €1 million was provided across all the TUs to help them to do a proper assessment of what their medium to long-term...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: The Housing Finance Agency has a facility available to it. The first thing is that we need to know exactly what they want and how much they need. The picture has been unclear and we want to go about it by taking a structured approach. As part of that exercise, we are also looking at streamlining design in terms of how we are going to approach this. The proposal is to write to them. They...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: The OECD skills strategy has been published and we are looking at it. We will get back to the Deputy with a note on that. There is a grid that provides information on student accommodation. Since 2016, 14,079 purpose-built student accommodation beds have been built and work is under way on-site on an additional 7,023 bed spaces, of which 3,040 are publicly owned. Planning permission for...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: We will get the Deputy an exact note after the meeting and I will give her what information I have with me now. There are two bundles, the first of which is higher education PPP bundle 1. The six buildings which are being delivered by public private partnership bundle 1 are located at the Technological University Dublin campuses in Tallaght and Blanchardstown, the Munster Technological...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: To conclude the point, the PPPs that are finished are at Grangegorman central and east quads, the Cork School of Music and the National Maritime College of Ireland. I am sorry to cut across the Deputy.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: We will have to come back to the Deputy on the issue of the vulture funds. We do not have that information readily available. As the Deputy has rightly stated, TUs are on balance sheet. It is a significant issue to change that and to come off balance sheet.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: Yes. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, we can do PPPs or fund it through the budget. As I said earlier, like every other Department, we are currently in negotiations with the Department of public expenditure on the review of the NDP. That will present opportunities. I also mentioned the Housing Finance Agency earlier. That is a link-up with the European Investment Bank. In October...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: They could, but this is an additional borrowing capacity-----

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: Yes, they are.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: Is the Deputy asking about subhead B15?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: Subhead B15 has not changed, but there is new money. Under Housing for All, there is €750,000 to promote awareness, particularly in the craft apprenticeship space. We have €1.15 million in dormant accounts funding and bursaries for Roma and Travellers, which are disadvantaged communities.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: Well, these are new moneys under subhead B15, which relates to miscellaneous grants and services. That is current funding. Our capital funding subheads have stayed the same.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (31 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: My officials are making enquiries with Kerry ETB regarding the matter and a response will issue to the Deputy at the earliest opportunity.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Fees (30 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter. Graduate entry medicine is open to students who have already completed an honours undergraduate degree in any academic discipline and achieved a minimum 2.1 award in this degree. Students pursuing graduate entry medicine programmes do so as a second degree course and, consequently, are not eligible for free fees, funding or student grants. It...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Fees (30 Jan 2024)

Niall Collins: I thank the Senator and I will make her views absolutely known to the Department. The matter of health workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of qualified healthcare workers within Ireland is a major priority for our Department. I want to assure the Senator that it is our key objective to try to continue to make improvements for all students including general entry medicine...