Results 1,481-1,500 of 11,834 for speaker:Niall Collins

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That will depend on the European Commission. Between 30% and 100% of the beds will form part of-----

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: It is a state aid intervention, which means it needs to pass muster with Europe. The Deputy will be aware that we are working to allow our technological universities to borrow to build student accommodation. That is being worked on in parallel with other measures. That is separate to what we have discussed heretofore. We hope to allow our technological universities to do that. As the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: Yes. There is a €1,000 reduction this year, a refund to those who had paid in full, or a credit for those who are paying by instalment. Next year, the threshold is €100,000. When a person's income falls below the threshold of €100,000, the student contribution will be to €2,500.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: Those two organisation are within the remit of our Department, whereas the Deputy mentioned Teagasc-----

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: They are in other Departments. We can only concern ourselves with agencies under the aegis of our Department.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: It is a fair point. We informed other Departments of what we were doing with the agencies under our remit. The equity point made by the Deputy is fair enough. In October a review was announced. I have the scope of the review. Is the Deputy aware of that?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: It has just commenced in October.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: On a breakdown, if we take the year 2021-2022, the general student assistance fund was €18.1 million. There was an allocation of €1 million for part-time students. There was Covid or cost-of-living additional funding in the year 2021-2022 of €8.1 million and €1.3 million, which rolled up into €18.5 million. Similarly for the year 2022-2023, it is...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: I will get back to the Deputy on that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is absolutely one location that could answer the call for expressions of interest regarding student accommodation, which will go out in the new year, since it is close to the University of Limerick.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will send the Deputy a detailed, up-to-date note on that tomorrow. It is very advanced. If it has not gone out to tender, but it is at a point where it is about to. I know the background to it. As the Deputy noted, it has been through a journey which has taken far too long. It is fair to say that it is at a point where we will see the refurbishment and development of the site as the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will get the Deputy an exact update on that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is a specific query about Ukrainian qualifications in dentistry. We will liaise with QQI and come back to the Deputy directly about it. On the broader issue of additional college places, €38 million was provided in 2021, with €40 million in 2022 and €32.2 million in 2023, for the provision of extra college places, particularly in high-demand courses. To respond to...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: The figure that has been approved by the Government is €32 million. As the Deputy has described, that money is intended to unlock planning permission that is ready to be taken up. We are looking at three locations, namely, Galway, Limerick and Maynooth. The Government approved a decision this week, as the Deputy knows. The Department will arrange to advertise for expressions of...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will get a note on that for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: In the year 2021-2022 the total allocation was €18.5 million. In the year 2022-2023 the total amount provided is €17.1 million. I can step it back to the year 2020-2021 when it was €18.2 million, and in 2019-2020 it was €10.1 million. I also have a breakdown of the allocations to each of the different colleges and if the Deputy would like me to run through...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: It is recognised that there is a shortage of dentists in the country. Work is being undertaken with the higher education institutions to provide more capacity to train more dentists.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is fine. As I said in my reply to Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, a feature of the student assistance fund is allowing local decision-making. It is about giving colleges local autonomy. They know their students better than we know them. This is the first occasion I have heard of it, since Deputies Conway-Walsh and Crowe have raised it. It was never brought to my attention before. I would...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: There is no definitive reason for the decrease in the number of student grant applications. We are working to understand the causes behind it. There are some potential explanations for the decrease in applications for SUSI grants and it is likely that the true reason is a mixture of some or all of the hypotheses. It must be stressed that there may be another cause for the decrease in...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: I also make the point that the savings are being invested back into SUSI. We broadened the eligibility criteria, increased the threshold and have completed the entire SUSI review. Professor Tom Collins is working on that to see the next level of changes should be made to the scheme. That is a decision that will have to be taken in due course. There was also a small increase in the amount...