Results 35,861-35,880 of 46,522 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Asylum Seekers (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The student support scheme for asylum seekers is for students who are in the protection system or at the leave to remain (but not deportation order) stage and who are pursuing an approved Post Leaving Certificate course or an approved undergraduate course. It provides supports along similar lines to the current Student Grant Scheme (the SUSI scheme) to eligible applicants who are in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The cost of including all prospective students, as referenced by the Deputy, under the free fees criteria are not available. The Department of Justice adjudicates on a person's entitlement to remain in the State and on the stamp that is awarded where permission to remain is sanctioned. As the Deputy will be aware, the fee payable by a student can vary depending on a variety factors including...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Refugee Status (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not held by my Department. Refugee status of students is not recorded on the HEA's student records system, which is my Department's main source of statistics on students in higher education institutions.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I wish to advise the Deputy that in accordance with the methodology used in the Institutional Profiles (published by the Higher Education Authority) the current academic staff:student ratio in Universities is recorded at 20:1. This is calculated based on the 2019/20 enrolment figures for full time equivalent (FTE) students (full and part time) to all academic staff as at 31 Dec 2019. A two...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Appointments to State Boards (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department was established in July 2020. Its approach to the filling of board posts for bodies under its aegis is informed by guidance notes issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, guidance which includes the 2014 Guidelines on Appointments to State boards, the 2016 Code of Practice for the Governance of State bodies, and also the 2020 publication by D/PER of an Annex...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Back to Education Allowance (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not available. The back to education allowance is a Department of Social Protection scheme. The Student Assistance Fund is administered locally by the Higher Education Institutions. The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial support to full- and part-time students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: On 20 November 2020 I received a joint application under section 29(1) of the Technological Universities Act 2018 from Athlone Institute of Technology and Limerick Institute of Technology seeking technological university designation. On 21 December 2020, I appointed an advisory panel to assess the application and to furnish a report thereon to the HEA. The advisory panel’s report...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Caiteachas Ranna (21 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Déanann mo Roinn maoiniú athfhillteach a dháileadh ar an Údarás um Ard-Oideachais (ÚAO) don íocaíocht amach go díreach chuig institiúidí ardoideachais ainmnithe an ÚAO. Déanann an ÚAO an maoiniú seo a dháileadh mar bhlocdheontas chuig na hinstitiúidí. Mar chomhlachtaí uathrialacha, baineann...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (22 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Ireland is designated as a programme country under the Erasmus+ programme. As a programme country, Ireland is eligible to participate in all actions of the programme and has benefitted significantly from our participation.   The policy of my Department, as national authority for the programme, has always been to strongly encourage participation in Erasmus+ . The Department as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (22 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The decision to support Erasmus+ participants with mandatory hotel quarantine was taken in the specific context of the Erasmus programme, for which my Department is the national authority. Ireland is designated as a programme country under the Erasmus+ programme. As part of the programme, each programme country must nominate a national authority to monitor and supervise the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (22 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Our higher education institutions have a duty of care to their students and staff, and a responsibility to foster a campus culture that is clear in the condemnation of unwanted and unacceptable behaviours, which act as barriers to their safety and their active participation in college life. In April 2019 the Framework for Consent in Higher Education Institutions: “Safe,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (22 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The position is that universities are autonomous bodies within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, and the management of their academic affairs, including the delivery of courses are matters for the individual institutions. The institutions' governance and their day-to-day management are matters for which the Governing Bodies and the management of the relevant institutions...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Transport Policy (22 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has a number of initiatives in place to encourage and facilitate employees to use active travel to commute to work. Such initiatives include: Cycle-to-work scheme: The Cycle-to-work scheme (generally known as the Bike to Work Scheme) is a tax incentive scheme to encourage staff to cycle to work and is in operation in my Department since 2009....

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the committee for providing me with the opportunity to update it on a number of key Brexit matters which fall within the scope of my Department. It is really important that we continue to have Oireachtas committees scrutinising such issues. We are five months into post-Brexit implementation and while it no longer occupies the day-to-day level of political and media attention that it...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator. We will deliver three technological universities and we will definitely deliver one for the south-east. I can assure him of that and thank him for his leadership on the matter. I look forward to engaging with him intensively this week on it. I sincerely thank him for his kind words about my officials in my Department and the HEA, which I echo. In particular, I...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: In relation to going to the UK to study or a UK student coming here, I am pleased that as a result of the common travel area and agreements between Britain and Ireland, there is no change to the cost of going to college in the UK, with the exception of Scotland. That is-----

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: It is 10,000. The Scottish thing is a significant change, there is no two ways about it. Before Brexit, as an Irish student, I could head to Scotland and avail of the Scottish free fees initiative. I cannot now. The short answer as to what other supports are available is that I am pleased and grateful to the Scottish Government for allowing access to Irish students to some of its loan...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I agree with that. The Government, in the previous budget, funded 4,000 additional college places this year compared with the current year. Every year, we grow quite substantially the number of college places. In fairness to Government, the Minister, Deputy McGrath, and others who provided funding in this regard, as a result of the pandemic, we have significantly grown the size of the...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Absolutely. There are three parts to the work the Higher Education Authority, HEA, is doing with my Department. One is identifying what more the colleges could do with current resources. The second is what more they could do with additional resources while obviously trying as much as possible to benefit from the CAO data in terms of where the demand is. The third part is trickiest but...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The short answer is that we are not but we have really started on a lot of it over the past couple of months. I will give the Senator two examples related to the most difficult area. I refer to the work of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on child protection and welfare and the work being led by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on disability....