Results 36,281-36,300 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (24 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: Prior to the current National Development Plan (NDP), there was no dedicated capital investment envelope for the FET sector.  The current NDP marked a turning point. For the first time, a dedicated capital envelope was established for the FET sector.  Available funding has increased from €5.5m in 2018 to €17.5m in 2020 to a planned investment of €32.5m in 2021....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Oideachas trí Ghaeilge (24 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: Leagtar amach i mBeartas Oideachais na Gaeltachta go bhfuil raon beart le breithniú chun daltaí i scoileanna Gaeltachta agus i scoileanna trí mheán na Gaeilge a spreagadh chun dul i ngleic le sonraíocht curaclaim T1 don Ghaeilge sa tsraith shinsearach. Féadfaidh an méid a leanas a bheith san áireamh orthu sin - sparánachtaí tríú...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (24 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: In line with the Universities Act, 1997, third-level institutions have autonomy in relation to human resource policies, subject to compliance with Government policy in respect of employment numbers and pay policy.  Employers in the higher education sector are also required to operate in accordance with the provisions of national industrial relations agreements. Based...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Language Schools (24 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: In March 2020, my Department established a distinct Working Group with key stakeholders for the English Language Education (ELE) sector to manage the significant impact of the pandemic on ELE. This Working Group is comprised of the sectoral representatives of students, staff and providers alongside representatives of relevant Government Departments such as the Department of Justice, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme where students are studying for the first time or are progressing to study at a higher level. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine. Postgraduate students...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 403 and 404 together. The development and progression of technological universities (TUs) is an established policy objective of Government in the context of overarching national strategy on higher education landscape restructuring and this is underscored in the commitment in the current Programme for Government. Under the statutory framework provided in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Visas (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: Outward international travel by students is subject to the same guidelines covering travel as generally apply. These are set out on the Government's website at: . In general, matters relating to healthcare, including entitlements of EU nationals to healthcare in another Member State, and the vaccination programme are matters for the Minister for Health.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The SUSI Stakeholder Desk is a service provided by SUSI to respond to queries and representations made on behalf of students by third party advocates including Oireachtas members, student union representatives, guidance counsellors, citizens information staff and college access personnel. The Stakeholder Desk provides dedicated phone and e-mail access to the central SUSI administration where...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Oideachas Tríú Leibhéal (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding to the institutions via the recurrent funding model. The HEA has approved an earmarked allocation of €1,766,000 to NUI Galway (from the B4 recurrent allocation) for Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: Almost 101,000 applications were received by SUSI for grant support in the 2020/21 academic year. Just over 79,000 applicants were assessed as eligible for grant support with projected total costs of €370 million. Applications for the 2021/2022 academic year are open and to date, we have received over 69,000 applications. Over 41,500 have been approved for grant support. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The student grant scheme, administered by SUSI, provides maintenance grants to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. The decision on eligibility for student grant assistance is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 requires a public body to assess, address and report onthe human rights and equality issues it believes to be relevant to the functions and purpose of the body. The requirements to Assess and Address have been dealt with under the Department’s Statement of Strategy. These are dealt with under...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disabilities Assessments (29 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: All substantive Memoranda for Government are required to identify, under a disability impact assessment, any difficulties or barriers that may exist or arise within a service delivery, policy or process that prevents someone with a disability from availing of that service, policy or process. The disability impact assessment is undertaken in line with the procedures outlined in guidelines,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (30 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together. The Deputy will be aware that there are various income thresholds used depending on the type of grant, family size etc. While SUSI has statistics on those students who have applied for grant support and can estimate with some degree of certainty, what impact changes to the thresholds might have for those students on lower income levels,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Training Fund (30 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The National Training Fund (NTF) Act, 2000 provides for a levy on employers to be used to fund the development of and raising of skills amongst those in, or seeking, employment. The projected reserve surplus of the NTF by 2025 if expenditure remained stable is €1.4 billion, and €1.9 billion excluding Covid emergency spending. See tables below for further detail. Table 1 –...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme comprises a €2,000 payment when employers register a new apprentice, followed by an additional €1,000 payment one year later where that apprentice is retained. The scheme was initially approved under the July Jobs Stimulus and extended in Budget 2021 for apprentices registering between March 2020 and June 2021. The Minister announced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (30 Jun 2021)

Simon Harris: The Department is working with the higher education sector and student representative bodies to develop a protocol with key principles of assurance to ensure that the arrival of international students for the coming academic year is managed safely and in line with public health requirements. This protocol will include all up-to-date public health measures and, in addition, will detail...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (1 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The management and operation of DARE and HEAR are undertaken jointly by the IUA and the CAO. The IUA is responsible for both the criteria and HEIs participation in DARE and HEAR. The CAO is responsible for the operational aspects of DARE and HEAR (including the application, assessment and communications). The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (1 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The overall vision of the National Access Plan is to ensure that the student body entering into, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland's population. The Plan identifies the target groups that are currently under-represented in higher education. These include entrants from socio-economic groups that have low...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The further and higher education sectors in Ireland are supported by a range of EU funds. The Horizon Programme plays a critical role supporting research and innovation in the sector, while the Erasmus Programme supports student and staff mobility as well as cross border cooperation projects. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has also supported the development of research and...