Results 36,481-36,500 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I do indeed. I will ask the institutions to show that flexibility. I often think of the soon-to-be second year college students who physically left a school building in March 2020. In many cases, they have not been physically inside an educational setting since then. It would be unusual not to need a period to re-adapt. Anyone would need that after such a level of disruption. I have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: That is a really good question. I will say two things. Ireland is open for international students. Ireland has not closed its borders. There are strict rules in place as to how one safely enters and leaves the country and students need to follow those rules just like anybody else. If one is coming from a country that is on the red list, the law of the land is that one needs to go into...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I will take the point on IT infrastructure as read, so as not to waste the Deputy's time. It is a valid point and I will see what more we can do in that regard. In fairness, the issue of what the return to the campus will look like on site is a key question. Deputy Conway-Walsh will have read the framework we published. What we have said is that at a minimum it is safe to come to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: On the specifics of how much time students will have on-site etc., that will be a matter for the institutions when timetabling and it will vary from institution to institution. We are starting from a point this year of wanting a majority of experience to be on-site rather than online. Timetables will issue from institutions in the normal way. Over the course of the next weeks and through...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: Sorry. I had not got to that yet.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I take the point the Deputy is making. I was answering the broader question about timetabling for students in Irish higher education institutions. While I do not mean this about the Deputy or her interpretation of this, I think the issue of English language schools has been somewhat misrepresented. What we are saying about English language schools is in line with the public health advice...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: On the borrowing framework for technological universities, I am aware of the Deputy's interest in this matter, both from a regional point of view in the south east and more broadly in terms of the roll-out of technological universities. We are engaging intensively with the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform on this matter. It could be a potential game changer for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator. That point about the additional places is worth briefly commenting on. This is a whole-of-Government effort, be it with the July stimulus, the last budget or now the additional places we got sanctioned by Government a few weeks ago. The further and higher education sector in Ireland has never been larger. Not only that, it has never been larger in areas where there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I will be very careful and restrained in what I say, other than to agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator Byrne. I refer to the importance of the vaccination programme and science research. We have seen the great value derived from science and research in, literally, saving lives and allowing our country and world to reopen. As a former Minister for Health, I witnessed the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his three questions and those topics have been very much on my mind in the past 24 hours. Starting with the mental health supports, I must concede that I am a little torn on this issue. I want to do two things. First, I want to give the individual institutions maximum discretion. For example, if a really good idea is conceived in University College Cork, UCC,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: On the question of international students which has been raised on a number of occasions today, I commit to the joint committee Chairman to obtaining a detailed briefing note for the committee. While we may not have final figures for another while, we should be able to provide the committee with indicative figures of this type and I will be happy to do that. We will revert to the committee...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Dolan. I want to say that Ireland is open for international education. Ireland is now part of the EU digital Covid system. As the Senator rightly said, the rules that are in place for anybody coming into the country also apply to international students. In many ways, there are more safeguards and checks in place for international students, because of the excellent work...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I will stay out of Limerick politics as I know better than to get involved. I join the Chair, members of the committee and people across the Oireachtas in extending our sincere sympathies and condolences to the family of the late, great Des O'Malley. Looking back at his career as a younger politician is quite overwhelming. He confronted challenges with such courage. During his tenure as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chair and the committee for the invitation to be with them today to share some information on our plans for on-site activities in both further and higher education this coming September. We all know we cannot have another year like last year in terms of our students or staff and further and higher education. It was necessary from a public health point of view, but it is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Further and Higher Education Institutions: Discussion (22 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chairman for his question. On the issue of air filtration, ventilation and such matters, as I stated earlier, as part of the plans in how we use lecture halls I expect our discussion around ventilation to be part of that. Part of the intensive work the sector is undertaking includes consideration of the modifications one might make to a lecture hall to make it safe from a staff...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: It is not possible to definitively calculate the estimates costs as requested in light of the various adjustments that have been made to the student grant system since 2008, and in particularly the demographic changes that have taken place. To put it in context, in 2008/09 there were 57,261 students who benefitted from grant support at a cost of €264m, whereas in 2020/21 there...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: In relation to tuition fees it is important to consider that the State currently provides very substantial financial support to undergraduate students in higher education towards the cost of their studies. This support has played a very significant role in facilitating access to and growth in higher education. What was previously the preserve of a relatively small proportion of the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I wish to reiterate that my key priority and that of my Department in terms of advancing higher education integration in the south-east region is the progression by the publicly funded Institutes of Technology that make up the TUSEI consortium of their proposals for a technological university to serve all parts of the region. In this context I appointed an expert advisory panel to assess the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The additional 50,000 education and training places referred to in Pathways to Work form part of the Government’s response to the labour market and skills effects of the pandemic. A range of measures were introduced as a response to upskilling and reskilling needs of individuals and businesses through the July Jobs Stimulus and Budget 2021. These measures are providing 35,000 education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The Human Capital Initiative (HCI) was announced as part of Budget 2019. The HCI provides additional capacity across the Higher Education Sector to meet priority skill needs for enterprise, representing an additional investment of €300m (€60m per annum from 2020 to 2024) from the surplus in the NTF in line with recommendations contained in the independent review of the NTF on...