Results 36,701-36,720 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this question and for consistently working with me and keeping my Department under good pressure to make sure we do all we can to keep those strong higher education, research and science links that exist between North and South. This is another example of those links. The Government and I strongly support Northern Ireland’s participation in Horizon...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The Government gave a clear commitment, as did the previous Government, to ensuring that Northern Ireland is never left behind and we are going to honour that commitment in every way we can. I am not in any way disputing the valid points the Deputy made, but I welcome the fact that under the current agreement it is envisaged that the UK, and therefore Northern Ireland, will have access to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: As part of our development of a new national research and innovation strategy, which I expect to have concluded by the end of the year, we will set a new national target for Horizon Europe. I share the Deputy's wish and desire for us to do more, do even better, draw down as much funding as possible and collaborate as much as we possibly can. Our top countries for collaborations are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: Of course the Deputy can put that to me but he will not be surprised when I utterly reject it. I have already given my view on Mr. Keegan's comments and I will not take up time on that. We have taken a number of measures, including in recent days, to assist with student welfare, student mental health and student incomes. I refer to the pandemic unemployment payment and the significant...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: No single budget solves all of the challenges people face but the Deputy's critical analysis of the budget would have more validity if he acknowledged some of the positive steps we have taken in recent weeks, days and months. Those steps include the significant investment in the student assistance fund that has been widely welcomed by students, the significant increase in mental health...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: I will do that and I thank Deputy Griffin for bringing me around Tralee. Deputy Boyd Barrett suggested I should talk to students and I do so all the time. They are not the preserve or ownership of any single side of this House. We need to do more in student supports and we took significant actions yesterday. We could not rectify everything in one budget but it is a statement of intent by...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Reform (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the question and for her passionate advocacy, to put it mildly, on Carlow College, St. Patrick's and all things Carlow. I always welcome working with her on these projects and I look forward to us delivering a technological university for the south east in 2022. As the Deputy knows, Carlow College, St. Patrick's is a privately run education institution operating...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Reform (13 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is upping the pressure on me. The Taoiseach regularly passes on the Deputy's strong advocacy and we are determined to work with her to rectify this matter. I need to point out the technological university will be autonomous in its functions. The decision we are taking to provide expert advice to Carlow College, St. Patrick's is the best way to go about this and I look forward to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: Work on the development of the next National Access Plan (NAP) 2022 - 2026 is currently underway. The consultation process, which closed on 18thJune 2021, invited all interested parties to make their views known on this matter and other matters related to access to higher education particularly for groups who are underrepresented in the higher education population. One-to-one stakeholder...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is a critical financial support for students participating in further and higher education. As in any statutory scheme, a core principle of the scheme is that there is consistency of approach and an equitable treatment for applicants as part of the means assessment process. All applications are assessed nationally with reference to the terms and conditions of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: Progression is a key tenet of the Student Grant Scheme and section 2 of the Student Support Act 2011 defines progression as "the process by which learners may transfer from one course to another course where the award that may be made on the successful completion of the second mentioned course is of a higher level..." Generally speaking, a grant will not be paid to a student for a repeat...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is administered by the centralised national grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB (City of Dublin Education and Training Board), on behalf of the Department. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for SUSI to determine. As part of SUSI’s internal processes, Post Assessment Quality...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is administered by the centralised national grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), a business unit of CDETB (City of Dublin Education and Training Board), on behalf of the Department. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for SUSI to determine. As part of SUSI’s internal processes, Post Assessment Quality...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: In higher education, the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning has been working to support higher education institutions in embedding universal design for learning (UDL) principles in teaching and learning practices. Student Success is one of the Forum’s priority areas, and under this strand a number of projects focusing on universal design for learning have been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: There are currently 74 projects at various stages of the project lifecycle across the further and higher education sectors, as set out in the table below. While a small number of further education projects are excepted to be completed by the end of 2021 the majority of projects are due to be completed across 2022 and 2023. Lifecycle Stage Higher Education SectorNo. of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The new National Development Plan (NDP) provides for a step up in capital funding for the further education and training (FET) sector. It is envisaged that expenditure will increase from less than €20m last year to approximately €100m by 2025. While the previous NDP introduced, for the first time, a dedicated capital envelope for the FET sector, the new NDP will now enable a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: The information sought by the Deputy in relation to the 8 State Boards that fall within the remit of my Department, is provided in the attached table. Name of Aegis Body the number of members of each board the number of women on each board; % of board that is made up of women An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: In order to qualify for funding under the Department's Free Fees Initiative students must meet the criteria of the scheme including the separate residency and nationality/citizenship requirements in their own right. In order to meet the residency criteria a student must have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss/UK state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: Progression is a key tenet of the Student Grant Scheme and section 2 of the Student Support Act 2011 defines progression as "the process by which learners may transfer from one course to another course where the award that may be made on the successful completion of the second mentioned course is of a higher level..." Students accessing graduate entry medicine will, as a matter of course,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (12 Oct 2021)

Simon Harris: Under the Department's Free Fees Initiative (FFI), the Exchequer pays tuition fees on behalf of eligible first time undergraduate students attending approved full-time undergraduate courses. In order to qualify for funding under the Department’s Free Fees Initiative, students must meet the criteria of the scheme including previous education attainment. In this regard students...