Results 38,561-38,580 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy's question has been most useful in providing valuable insight through the information she has picked up. I will follow up on all three issues the Deputy has highlighted. On the specific matters raised in respect of insurance companies and the non-academic PA, I do not doubt what the Deputy said, because she has heard it from authoritative sources. However, it is very frustrating...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Government's Housing for All Plan contains a detailed and comprehensive series of actions to substantially increase supply of all types of housing and accommodation, including student accommodation. I think it is sometimes hard to decouple the issues that students face in relation to accommodation from the boarder housing issues. That is why I have referenced Housing for All. The plan...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I think there are four actions we need to take. The first is that we need to take a flexible local approach. We have said several times that we want to hear from any higher education institution in any part of the country that has a local solution. If there is something that can be done on campus or near campus, or if the institution has a building that can be converted into student...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Perfect. I will give it my best shot. I agree with Deputy Conway-Walsh that all of us in the House should condemn anybody who attempts to price-gouge in the middle of a horrific illegal invasion and massive humanitarian crisis. I will talk to her in more detail about that. Deputy Murnane O'Connor is right that as we develop the technological universities, and there is one in the south...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue but also for the work he did in his time in the Department of Education to promote apprenticeships. It has helped us get to this place. As he will be aware, apprenticeship is a demand-driven, employer-led system that aims to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market. In light of that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I do not disagree with the Deputy on the need for a much better and bigger job to be done on the central and public advertising of apprenticeship opportunities. That is part of the cultural shift that needs to take place. We have set up a National Apprenticeship Alliance and its job is to look at all of these areas. Now we as a State are providing financial incentives to all apprentice...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: To respond to Deputy Stanton, yes I have. Indeed, some of the changes we have brought to the CAO website have been things the guidance councillors have been campaigning for over a decade so they are very much driving this and I am eager to work very closely with them. Deputy Bruton is entirely right. The public sector needs to step up here. To be really clear, it has not done so. A...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important matter. Bystander training can be a crucial intervention to help educate people about sexual and domestic violence prevention. This type of training programme can highlight the danger of normalising abusive behaviour. It cultivates an understanding of people's capacity to intervene and it can provide learners with a safe environment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I will certainly familiarise myself with that American example. Much progress has been made by the higher education sector in recent years, as, quite frankly, it had to be made. We need to take these programmes out from behind the walls of the universities and make them more widely available across society. Professor Crowley has led in that regard. There has also been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The colleges and schools have been contacted. The first letter I wrote to university presidents when I took up this role was not about the important issue of future funding and the like but was about the whole issue of sexual harassment and consent. We wrote to every university president and requested that they put in place a plan for their institutions. We asked how each of the presidents...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the question. My Department, the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and I are strongly committed to supporting the well-being of the population through the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills to be effective in health and education workforces and to support a range of public services, including educational psychology. While colleges...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Absolutely. The role of our Department is to provide, working with our sector, the capacity and pathways for graduates, as well courses and upskilling and reskilling across a range of public services. When the HSE and the Department of Health complete their work on their psychology review with the Department of Education, we stand ready to do more on this. The Deputy is entirely right....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his well made and passionate points. The points made by the INTO are valid. I will convey the Deputy's views on the matter to the Minister, Deputy Foley. I am sure he has already done so. My Department stands ready to work with the Departments of Education and Health to increase the graduate supply. The other matters are for the Department of Education but I will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department, and my ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for persons with special and additional needs. On the higher education side, I am pleased to report that the target that was set in the last National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education (which covered the period to 2021) to increase participation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: A core mission for my Department is to continue to advance efforts to ensure that Ireland offers learning opportunities to all who wish to pursue them on a lifelong basis, provides the right skills and competences to learners to succeed, and produces further and higher education graduates, apprentices and trainees with the right skills to support our economy, society and essential public...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: With the launch of the Third National Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Strategy, I have been very clear that the tertiary education and training sector must lead the way in changing cultures, behaviours and practices across society to ensure that bullying and sexual harassment and bullying are not tolerated. There is a particular responsibility on those charged with educating the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The principles of universal design for learning (UDL) and inclusive practice are informing strategies and initiatives across the full scope of my Department’s remit. Fostering inclusion is one of the three core pillars of the national Further Education and Training Strategy 2020-2024. SOLAS, Education and Training Boards Ireland and the 16 Education and Training Boards have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Mental Health Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The mental health and well-being of students is a priority for my Department, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which brought increased stress and anxiety levels for students. My Department has progressed a number of initiatives, in partnership with the Higher Education Authority and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), over the last number of years to address the mental...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ukraine War (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The National Student and Researcher (NSR) Helpdesk is a key element of my Department’s response and is the single national point of contact for all qualified persons seeking to access higher education in Ireland. The Helpdesk has been gathering and assessing all queries made to it to date, allowing the higher education institutions (HEIs) to work with these potential students to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I am acutely conscious of the serious concerns as strong inflationary pressures impact on the cost of living for all in our society and communities, including those working in the higher and further education and training sector. The Government's Summer Economic Statement published earlier this week sets out the Government’s budgetary strategy which will seek to protect public...