Results 41,301-41,320 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I appreciate the Deputy's support in this area. I want to do more to support PhD researchers. I think we all do. There are a couple of complexities that we must be honest about. For example, SFI and the IRC have a level of stipend, and there is an equalisation between them now. They did increase in the budget by €500, which is good but they need to go up further. That is okay; we...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy and I acknowledge her support for the work that we are all trying to achieve in terms of apprenticeships, and the huge potential that there is to expand the apprenticeship offering in Ireland. We now have 67 apprenticeship programmes. We also want to put it up in lights as another way of getting a qualification after school; getting a good well-paid job and trying to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: We do. I again acknowledge the role of the instructors, as the Deputy has done. We are working in a sector where there is a real passion from people doing their job. They stepped up and did a hell of a lot more than anyone could have asked of them and I acknowledge that today. Yes, we need to continue to expand the size of the workforce. If the Deputy is asking what I think the two...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I will definitely look into the issue of unused capacity. I would be pleased if the Deputy wants to share any details with me. I want to be clear. There will be a need for more instructors but we will also have to physically expand the capacity of the workshops alongside that. The Deputy's question about new types of apprenticeship is key because of the jobs of the future. We have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Language (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for this question. The Official Languages Act (Amendment) 2021 introduced a new system of language standards that will require adjustments across the public service. The Act brings forward a number of changes to Departments' obligations with regard to the Irish language and will see the imposition - that is a negative word - it will see the requirement to respond to an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Language (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I agree. I am conscious that the Deputy and I discussed this during the passage of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 when much of the debate he, the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and I had was around ensuring the obligation on the HEA and higher education institutions to play their part in respect of our first official language was, let us be frank, more strengthened and prominent than...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Language (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: The ambition of South East Technological University, SETU, never fails to amaze me. It is a good thing. We have the Waterford Crystal site, there are plans for student accommodation and Deputy Ó Cathasaigh has rightly indicated that there is a Gaeltacht within the university's catchment area. I am happy to have follow-up conversations with SETU. I am sure the Higher Education...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. It must be a priority for the House and we must continue to fund higher education properly. We brought a plan called "Funding the Future" to the Cabinet last year. There are two parts to it. Some people would like to discuss the first part, which is about how to fund institutions properly to deliver the education system we want. We are fully...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his support for this area of focus. We will publish the cost-of-education paper well in advance of the budget. I had hoped to publish it around the time of the summer recess, but I will certainly do so before the House resumes in the autumn. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Government, Opposition, students unions, media, citizens and everyone else to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: To answer the Deputies Farrell, I have a clear view on the cost of education and how we can never let it be a barrier. This will involve the reduction in fees, improvements in grants and engaging on both issues through normal budgetary processes. I have been clear in the Funding the Future paper that we published last year that fees and grants should be considered each year in the round in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: My plan is to make sure we use some of the resources available to the country to pitch in to meet the cost of building it. I was clear when I took office that I did not think the student accommodation policy where it is either left to the market or to the universities’ volition whether to decide to build student accommodation was adequate to the scale of a challenge that society,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I read that UCD Students Union survey. It is a very good piece of work. One practical thing we did for students and their parents with the cost of accommodation, which the survey also focused on, was extending the rent tax-credit. A student renting this year was eligible for the €500 for 2022 and for 2023. That is per student in the accommodation. That will have made a real...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Yes, I do. I have had many conversations with university presidents where I have pointed out that student accommodation needs to be a core part of their offering because it affects their ability to attract or retain students, students’ mental health and well-being and their overall education experience. I am not saying it is widespread, but there is an idea that “we are a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: There were 3,011 apprentices enrolled in Cork Education and Training Board, ETB, across a large range, including plumbing and electrical, wind-turbine maintenance and insurance practitioner. A key strength of the apprenticeship model is that it is a demand-led approach to meeting workforce and skill requirements in our economy and country. As apprentices are employees, the demand for and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I fully agree with the Deputy on his passionate contribution around apprenticeships. While "snobby" may or may not be the right word, we have had too narrow or elitist a view towards educational opportunities. It is this idea that if people go directly from school to university, they are a success, and another pathway is somewhat lesser. That is, of course, not true at all. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I do not have that breakdown off the top of my head but from memory, approximately 6,000 of the current apprentices are in the craft area. That is roughly speaking where I would imagine we will land. There is a big push on developing craft apprenticeships and working with the construction and retrofitting sectors and the green economy because there are really key and acute issues there. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Brendan Smith for raising this issue. He is absolutely right. The whole area of cybersecurity is a major issue of growing concern to both the public and private sectors and to modern life. We are seeing more and more crime now move from physically happening in a business place or in terms of a burglary in a home to online cybersecurity issues and cybercrime. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Let it certainly go out from here because LMETB and Mr. O'Brien are doing absolutely brilliant work. We are really fortunate because that ETB just busts on through any challenges or bureaucratic blockages it might encounter from time to time in getting the job done. I am very complimentary of the work of LMETB and of Senator Craughwell. I had the chance to meet him on this issue and he...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I have just finished my apprenticeship in the Department of Justice and I am very aware of the issues the Deputy has raised about cybercrime, cybersecurity, how much crime is now moving online and the need for vigilance. The education sector needs to respond by providing opportunities for people in the public sector and in industry to develop the skills to respond. We also need to use the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Programme (1 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I am delighted to have the opportunity to reply and I will gently push back against the Deputy's assertion. Where did this new idea for an agency and research and innovation Bill come from? It very much came from Impact 2030, Ireland's research and innovation strategy, a key objective of which is this Bill and the new research agency. That innovation strategy was developed through an...