Results 42,321-42,340 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (14 Dec 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that Budget 2024 contains a package of measures to support households with the cost of living. These cost of living measures include a €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee for higher education students that are eligible for the free fees initiative (FFI), a scheme which operates within the State. Under the Free Fees Initiative (FFI), the State...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (14 Dec 2023)

Simon Harris: Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (14 Dec 2023)

Simon Harris: I have been advised by my officials that based on the reckonable income for the reference period of 2022, the student outlined by the Deputy was awarded the student contribution €500 lump sum grant. The award letter was sent to the student on the 14th June 2023. I have also been advised, that the student did not submit an appeal to SUSI Appeals Officer within the statutory...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has just given the far right a pass. It is a disgrace.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I look forward to working with her and with colleagues in the House throughout the year. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to take this question on what is a really important issue right across the country. Student accommodation and student housing is not just an issue for students but also presents an opportunity, as we increase supply for students, to free up...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: Absolutely. Many things are different. The Deputy constantly raises with me the need for a new student accommodation policy. The student accommodation policy in advance of this was wholly reliant on the private market. It was all about the private market building purpose-built student accommodation. This is turning that on its head. This is about recognising that the new policy under...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: To be clear, when we take policy decisions, we announce them and tell people about them. It is a good and important thing that we tell our stakeholders and bosses, namely, the people of Ireland what the Government has decided. Let us be clear. The Government decided this week, on my recommendation, to adopt a new approach to student accommodation. The Government has decided that we will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Student Accommodation (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I will come back in on that question.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is important that we look at all the resources available on the island of Ireland when it comes to education, particularly in the context of trying to provide the number of graduates we require for our public services. We have started with nursing and therapy posts. This year, students from across the island of Ireland are availing of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for sharing that information from his constituent who is studying on the Magee campus of Ulster University in Derry. I will raise that matter directly with the Minister for Health. I should be clear that what I am doing with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, in respect of the courses and places we intend to fund will be from this coming September. Without knowing the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the vote of confidence in me. This is a very important issue for his constituent and I will certainly take it up with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I need to be clear for the record of the House. The initiative I am talking about has not yet commenced. It is commencing from September. We are not currently funding those places for students in Northern...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising an important point. As we all know, Ireland has one of the highest participation rates in third level education in Europe. Every year, the Higher Education Authority conducts a survey of graduates nine months after graduation. Over 70,000 graduates from the class of 2022 completed the survey to provide a really good picture of what graduates are doing in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: It was 70,000.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Farrell but I think the statistics paint a different picture. They are not my statistics but those of the Central Statistics Office. The Deputy will probably have seen that they were revised upwards during the Christmas period. They show the number of Irish citizens returning to this country significantly outstrips the number of Irish citizens leaving this country. There is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I definitely do not want to argue. While accepting neither of us has the specific figures in front of us, let us also accept that both of us believe and know that the Central Statistics Office has produced figures that show that more Irish citizens have returned to the country than left it in the period 2017 to 2022.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: Due to the fact that the economy has recovered under the management of my party in government for many years, people now have an opportunity to come back to their country to get a job. That is a good thing-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: ----but we can debate that on another day. Deputy Farrell is not wrong that housing remains the biggest challenge facing young people in this country. We can have a debate, as we do in this House all the time, about what the best solutions are in terms of providing opportunities. The fact that we are now seeing about 500 people purchase their first home every single week, the highest...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for asking the question and raising this issue with me on a number of occasions. I thank him for being good and honourable enough to acknowledge other people like Councillor Moegie Maher, Senator Dolan and others who have worked on this. I acknowledge that everybody from Roscommon in this House has come together to try to make progress on this and to work very closely...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I agree with everything the Deputy said. I do not want this to drag on either. I obviously cannot be site-specific because of the process that needs to be gone through, but if I am asked whether I want to see apprenticeship provision in County Roscommon and want to help GRETB and SOLAS make that happen as a matter of urgency, I can say that I do. Right across the country, we are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Education and Training Boards (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I give the Deputy my word that I will keep a very close eye on this and take an active interest in providing apprenticeship places in Roscommon, working with the Deputy and Oireachtas colleagues. The Deputy is correct when he talks about mechanics. I was out recently at an event. The AA has an upskilling and reskilling workshop because the mechanic of today needs a very different skill set...