Results 42,621-42,640 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am always inspired by Deputy Durkan's contributions and I am indeed inspired by that suggestion. There is a real issue here. Some 62% of adults aged over 65 in Ireland have completed primary or secondary education. There is absolutely no reason in the wide earthly world why third level education cannot be open to them at a later stage of life, an opportunity that may not have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Every day is a school day in here. I can certainly agree with that. Any day you do not learn something new is both a rare and a disappointing day. Intergenerational learning is also really important. I have seen good examples of this in community education and further education. Young people pass on their skills, which are often skills in technology, to older people while older people...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Farrell very much for the question. As she will know, universities, including University College Cork, are autonomous bodies established under statute. All universities are required to comply with the relevant Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform guidelines, including, as appropriate, the public spending code and relevant circulars. As autonomous bodies,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: No.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I genuinely do not think I was there. I am open to correction if I was but I do not have a recollection of it. There are two separate issues here. Like all universities, UCC had to prioritise the projects it wanted to submit under the HESIF. It put forward two: the business school and the Kane Building. It got the allocation for both and those projects moved forward. The broader...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank both Deputies. On the expression of interest process, Deputy Farrell's question was interesting because I asked about graduate entry programmes and was told that none were proposed as part of the expression of interest round. There were three options identified under the Higher Education Authority expression of interest process. One was for a new programme and two were for the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am committed to providing significant additional resources towards the delivery of tertiary education, supporting students, and addressing the cost of education for families. My Department's gross allocation for this year is €4.26 billion, which represents an increase of more than €990 million - almost €1 billion - since the establishment of my Department. Our current...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: It is having a real benefit because I am very conscious that 96,000 people were getting €1,000 back on fees they had paid. This was just before Christmas. Getting €1,000 knocked off a bill has a real and meaningful impact. Increasing student grants well above the inflation rate is a real term increase. Providing €750 in a renter's tax credit back to a student - or to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Costs (27 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am very confident that the resources will be available. When I look at other jurisdictions and the very difficult budgetary decisions they are having to make compared to the decisions that we are able to make as a result of full employment, we find ourselves in a more favourable position in bringing forward policy measures. We were able to increase grants and cut fees while increasing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I join with the Deputy in acknowledging the ruling from the High Court in Belfast issued earlier today by Mr. Justice Colton. It is a long ruling of approximately 200 pages but it seems positive from the perspective of the Irish Government, which wants to work to ensure that all families get justice, which is what they deserve. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are in close...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: What we will do for Kylie Ann, children right across the country, parents and families is get this back on track. We saw the progress that could be made in 2017. We saw the fall in wait times, the extra children getting their services and the Ombudsman for Children's report welcoming some of that. We now have an extra €19 million. There are additional staff. I am very clear on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Hang on a second. I am not planning on doing that at all, to be honest.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: With respect, as Deputy Cairns said in a reminder to the House yesterday, "Show me your budget and I will tell you your priorities". I have here Sinn Féin's alternative budget. I ask the Deputy to direct me to the page that references scoliosis, spinal surgeries or any additional funding. This Government is absolutely determined to deliver for these children. It is working night and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important issue. I will begin by paying tribute to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, for the leadership he has shown within Government throughout this process. This deserves to be commended. Yesterday was a significant day. The Deputy rightly acknowledged that Government MEPs voted in favour of the nature restoration law in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Just because someone does not agree with you it does not mean they do not accept the science. I am a Minister for science, for the record.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I very much accept the science and we very much accept the advisory structures we have set up. We very much accept that the challenges and targets which have been set are really difficult. I very much accept that every day, every week and every month it requires the Government to do new things. If we take agriculture, for example, as an area that has a significant focus on it-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: No, I accept-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: It would be lovely to answer it. The Government is absolutely bound by the targets and is working to achieve them. Do I accept the targets are extraordinarily challenging? I do but I am pointing out that in this House it has been said, for example, that farming will never reach its targets. This is not true. We are seeing emissions from farming and agriculture drop. We are seeing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I hope she is asking a question to which she knows the answer is that we are not dragging our heels. The commitment we have given to the people of Wexford, to the Deputy and to the people of the south east is real. It is very real because we have invested an awful lot of money in it already. To be absolutely crystal clear, it is our intention to develop a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am a firm believer that having access to a university in your county and community makes a real difference. I met a number of the students at the Wexford campus. Similarly to the Deputy, they told me that they could not have accessed third level education were it not for the provision of a campus in Wexford. We must now ask what more we can do in Wexford and what the benefits would be in...