Results 3,021-3,040 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I appreciate that. While I do not know the Deputy's second cousin, it is generally those kinds of stories, which we have heard time and again, that have inspired the programme. I want to be associated with the Deputy's comments. I fully commend the Department of integration and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on the job they are doing. It would be irresponsible of them, in the middle of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I find myself in pretty much complete agreement with Deputy Nolan. I will go through the issues. With regard to the regions and remote learning hubs, Deputy Nolan is entirely correct. Relatively recently, some time last year, I attended a launch. There is a lot of talk about remote working hubs and I believe they are working reasonably well, and particularly well in some areas. There is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I am lucky to have an office. I thank the Deputy and welcome him back after his surgery. I will check that issue out. My honest answer is that I do not know. I have a dim view of any sort of vacant property in the middle of housing crisis, to make that point more generally. I have no knowledge of that but I will endeavour to find out for the Deputy. I thank him for paying tribute to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: What I might do is send the committee a note on this but the short answer is "Yes". The €5 million will sustain existing provision but we hope it will do a bit more than that because what we are also trying to do is put funding that had been temporary funding into the core. One of the things the universities regularly say is that all funding is welcome and makes a positive impact but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Cathaoirleach raises a very important issue. We obviously have Connecting for Life, which is the national strategy that stems from the National Office for Suicide Prevention and within that are clear actions for a whole variety of parts of society and public bodies today. That is the structure through which we co-ordinate. I acknowledge that there has been very good co-operation and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: As the programme for Government states, we are living in a country where there is an epidemic when it comes to sexual and gender-based violence and we need to call it out. I do not believe our universities are any different to wider society or wider workplaces. As I always say when I speak to our university students or staff, sexual, domestic or gender-based violence is not unique to third...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: We will write to the Senator on that. We will set up regional forums so the universities can plug in locally with the NTA and others who are beginning to unblock some of these issues. I also thank Tom Enright. I will come back to the Cathaoirleach about the dental issue, is primarily a matter for the Dental Council, and on the Wexford site on which I understand masterplanning is under way.which

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Update on Key Issues: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (24 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: No, let me give an example. While I am not saying we have, we could well decide that the best way is a public private partnership.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Official Travel (23 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: A tabular statement of the Minister's official trips is attached.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (23 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation - Horizon Europe is the European Union’s largest research and innovation programme, with a budget of €95.5 billion over its seven-year lifetime from 2021 to 2027. The Horizon Europe programme encompasses all European Member States as well as 18 Associated Countries from around the world. Israel signed a Horizon Europe...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (23 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: As Minister I have ensured an unrelenting focus on growing participation in apprenticeships. Underpinned by the measures in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, the impact is very clear and positive, with significant growth of apprenticeship over the past number of years. Since 2021, over 27,000 people have registered as apprentices. Craft apprenticeship registrations for 2021- 2023 were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (23 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, the main support available to assist students with the cost of attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved full-time course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (23 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: My Department shares data with other organisations for varied purposes such as compliance with employee tax obligations, in connection with legal proceedings, awarding of bursaries/scholarships and audit purposes. The transfer of data may be in aggregated form or on an individual basis depending on the specific purpose in question. For example, the data of Department employees is shared on an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy Ó for his question but, more importantly, for genuinely engaging constructively with me on this over a sustained period. I have found his engagement to be insightful and very useful to my Department. As he will be well aware, a number of education and training boards, ETBs, have employed personal assistants to provide supports to learners under the fund for students...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: There is a big piece of policy work that I have asked my Department to do on how we support people with disabilities throughout the tertiary education system. This is not a political point because it happened long before I was here but over a number of generations we have made good progress on inclusion at primary and second level. We have more to do but there has been good progress....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I agree. The next step is for us to meet with the personal assistants to see what progress can be made on the basis of the additional allocation I received in November, as well as to see how the FÓRSA claim is considered and progressed. My Department is monitoring that closely. I also want to inform the House of my intention to do that broader piece of policy work on ensuring...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy could not have known when he submitted his question that I would make an announcement this morning but I am pleased to say that I have just given approval for a major expansion of apprenticeship provision in the Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT. A total of 390 additional apprenticeship programme places will be provided there under a programme that will see the refurbishment...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is entirely correct. He is in this House for a very long time and knows very well the different challenges that come with different stages of the economic cycle. I remember when I first got elected to this House to serve alongside him when we were dealing with an economy with 15% unemployment. The issue employers certainly were not bringing up with us was the difficulty of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Dillon for his work with me and his interest on this project. We have been in Castlebar many times and we can report real progress that it is now a university town, Mayo is now a university county and we have the Atlantic Technological University. From my engagement with the president of the university and from the Deputy directly I know how much of a difference that is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (18 Jan 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Dillon. I am pleased the Atlantic Technological University and the Castlebar site are now able to provide apprenticeships, but like I was saying earlier, we expand apprenticeship provision. It is important we also try to do it in the regions, because we want people to have an opportunity to be able to access this in their home towns or counties and we want employers in those...