Results 3,621-3,640 of 45,291 for speaker:Simon Harris

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: -----but I will put it like this. Making progress in respect of PhD researchers is a priority ask from me in the conversations I will have with the Government. Often, not everything is done in one budget but I want to put us on a pathway to get to a better place. It is important to say that many Departments are involved in this and have an interest in us succeeding in this agenda....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I acknowledge the good work done by the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. Quite frankly, the Windsor Framework now provides opportunity and clarity for these issues to be addressed. Up until that point, the conversation was always about the protocol issue needing to be resolved before those other issues, which were all tied in with Brexit, in respect of Horizon and others, could be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: We have gone global.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: It does, indeed. The programme runs according to a European year, so it has just kicked off and does not run just for the calendar year. Therefore, we have a little longer than it might seem. "Yes" is the short answer. We now have a website in place but are also kicking off the public awareness campaign on skills and encouraging all people to adopt a skill. We are examining the idea of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I will obtain a detailed note for the Chair on that. We have been increasing mental health funding for third level significantly. We are conscious that universities are autonomous in how they decide to deliver supports but we have worked to put in place several initiatives and examples of best practice, including the text support service. We have established the mental health website that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: We are very proud in our Department to have at least three management board members who are STEM graduates. It is one of the real reasons we have been soaring as a Department. I really welcome the report and look forward to working with the committee on the recommendations because this is a key area of focus for our economic wellbeing as a country. Only as recently as this week, I turned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Key Issues in Higher and Further Education: Discussion (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: As the Minister responsible for science, I believe the earlier children are exposed to science and innovation, the better. Every year at the BT Young Scientists & Technologists of the Year competition, we are blown away by the ideas of the secondary school students and even more blown away by the projects of the primary school students. The more that young people are immersed in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: The nationality requirements for the Student Grant Scheme are set out in Section 14 of the Student Support Act 2011 and Regulation 5 of the Student Support Regulations 2023. The candidate's nationality or immigration status in the State determines whether or not they meet the nationality requirement outlined in the Act and Regulations, and would be therefore eligible to qualify for a student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (21 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Officials from the Department of Further and Higher Education Research Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are engaging on this matter currently.

Education Costs: Motion [Private Members] (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I am pleased to join my colleague, the Minister for Education, in speaking on this motion. I hope the passion I hear from the Opposition party on reducing student fees will also be delivered in the North. In having an honest debate about college fees, I have to note the cost of student fees in Northern Ireland, where that party has been in government and held the position of Minister of...

Education Costs: Motion [Private Members] (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Read your manifesto, Deputy Donnelly. You did not commit in Northern Ireland to reducing student fees. A Sinn Féin Minister for Education presided over a student loan system and the fees are the equivalent of €5,500. In this jurisdiction, the Government, of which I am proud to be part, cut college fees last time for the first time in 27 years. This year there will be a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 737 and 739 together. The Technological Universities Transformation Fund (TUTF) is a 3-year fund totalling €90 million, for the period 2020 – 2023. It will officially end on 31 August 2023, with all €90 million allocated to the seven technological higher education institutions (ATU, DkIT, IADT, MTU, SETU, TU Dublin and TUS). The fund...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy has outlined, the higher education sector currently continues to operate under the terms of an Employment Control Framework (ECF). The system operates on a number-based control approach whereby an annual ceiling for core funded posts is agreed for the sector each year. Only posts within that ceiling can involve permanent contracts. The ceiling of core funded posts has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Thank you Deputy for the question. The details are in the attached.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Bodies (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: The implementation of circular 25/2016 by each State body under the aegis of my department can be found in the attached table.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Officials from the Department of Further and Higher Education Research Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are engaging on this matter currently.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (20 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) provides a broad range of further education and training (FET) options in County Louth as set out in the attached table which provides an overview of the planned FET provision to over 18,700 beneficiaries in the county in 2023. FET provision in County Louth, as across the country, is being supported and expanded by the investment under the...

Our Rural Future Policy: Statements (14 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Dáil for facilitating this debate. I am proud to be a member of the Fine Gael Party that established the Department of Rural and Community Development. It is a Department that has become known to communities, community organisations, local authorities and small businesses across the country as a "can do" Department. Initially under the leadership of the former Minister,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (14 Jun 2023)

Simon Harris: I am actively working to address the supply of student accommodation. Increasing costs of construction and financing are impacting on viability, and as a result a number of Universities had to pause their projects. In responding to these challenges, on 29 November 2022, Government approved development of both short and medium term policy responses to activate supply. These landmark...

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

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is the principal financial support for students participating in higher education. The Scheme provides for fee and maintenance grants to all students who meet the qualifying criteria such as means, residency, nationality and progression. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding...