Results 4,741-4,760 of 45,291 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. We touched on this question earlier. The Minister for Health and I are doing a scanning exercise to see how we can radically increase the size of the health service from an education point of view. We updated the Cabinet committee on health on that on Monday. The Minister for Health has arrived here just on cue. I expect to be able to bring a joint proposal with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I expect to receive the report in and around April. When it will be published will depend on how long it takes me to consider it and bring it to the Government and I want to publish it. My intention is to receive the report in due time to be able to consider it, bring it to Government, and then to try to start making progress on its recommendations in the Estimates process. We did make...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: Apprenticeship training in the construction sector provides the skills required for a modern workforce, but crucially helps to support the Government in the delivery of our retrofitting targets set out in the national retrofit plan. As we learned yesterday in this House retrofitting a house is not a new house, but it is a very important thing to do in terms of the climate....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy and I absolutely will because it is key for the mental health and wellbeing of young people that we do not have such a narrow definition of success. I think the Central Applications Office, CAO, process and league tables and that soft of stuff have brought us to that in recent years. It is also key for societal good because so much of what we need to progress around...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: Yes is the short answer and I recently met the public sector trade unions, and indeed other trade unions representing apprentices to consider how best to take this forward. These rates were traditionally set by industry so, not to pass the buck but there is not a direct role from my Department in terms of setting the rates. However, there are significant considerations around, for example,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Courses Accreditation (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I fully agree with that. It is not mandatory to go through the book, but it is very much made clear that people should do so. Looking at the website, it is quite obvious that people should do this. Equally, when people begin the test, there is an option to take a tutorial before it commences. That tutorial shows people how to navigate and scroll through the test and the questions relating...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: Not that I am aware of.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Dillon for the question. He has raised an important issue. We need to train more people to work in therapies. In the area of speech and language therapy, the need is acute. Equally, as the Deputy suggested, it is also important to do this in general in respect of broader therapies concerned with working with people with a disability, older people and our mental health...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I can. I am very committed to ensuring this happens concerning therapy areas, which includes speech and language therapy. I am working closely with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on this issue. I think we have an opportunity to take a step-change approach to the size of the education...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: This issue can very much be addressed. One other area I will throw into the mix is that I think we need to challenge the education sector in respect of how it can address this issue in different and flexible ways. We have, for example, medicine and graduate entry medicine courses. We also have an ability for people to do nursing through further education and progress from there in nursing....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Research Funding (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: The quality of our researchers is fundamental to the quality of our research system and its collaboration with partners in industry and policymakers, both in Ireland and abroad. Under pillar 4 of our national research and innovation strategy, Impact 2030, we have committed to ensuring that our researchers have the right skills and development and career opportunities to ensure they can make...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I look forward to Deputy Ó Murchú and I having this meeting on personal assistants and how we can make progress on that. Skillnet Ireland is the agency that can reach in to businesses to try to provide those transversal skills and to provide short courses. On the point Deputy Ó Cathasaigh made, Skillnet Ireland becoming Ireland's leading agency for upskilling and reskilling...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I fully agree with the Deputy. With World Autism Month coming up, and Deputy Stanton has posed a question that will enable me to get into this more, we have so much more we need to do here. As a country, we have made quite a lot of progress in primary and secondary schools. There is still far too much of a cliff edge from my perspective for too many students who are neurodiverse, autistic...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Courses Accreditation (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: Yes, it has been brought to my attention. The Deputy is on to something and I thank him for highlighting it because it has enabled me to probe the system to try to resolve the matter. As the Deputy rightly says, this is a really important step and is something people have been looking for for ages, namely, moving this thing online and saving people time and hassle in terms of having to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Courses Accreditation (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I am largely satisfied. I am satisfied but I always put a caveat in because this is a new system. There is an implementation process, no one should be complacent, and it needs to continue to be monitored. There are a couple of things. First, this issue was identified as a result of the SOLAS helpline. The system worked, if you like. People were ringing in about it and SOLAS identified...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I agree with Deputy Ó Murchú. There is no ETB in Ireland that has done as well as LMETB in terms of putting forward exciting projects. We see them both in Dundalk and Drogheda. Later today I will publish a progress report on the Drogheda implementation group. My sector of further and higher education, as distinct from my role in the Department of Justice, played an important...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is having a busy day with the school tours. I join with him in welcoming the second group of sixth years from Newtownforbes national school. They are very welcome to the Dáil. The Deputy is right. What he read out with regard to its last meeting is an indication of the valuable work done by the National Skills Council. Away from the day to day stuff, it provides the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Education and Training Provision (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: If there is one part of the country that has seen the benefit of the new Department, I hope it is the Deputy's county, constituency and city of Waterford. We had a good week this week and I thank the Deputy for his work on that. We did not have a university for the south east when he entered the Dáil or when I entered this role. We have worked together on a cross-party basis and in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Education (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: A large body of work has been done by the co-chairs, for which I thank them. They have had meetings with more than 30 stakeholder organisations, including an all-day in-person workshop on 8 March. They have had a public consultation, through which they received approximately 750 written submissions, which indicates the energy behind the approach to change. I expect to receive the report...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Grant Payments (30 Mar 2023)

Simon Harris: I welcome the students the Deputy has brought from his constituency. Under the student grant scheme, SUSI grants are awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the conditions of funding, including nationality and residency. The scheme has a strong statutory underpinning and is operated in accordance with the provisions of the law,...