Results 501-520 of 33,693 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (17 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The €67m allocation for apprenticeship set out in the Budget 2024 Expenditure Report, published on 10 October last, includes an allocation of €57m of core funding and €10m temporary funding to invest in the apprenticeship system and support the continued growth of the craft apprenticeship system. Based on current forecasts, the €30m allocation for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (17 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: I am delighted to have secured a further €400,000 towards social inclusion measures for apprenticeship. This builds on the €100,000 funding allocated for such measures in Estimates 2023. As the Deputy knows, one of the five overarching objectives of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 is "Apprenticeship for All". That is, ensuring that the profile of the apprenticeship...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (17 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Under Budget 2024, the PhD stipend provided by the competitive funding agencies under my Department, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, is being increased to €22,000 per student per annum for their approximately 3,000 stipend awardees. This builds on the increase that I secured in Budget 2023 and demonstrates strong and substantial progress on this issue. This...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (17 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: On 12th July 2022 the Minister for Health and I announced an agreement with the Irish medical schools to increase the number of places available for EU students by 200 over the next five years. The agreement reached with the medical schools begin with an additional 60 EU students in September 2022, climbing to 120 in September 2023, and up to 200 by 2026. Minister Donnelly and I committed at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (17 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: My Department is strongly committed to supporting the health of the population through the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills to be effective in the health workforce, and support a range of clinical teams in our health services. There is no quota placed on dental courses by my Department, and therefore the places offered and the modality through which they are offered...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (12 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: With regards to the student referred to by the Deputy, my officials have advised me that SUSI escalated this issue to their ICT unit, who advised that the applicant had an old account from 2012 on the application system. SUSI have removed the old account from the system and the applicant should now be able to register a new account and make an application. SUSI have apologised for the delay...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: European Court of Justice (11 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: My Department is continuing to review relevant records to establish the situation in relation to information of the kind sought by the Deputy, i.e. with regard to judgements made against Ireland in the Court of Justice of the European Union in each of the past five years in respect of matters which are the responsibility of my Department. As soon as this process has concluded, I will ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (11 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: On 25 August 2023, SUSI issued a letter to the student referred to by the Deputy advising them they needed to re-apply as a dependent student with their parents’ details. To date the student has not reapplied as a dependent student. I would encourage the student to make an application.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: SUSI has advised the student referred to by the Deputy, was awarded a Postgraduate Fee Contribution of €4,000 on the 6th June 2023 by the awarding authority. The applicant’s income was under the Special Rate threshold of €25,000. However, whilst the applicant’s father did not meet the required number of days. The Student Grant Appeals Board heard an appeal from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 595 and 605 together. In May 2022, I launched Funding the Future, a landmark funding and reform framework for higher education. Funding the Future confirmed that a mixed funding model would be adopted to ensure the sustainable funding of higher education into the future. This comprises a mix of Exchequer investment, employer contributions through the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine. For student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students (ie: assessed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Ensuring a supply of qualified vets is an important issue for my Department. While my Department does not place a quota on the number of places on veterinary medicine courses, the reality is that there are constraints in current capacity. This reflects the fact that programmes involve significant practical and placement requirements, and facilities, including appropriate laboratory...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The higher education tuition fee payable by a student can vary depending on a variety of factors including the type of course and the student's access route. The assessment of a student’s application and the determination of the appropriate fee rate is a function of the institution attended. Typically there are two rates of fee, an EU Rate of Fee or a non-EU/International rate of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: It is my understanding that if a student receives an upgrade and the revised result places them higher on the order-of-merit list than the last person who actually got an offer, then the Higher Education Institution will usually instruct CAO to either offer them a place to begin immediately or offer them a place deferred to the next year. I have no role or remit in this regard. All...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: The Department uses various means to examine graduate mobility. Overall emigration rates are estimated by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and reported in their migration estimates publications, published on the CSO website. In some cases these estimates are available broken down by level of education and by age group, but these estimates do not report on specific graduate cohorts at the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: I regularly meet with the CEOs of all aegis bodies of my Department, including the Higher Education Authority. I last met with Dr. Alan Wall, CEO of the HEA, on July 10 2023. I will meet Dr. Wall later this week at the Funding our Future Steering Group.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: Higher education institutions are academically independent and regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes. The Universities Act, 1997 confers on universities autonomy with regards to the internal day to day running of the institution, the administrative processes, and the academic and operational affairs of the institution. It is therefore not under my remit to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: On 29 November 2022, I received Government approval for a new policy to provide state assistance to stimulate the development of new and additional student accommodation for public higher education institutions. This landmark policy response will, for the first time, see the State providing financial support in the construction of student accommodation, and underpins the policy commitments...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Properties (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: I would like to thank the Deputy for this question relating to property or sites in the ownership of the Higher Education Authority and whether any of them are vacant or derelict. My Department has checked with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on this matter and they have confirmed that the HEA does not own any sites or properties which are vacant or derelict. The HEA has further...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (10 Oct 2023)

Simon Harris: In November 2022, I appointed Dr. Andrea Johnson and Mr. David Cagney to undertake an independent National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers. This reflects the objective, under the dedicated Talent Pillar of Impact 2030, Ireland’s national research and innovation strategy, for a consistent research student experience across funders, institutions and research disciplines....