Results 501-520 of 6,340 for speaker:James Lawless

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy should note that no loans are funded by my Department or agencies under my remit to individuals or households. The following is an outline of some services and grants funded by the Department or agencies under my remit:- Student Grant Scheme The Scheme provides grant assistance to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I thank the Deputy for his question. As the Deputy may be aware, SOLAS is the statutory agency with responsibility for the strategic co-ordination and funding of the Further Education and Training (FET) sector under the Further Education and Training Act, 2013. In 2025, my Department allocated over €1.1 billion in current expenditure to SOLAS which is an increase from circa...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy will be aware, in Budget 2025, all income thresholds will be increased effective from September 2025. This includes increases to the student contribution threshold. From September 2025:-I am increasing the special rate of maintenance threshold from €26,200 to €27,400 in line with Social Welfare increases.I am increasing all other maintenance and student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Contracts (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has no current contracts with the company highlighted by her.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future contains commitments to advance education, training and maintenance of new digital skills and capacities, and particularly STEM subjects, with a special focus on girls (universal access to coding, maths and ICT classes), through training and lifelong learning; to prioritise diversity and inclusion in STEM, and to encourage greater...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The Central Applications Office (CAO) is a not-for-profit company created by the Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It processes applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on the behalf of HEIs. I am unable to provide you with the information requested as neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO, and queries on applications are a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2515 and 2516 together. My Department is committed to expanding access to higher education through the establishment of diverse and flexible pathways for our increasingly diverse student population. The expansion of supports for part-time provision is a priority for my Department, as it provides another pathway for students who are unable to access higher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: This Government, through successive budgets, has sought to reduce the cost of higher education including through improvements to the student grant scheme. For the first time ever, a new part-time fee grant scheme came into effect in September 2024 for specified undergraduate courses. This new scheme has already opened the doors of higher education to many groups who cannot participate in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2518 and 2554 together. To support the ongoing development of the sector and enable TUs to deliver on their strategic missions, my Department has made significant funding available to this sector. Our Technological Universities have a pivotal role in supporting regional development, employment and industry successes through their teaching, learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: My Department places the learner at the heart of it's statement of strategy, and in this regard there are many wide ranging supports available throughout their journey in further and higher education. The National Access Plan (NAP), sets out the ambition for an inclusive, diverse higher education sector. Specific targets to increase new entrants with a disability from 12.4% in 2022 to 16%...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The Programme for Government contains a number of commitments to enable Technological Universities to borrow funds, primarily for student accommodation purposes. It is my intention to progress these Programme for Government commitments over the lifetime of this Government. Decisions regarding the capacity of technological universities to borrow will be considered in accordance with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: My Department has disbursed just over €222m in capital funding to the Technological University Sector since 2020 under a number of capital programmes including the Higher Education Strategic and Infrastructural Fund (HESIF), the Infrastructure and Refurbishment Fund (IURF), the Energy Efficiency Decarbonisation Pathway Programme (EEDPP), the Devolved Capital Grant, the Apprenticeship...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: Each of the five Technological Universities were formed from twelve individual Institutes of Technology through a complex transformation process that is ongoing, supported by the HEA and my Department. The Higher Education Authority (HEA), as an agency of my Department, provides extensive sets of data and statistics on their website and I would direct the Deputy to that source as a first...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: The original third level PPP programme, announced in 2008, included three projects at the South East Technological University (SETU) campus at Waterford: the Engineering and Science building, the Architecture building and the Business and Enterprise building. The projects involved had been suspended due to affordability issues in 2010. The current Higher Education PPP Programme, which was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: My Department has entered into recharge arrangements with respect to emergency funding provided to both Munster Technological University (MTU) and South East Technological University (SETU). Waterford IT, now part of SETU, received funding of €12.1m in 2014 to assist with the purchase of student accommodation and the completion of a sports arena. The current agreement with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2525 and 2526 together. I propose to take these questions together: The five Technological Universities were established under the Technological Universities Act 2018, amalgamating the existing Institutes of Technology into new, multi-campus universities. With the establishment of South East Technological University (SETU) in 2022, the establishment phase...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: Technological University Dublin's (TU Dublin) financial statements for the most recent academic year 2023/24 are yet to be received by the Department. These financial statements are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) each year, prior to being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. TU Dublin's audited financial statements for the 2022/2023 academic year ending...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: My officials are continuing to engage with colleagues in the Department of Education and State Exams Commission on this matter. I am supportive of my Cabinet colleague Minister McEntee and her officials as they commence the phased and gradual return to normal Leaving Certificate outcomes that will begin in 2025. It is widely recognised that it is appropriate to return over time to normal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2529, 2530 and 2572 together. The Higher Education Authority publishes data annually on the proportion of students who don’t progress from first to second year of higher education. The latest figures published by the HEA are in relation to students who commenced in the 2022/23 academic year and look at progression rates to the 2023/24 academic year....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Mental Health Services (29 Apr 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2531 and 2532 together. My Department does not hold the information requested by the Deputy. As autonomous bodies the internal disbursement of funding, including the funding and expansion of student services and mental health supports, is a matter for the individual institution. As part of its broader sectoral objective of supporting students on their...