Results 6,701-6,720 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator for her contribution and for tabling the amendment. I very much get the point she is trying to make. To be clear, as of now, the law of the land is that, under the 1971 legislation we are currently governed by, the CEO of the HEA can solely, on his or her own, pause funding. There is currently no right of appeal. The CEO of the HEA can decide today to pause funding and...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I am happy to do that.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Ward. Academic freedom is at the heart and core of this legislation. It is protected by this legislation. On the broader point the Senator is making, this legislation will provide the HEA and an t-údarás with the ability to co-design codes of practice and guidelines. That is really important for greater transparency in the context of a raft of areas relating to...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: This is a large grouping of amendments, but it has a couple of themes. Senator Gavan is right. There is not a magic number. There is no magic number for many things in life, though, and we have to make judgment calls. During this process, I have tried to show a willingness to engage on the number. The Senator is right again, in that the number has changed as a result of that engagement....

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Gavan for the amendment. There is a technical reason I cannot accept it, which I will read out, and I will then comment on the substantive issue he and Senator Dolan raised. The amendment would amend the definition of "an institution of higher education" under the Housing Finance Act to which the Housing Finance Agency, for the purpose of providing accommodation for...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Acting Chairperson and Seanad Éireann for its detailed consideration of the Bill. I sincerely thank the team of officials who have worked on the legislation. I thank Tanya Kenny, who is sitting with me, Íde Mulcahy, Stuart Morris and all the team in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. This is particularly significant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, administered by SUSI, provides grant assistance to students pursuing an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. It assists over 70,000 students annually to access third level education. Particular priority is afforded to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2023 (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: With the launch of Zero Tolerance the Third National Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Strategy, I have been very clear that the tertiary education and training sector must lead the way in changing cultures, behaviours and practices across society to ensure that bullying and sexual harassment are not tolerated. There is a particular responsibility on those charged with educating the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Institutions of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Under this legislation the institutions are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes, including the mode of delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: All capital projects advanced by publicly funded Higher Education Institutions must comply with the provisions of the Public Spending Code, while site acquisitions must also be conducted in accordance with relevant guidance from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. There can be considerable variation in the time it takes to move a property acquisition through the approval...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (21 Sep 2022)

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. A student may wish to discuss his/her individual circumstances with the SUSI Support Desk by calling 0818 888 777. A very important feature of the scheme is the change of circumstances provision. If a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (21 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: On 5th of September, in advance of the Budget, I published, for the first time, a costs of education paper which will set out the possible policy options, and their indicative costs, to aid public discussion on how we should prioritise any interventions to address costs of education. The paper “Funding the Future, an annual options paper on reducing the cost of higher education can be...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and I will be taking the debate tonight. He will be here for some of it and I will be back for the rest of it. I thank Senators for their amendments. I responded in July to some of these amendments and those responses still stand. I welcome Senator Warfield's acknowledgement that we have tried to strengthen the references to trade unions on a...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank Senators for their amendments. There is quite a wide breadth of issues covered in this grouping. I will try to respond to each, starting with amendments Nos. 56, 57 and 58 in the names of Senator Higgins and others. These amendments relate to expanding on the names of the organisations and agencies that are listed and prescribed in the legislation. I understand what the Senator is...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: Not only is all not lost, I would make the point that the reality in Ireland today in respect of the technological universities is that there is no seat for county and city councillors. That is the truth of the matter. Senator Carrigy knows the Technological University of the Shannon, Senator Malcolm Byrne and I know the South East Technological University and Senator Dolan knows the...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: In respectfully disagreeing, I would make the point that we have quite rightly included specific references to trade unions in many places in this legislation. I would be the first to admit that the Bill is much stronger now in that regard than when it was originally published. I thank Senators and Deputies for their work in that regard. I wish to add one thing to the point I made earlier...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senators for their contributions. I appreciate what Senator Higgins is trying to do with these amendments. I assure the House that all Ministers take data protection assessments as well as data protection seriously and are governed in our duties by the GDPR. We sought the views of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, on this matter and consulted the Data Protection...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: I am happy to explore in detail the important broader issues when the research Bill is before the House next year. For the purposes of this legislation, though, I am satisfied, from consulting with the Data Protection Commissioner's office and seeking the legal advice of the OPC during the development of the Bill, that the amendments are not required due to the 2018 Act's provisions on data...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: This is a large grouping, so I ask Senators to bear with me. I begin with the issue of students' unions as raised by Senator Clonan and other amendments in this regard.At this Stage of the legislation, I suggest that we need distinct, separate legislation regarding student unions. I had this conversation with some student union representatives. I welcomed the president of the Union of...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Simon Harris: We will get to that in a moment. I disagree. That context is important because that is the policy intent. On the issue of students or student unions, the definition of students set out sections 80, 90, 112 and 128 includes the student union. The interpretation of the word "students" is a student or student union. I sought legal advice on this. The reference to students means all...