Results 6,861-6,880 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue but also for the work he did in his time in the Department of Education to promote apprenticeships. It has helped us get to this place. As he will be aware, apprenticeship is a demand-driven, employer-led system that aims to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market. In light of that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I do not disagree with the Deputy on the need for a much better and bigger job to be done on the central and public advertising of apprenticeship opportunities. That is part of the cultural shift that needs to take place. We have set up a National Apprenticeship Alliance and its job is to look at all of these areas. Now we as a State are providing financial incentives to all apprentice...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Apprenticeship Programmes (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: To respond to Deputy Stanton, yes I have. Indeed, some of the changes we have brought to the CAO website have been things the guidance councillors have been campaigning for over a decade so they are very much driving this and I am eager to work very closely with them. Deputy Bruton is entirely right. The public sector needs to step up here. To be really clear, it has not done so. A...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I would be very interested in following up on the issue with the Deputy. I will ask my officials listening in to the debate to expect to hear from the Deputy on the matter. My very clear understanding in checking this out is that the higher or further education institutions determine the level of support provided, but they do not do it in a vacuum. They do it based on the needs assessment....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy's question has been most useful in providing valuable insight through the information she has picked up. I will follow up on all three issues the Deputy has highlighted. On the specific matters raised in respect of insurance companies and the non-academic PA, I do not doubt what the Deputy said, because she has heard it from authoritative sources. However, it is very frustrating...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Government's Housing for All Plan contains a detailed and comprehensive series of actions to substantially increase supply of all types of housing and accommodation, including student accommodation. I think it is sometimes hard to decouple the issues that students face in relation to accommodation from the boarder housing issues. That is why I have referenced Housing for All. The plan...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I think there are four actions we need to take. The first is that we need to take a flexible local approach. We have said several times that we want to hear from any higher education institution in any part of the country that has a local solution. If there is something that can be done on campus or near campus, or if the institution has a building that can be converted into student...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I would be delighted to do so. I would be very happy to meet with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. If it is outlining the issue to the Deputy then it is definitely an issue I want to hear about and see how we can rectify it. Understandably there is a degree of flexibility and discretion around the student assistance programme because there has to be. This is not an excuse for a lack of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The short answer to Deputy Murnane O'Connor is yes, in that we do need to do more and to be better in providing information. I thank Deputy Stanton for contacting me and bringing this issue to my attention. It had not been brought to my attention previously. I immediately contacted my officials and I will engage with them again after Question Time. It would be very unfair if people,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I take the point on learning difficulties and I will revert directly to the Deputy on it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Sometimes I am asked a question that makes me eager to ask questions in return because I am interested in this area. The Department wants to hear a little bit more from the Deputy on this. I will read what I have and we might engage a bit more on it. The fund for students with disabilities provides funding to higher and further education institutions for the delivery of services and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: That is an interesting question from the Deputy. We have been trying to do everything we can possibly do in order to try to reduce waiting times and increase the number of professional places. A key focus of Funding the Future, our funding plan for higher education, is to ensure that we have an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified individuals to enable the provision of essential...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Instinctively, I am very sympathetic to the point the Deputy made to the effect that there is real urgency here for all of us - regulatory bodies, universities and clinical placement providers - to try to be innovative, to completely protect and safeguard quality and professional standards regulation 100% and to see what roles those involved can play in increasing the supply. This is not...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Now we are talking about something I can definitely help with. "Yes" is the short answer. This year we announced 1,056 additional places in college from September. We did not do what we had done in previous years, which was to announce a large global number. We have tried to target them in areas where there is a critical skills need, particularly a public service skills need. There are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question. I welcome his appointment to the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. We are for looking forward to working with him on that committee. Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for our Department. Our ambition is to ensure that we provide support and opportunities to persons with special...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Costs (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy and I are in ultimate agreement on the need to do more in this regard. She says she would like to see the cost of education paper earlier. It is the first time there has ever been one. It is a new policy development. There will not, however, be a great mystery to it. The SUSI student review published in May is very instructive. The second thing I think will be very...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Costs (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I welcome the opportunity to provide some clarity on this matter. In fairness, and as the Deputy will know, applicants are assessed on last year's income, so the measure is very much a benefit for this summer. Students applying to SUSI for September will be assessed on what they earned in summer 2021. What we tried to do this year was ensure that a student working in a bar, a hotel, a shop...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I am aware of the Deputy's interest in and knowledge of this area. I know there was a lot of worry and concern among new students of graduate entry medicine when a bank made a decision to withdraw a loan product that had been used by many students of such courses. For the record of the House and for the Deputy's information, I have corresponded with Bank of Ireland on this. The bank made...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The short answer as to what I would be willing to consider is that I will consider any and all options. The two most direct ways in which we can assist is the Deputy's second suggestion regarding the level of subvention through the free fees initiative that the State provides. Deputy Berry has not suggested this, but sometimes it is suggested that the State does not provide any funding in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (7 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I am delighted to do so. As anyone in this House will know, I am fundamentally opposed to the concept of student loans and have ruled them out as a funding model. This is an anomaly in respect of graduate entry medicine. I would like to take a more hands-on policy intervention approach. In the interim, there is a Bank of Ireland product available. People will probably be watching these...