Results 7,021-7,040 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Senator Mullen is just heckling me. If he could just, for one moment-----

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: We are engaging in good faith. I made myself available as the Seanad ordered its business. On Senator Craughwell’s point on the TUI and the issue of full representation, and I accept his bona fides as well as his long, distinguished relationship with the TUI, we have made progress on representation on governing authority boards. That was warmly welcomed at the TUI congress in...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: There is quite a bit to mull over in this series of amendments. I will start with Senator Mullen’s acknowledgment that the placing of the Bill is not the substantive issue. I see what he is trying to do here and he eloquently outlined it. To add to Senator’s Craughwell’s point, we had a discussion in the Dáil on the need for greater transparency around funding...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I apologise. I will move on. That will save me saying it later.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I am sure the Senator will come back in but how we define social classes and how we envisage that working is the question I had. Amendment No. 156 proposes to include an additional provision that an t-údarás shall have regard to in assessing the demand for higher education at regional and national level. We believe this is covered by the provision in section 34(3)(d)(iv), which...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I have only a very brief point. My colleagues have provided me with a copy of the Universities Act 1997, which might be useful in respect of the question of Senator McDowell, who will be very familiar with the Act, and the question of Senator Mullen. I presume Senator Mullen is going to consider the matter more between now and Report Stage, as will I. In Chapter I of Part III of the Act,...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I doubt that.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Some of my most enjoyable moments in this House have been when I have been corrected on grammar, typos, punctuation and verbosity-----

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I learn a lot. It is a very valid question that Senator Norris asks regarding where these words came from. The challenge with defining anything is that you have to define it. Once you decide you are going to have a definition, you have to put words to it. The definition we have used on research is one that is generally used internationally. The definition included in this Bill, which the...

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Therefore, I am not in a position to accept the Senator's amendment.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I do not mean to be rude but I have to vote in the Dáil again.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The Senator must follow the news because-----

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: I will also endeavour to be co-operative. I will provide the House with a note on the issue of students' unions. I believe we all accept each other's bona fides on this matter. The intention is not to be exclusionary but to be inclusive and to provide for students to be consulted regardless of the scenario. I will provide a note on that in advance of Report Stage in the interests of being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Minister on the number of persons who began apprenticeships in counties Longford and Westmeath in 2020 and 2021 has been requested from SOLAS who have advised that registrations are recorded by employer ETB location and not county. SOLAS have provided the data in the attached table. In 2020 there were a total of 149 apprentices registered to Longford and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Minister on the average waiting time for apprentices to access off-the-job training in counties Longford and Westmeath has been requested from SOLAS, which is collating the data. The information will be sent on to the Minister as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Staff (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: My Department is not aware of any former county managers or CEOs of local authorities currently working in the Department. However, such information regarding the employment history of employees of the Department is not collated, or reported on, by my Department. The requested information in respect of persons working in the Department’s aegis bodies is not held by my Department....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: Under the Further Education and Training Act (2013), SOLAS has statutory responsibility for planning, funding, and co-ordinating Further Education and Training (FET) in Ireland. My officials have referred your query to SOLAS for direct reply on this individual matter. If you do not receive a response from SOLAS within 30 days, please do come back to my office for further follow-up.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: On the 4th May, I published Funding the Future - a landmark policy on the future of higher education. Government has identified a core funding gap of €307 million, and an ambition to target investment at improving the quality of programmes, their outcomes, and providing a third-level education system which is accessible to everyone in society. An oversight group has been established to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: For student grant purposes, students are categorized according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent student (i.e. assessed without reference to parental income and address) if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Harris: The number of awards to date by SUSI for 2021/22 for Longford are 777 and 1,435 for Westmeath. Please note as processing for 2021/22 is ongoing these figures may change.