Results 7,201-7,220 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Student Universal Support Ireland Grant (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank my colleague for his work on this matter. It is a good example of common-sense politics where one identifies an issue and bring forward proposals to fix the issue. I thank him for tabling this proposal at a meeting of our parliamentary party and for engaging with me on same. The proposal is good for students, local businesses and families. In addition, there is the concept that...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Student Universal Support Ireland Grant (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I largely agree with everything the Senator said. When it was set as the income level in 2016, €4,500 was worth a different amount in real terms. The world has changed, including in the context of inflation and in terms of minimum wage changes. This is a common-sense proposal the Senator is bringing forward but I often find common sense is not that common. It is important when we...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to fully determine the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to consider the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under the student grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: During the 2020/2021 academic year,(the latest year data is available)  statistics  from the Higher Education Authority show that there were 49,658 students studying at all levels in our publicly funded institutions on a part time basis. The costs of extending the SUSI grant scheme to these part time students would depend on an assessment to see if they meet the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to consider the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under the student grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: During the 2020/2021 academic year,(the latest year that data is available)  statistics  from the Higher Education Authority show that there were 49,658 students studying at all levels in our publicly funded institutions on a part time basis. The costs of extending the SUSI grant scheme to these part time students would depend on an assessment to see if they meet the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chairman. I will go through my statement because there is information within it that I want to share with colleagues. I will go through it quickly if that is okay with the Chairman. I thank the committee for having me and my officials here today. Like the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and their officials, we are working...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has hit on a really valid point. We have to recognise that every student is going to be in a different scenario. That is the beauty - if I can call it that - of this national line and contact point. Students can come in have a conversation, say that they were a third-year engineering student, to take a random example, and ask where they fit in the education system, what their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I will send the clerk to the committee a detailed note on MSCA4Ukraine. It will be done through the Irish Universities Association. I will get Deputy Ó Cathasaigh more detail on that. My best answer on the difference in the figures, about which the Deputy is right, is that the larger figure is the number of people who we know fall within an age group that may well be in third level...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Deputy Ó Cathasaigh better make sure that happens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Somebody should probably agree on my behalf as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Yes, it is an important point. It will be paid for in the same way that an Erasmus+ student is paid. They will be Erasmus+ students for all intents and purposes. Support is paid for through the Erasmus+ office in any given higher education instruction. We have to update the Government and subject to the Government decision, we will make this information available through the helpline. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Yes. I can give the Deputy a note on this. The first answer is, to be very honest, that we do not, nor could we, have a full sense of the total demand. Deputy Ó Cathasaigh got to the heart of that. We know that more than 3,000 of these people are within the age group that might be considered the typical college-going age. However, only a fraction of that number so far has even...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: -----because that is not what we are about. To return to the point I raised with Deputy Alan Farrell, there will also potentially be a significant proportion of students who will want to keep doing their Ukrainian programme. Quite a number of universities in Ukraine provide online education. Therefore, they will be relying on our colleges for support, wrap-around services and additional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: It is both. This has been passed to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is co-ordinating accommodation. In the first instance, my Department wrote to all of the universities, higher education institutions to ask them to help and to ask them what they could do. Approximately 1,000 beds came through that exercise. A further exercise was done and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I did not get to this question in my opening statement, so I am grateful to the Deputy for asking the question. There is a group of 60 Irish medical and dental students who were forced to abandon their studies in Ukraine for their safety. My officials - and I thank Mr. Ian McKenna and his team - have been liaising with the deans of the medical schools in Ireland. Those deans are currently...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator. Her analysis is right and honest. This is a situation that will evolve, as the Senator noted. We are at the early stages, from the point of view of our sector. The first thing you need when you arrive in a new country having fled war is not higher education, but accommodation, food, safety, checking in with your family, learning the English language in the community,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The student assistance fund will also be available for students from Ukraine to draw down if they have specific needs. In the memo that I am bringing to the Cabinet, probably within the next two weeks, there will be specific funding for additional psychological support services for students from Ukraine. I will reflect on what the Senator has said about whether there is a need to do more....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Senator is right about career guidance. We have linked in and are utilising the ETB career guidance service. I am grateful that the Senator mentioned ETBs because it provides me with an opportunity to thank them. I have visited quite a number of ETB centres in several counties over the past month and have been blown away by the level of work they are doing and the skills on show across...