Results 7,321-7,340 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Admissions (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: On workforce planning, it is a sensible suggestion to look at how we can better co-ordinate in this regard. I will reflect on how I can respond more fully to Deputy Conway-Walsh on that point. There is a level of engagement going on between my Department and the Department of Health that is quite intense and useful. There are other relevant Departments. I have spoken about this to the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, which provides me with an opportunity to update the House. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, I have tasked my officials with finding ways to facilitate the continuing education of displaced Ukrainians coming to Ireland. I am determined, as I know the Deputy is, that these students will be given comprehensive and compassionate...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: That is a fair comment. I will certainly take the Deputy's considerations on board. For the record, graduate entry medicine courses are not approved for funding under the student grant schemes because progression is a key tenet. Students accessing graduate entry medicine will, as a matter of course, hold a level 8 qualification prior to entry. Completion of a graduate-entry medicine...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Admissions (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question. There is a very important issue there on the date of the results. The challenge was borne out in trying to do something good by students to ensure that there was a second opportunity to sit the leaving certificate for those impacted by Covid. At the same time, this is a call for the State Examinations Commission, SEC, to make, rather than the Minister...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Costs (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. The SUSI grant review is an extremely important piece of work. It provides us with absolute clarity on the key issues that students and other stakeholders wish to see us address in better supporting students and their families in this country. Even in advance of publishing the review, we had begun to make progress on those recommendations. We introduced a very...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Costs (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I will certainly work with the Deputy and others in the House on the issue. In terms of context, I think it is important to note that we live in a country where more than four out of ten students receive student grants and more than four out of ten students do not pay the €3,000 registration fee. I say that because I often worry that a secondary school student might be listening to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I am very aware of the challenge caused by the withdrawal of the existing loan products designed for students wishing to study medicine through the graduate entry route. Indeed, in recent days I met students in UCD to discuss the issue. Decisions regarding which loan products to offer are, of course, a commercial matter for the banks concerned. That is a statement of fact. However, I do...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: Before the commercial decision of the bank was made, I had already had a number of very useful meetings with students of graduate entry medicine. They made points like those made by the Deputy. From my former role as Minister for Health, I think that diversity in professions, and in the medical profession, is a good thing. I also think that diverse routes of entry into medicine are good....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: As Deputy Ó Ríordáin is aware, on 4 May I launched the Funding the Future framework, which includes the Government's policy response to the Cassells report and the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support, DG REFORM, reviews on the future of higher education. It clearly sets out my intention to implement a progressive range of measures to address costs as a barrier to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: While I am a little bit younger that the Deputy, I do remember the policy work of former Minister Niamh Bhreathnach, someone I hold in high regard. If I were to be totally honest, and this is an objective statement, the fees were reduced but the core funding piece was not addressed. What we are trying to do, and we have been working on this on a cross-party basis, is to try to do both. ...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: That is where I would like to get to but I do not want to mislead the House or students in how we will make progress in this issue. Students and families have been waiting too long for progress on this matter. We do not want to engage in a situation of creating an expectation that cannot be met. I would be fascinated to know if the Deputy or anyone else in this House were the Minister...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Costs (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: The honest answer to the question as to when we will publish the paper is that it will be in advance of the budget. I will get the Deputy a more specific answer than that. It will be in enough time for the Sinn Féin's alternative budget or pre-budget submissions and for me to begin to grapple with and discuss these issues. One imagines it will be published in the autumn but I will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: As is Deputy Conway-Walsh, I am keenly aware of the pressure felt by students applying to enter higher education. I assure her and the House that I am taking action to relieve these pressures. I requested quite some time ago that my officials would engage with the higher education sector on the creation of additional places in, as the Deputy rightly says, key areas as identified by our...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I would be delighted to come here and debate my record in the Department of Health but we probably do not have time in the 58 seconds available to me other than to say the number of people working in the health service grew every year I was Minister for Health. I agree with the Deputy that time is of the essence in terms of providing clarity on the additional numbers. We are honing in on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: There are two parts to workforce planning. One is whether we are training enough people in any profession. The second is that if we are training enough people whether they choose to stay working in that area or to stay working in Ireland. The role of the Department is to work with line Departments to identify the number of places they believe are required to adequately meet workforce...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: UL has indicated that, as part of its future campus planning, it is advancing an application for the designation of lands on the County Clare side of its campus as an Economic Strategic Development Zone or SDZ. UL has indicated to my Department that it sees potential for new and innovative models of teaching and learning through designation of an SDZ alongside its current campus, and in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department, and my ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. In that context I recognise that there are areas where particular efforts and supports are needed for unemployed women engaging in retraining and reskilling opportunities . I also recognise cost can often be a barrier to accessing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I am committed to the addressing the costs associated with higher education, and this has been a priority for me over recent Budgets. It is also why I commissioned the review of the Student Grant Scheme, which will support the strategic development of the scheme over the coming years in ways. On the issue of student earnings, while the report does reference the potential to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: I launched the review of the Student Grant Scheme on 4 May. The review was carried out by Indecon Economic Consultants, under the strategic direction of a steering group chaired by my Department. The review involved wide stakeholder engagement, a substantial student consultation as well as novel research on SUSI data and deprivation index data. The report makes a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (19 May 2022)

Simon Harris: On 4th May I launched the Funding the Future framework which includes the Government's policy response to the Cassells and DG Reform Reviews on the future of higher education and which sets out my intention to implement a progressive range of measures to address costs as a barrier to education, in the context of overall Budgetary decision-making. The policy sets out the vision and...