Results 7,981-8,000 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The development of new apprenticeships is employer-led, with consortia comprising employer groups and educational providers coming together to identify a skills need and appropriate apprenticeship responses in their sector. It is open to any industry that wishes to explore such options to bring forward a proposal. Applications for new apprenticeship development are open on an ongoing basis,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that my Department’s agencies, the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland, currently have initiatives in place to bring researchers closer to the work of the Oireachtas and to connect elected representatives with the world leading research that is happening in Ireland. In July 2018 the Irish Research Council launched its Oireachtas Shadowing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that Government formally ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018 and it entered into force on 19 April 2018. The Convention seeks to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question on this important matter. Our higher education institutions have a duty of care to their students and staff, and a responsibility to foster a campus culture that is clear in the condemnation of unwanted and unacceptable behaviours, which act as barriers to their safety and their active participation in college life. Significant progress has been made...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Museum Projects (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: Since it opened in 2008, the Science Gallery has been a popular visitor attraction and strengthened the appreciation of science especially among young people. My Department and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media remain in contact with the Provost and management at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) since TCD’s initial announcement regarding the Science...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Foreign Conflicts (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: In the first instance I wish to re-iterate the Government position that Russia’s war is illegal, immoral and unjustified. Ireland’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering. However, we also recognize that the actions of the Russian state are no reflection on its people. I am determined that Russian and Ukrainian students...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I recognise that cost can be major factor for many people in accessing higher education, and I am committed to delivering on the Programme for Government’s commitments regarding SUSI.  In addition to commissioning a major review of the scheme, I have also prioritised expansion and reform of the scheme in budgetary allocations. I commissioned a major review of the Student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 102 together. Progress of Dundalk Institute of Technology Dundalk Institute of Technology has indicated in its strategic plan and in engagements with the Higher Education Authority (HEA), its objective to attain TU status in due course.   I am supportive of the Institute’s ambitions in this regard and both my Department and the HEA continue...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: Equity of Access to Further and Higher Education continues to be a national priority for the Government and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Inclusion is a key goal in my Department's Statement of Strategy.  The Programme for Government also reflects the importance of supporting learners at risk of educational disadvantage and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: Among the 62 apprenticeships currently available at levels 5-10 of the National Framework of Qualifications, 25 are craft-related. More specifically, they include housing-related programmes such as electrical, plumbing, carpentry and joinery, plastering, painting and decorating and the recently launched scaffolding apprenticeship.  In recent years, annual intake in construction-related...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: Higher education institutions are autonomous within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. As such they are independent in relation to their administrative and academic affairs, and the courses offered by any institution are a matter for the individual institutions to determine. Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) supports participation by students with a disability in further and higher education. The purpose of the FSD is to provide resources to further and higher education institutions for the delivery of key services and supports for students with disabilities on full-time and part-time courses. The FSD aims to support the personal, educational and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship more accessible to employers and learners, to achieve a target of 10,000 annual registrations across a wide range of programmes by 2025. Expanding apprenticeship across all sectors of the economy has widened its impact in areas of skills shortage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cross-Border Co-operation (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: My Department is committed to the promotion of collaboration on a North South cooperation and the all-island economy.    In 2008, the  Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), whose secretariat hosted in the Department of Enterprise,  Trade and Employment, carried out an All Ireland Skills Study.  Since then, the skills architecture has changed substantially,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I want to start by reiterating the Government’s utter condemnation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine as illegal and immoral.  Across Government we are examining the actions that need to be taken to support people affected by this aggression, including students and researchers.  I discussed these issues, including the overall EU response, when I met Commissioner...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is committed to the implementation of the Official Languages Act and provision of Irish-language services, and the Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú) is of high importance to Ireland and the life of the language in this country. It will ensure that Irish speakers can interact with the Government and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: The introduction of an annual employer grant is a significant deliverable under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025. The new Employer Grant is funded in Budget 2022 and will see annual payments to employers of €2,000 per apprentice for those apprenticeships which are not eligible for the payment of off-the-job training allowances. Its introduction means that, for the first...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, officials from my Department are engaged on an ongoing basis with their counterparts in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Higher Education Authority to agree principles for a new Higher Education Staffing Agreement.  This work will include a wider consultation with stakeholders in Q2 2022 prior to any agreement being finalised. A...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 112 together. A number of local authorities throughout the country employ apprentices, with in the region of 50 apprentices currently employed by these bodies. The majority of the apprentices are employed in craft trades such as plumbing, carpentry and joinery, and electrical. A number of the apprentices are also employed in consortia programmes such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (8 Mar 2022)

Simon Harris: I am very conscious of the challenges faced by students in relation to student accommodation, and my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working closely together on these issues. Fundamentally the underlying issue is one of supply and there is a need to increase the supply of all types of accommodation including student accommodation. That is why...