Results 8,181-8,200 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

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

Simon Harris: The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship accessible to employers and learners. The Plan seeks to deliver on a target of 10,000 annual apprenticeship registrations by 2025. The Plan will address the clear need to broaden the awareness of apprenticeship as a work-based route to internationally...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: Economic development, job creation and national prosperity are, and will be, highly dependent on a strong research, development and innovation base with a regular output of new discoveries and inventions, innovative products and services, and a pipeline of highly educated and trained people. A key objective of my Department is that all students and learners are provided with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (8 Feb 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: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The main support available to students is the Student Grant Scheme managed by SUSI. The scheme provides maintenance and fee grant support for qualifying students who meet the criteria regarding means, nationality, residency and progression. In 2020/21 over 101,000 students applied for grant support with almost 80,000 students assessed as eligible for support. The decision on eligibility...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: I recognise the critical importance of having a strong pipeline of healthcare graduates, and my Department is strongly committed to supporting the health of the population through the provision of graduates with the key competencies and skills to be effective in the health workforce, and support a range of clinical teams in our health services. The Programme for Government commits the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department. My ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. This means recognising the needs of persons on low income and those with special and additional needs. A range of supports and measures are in place for students attending higher education including for learners with low income and with...

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

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 506 together. One of the five overarching objectives of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025is "Apprenticeship for All". In other words, ensuring that the profile of the apprenticeship population more closely reflects the profile of the general population. By December 2021, there were a total of 1,535 female apprentices, up from 60 in 2016 and...

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

Simon Harris: A key goal for my Department is to enhance the visibility of further education and training (FET) and apprenticeship options for school leavers. To facilitate this, information has been included on the CAO website regarding further education and apprenticeships. However the application processes for higher education, further education and apprenticeships remain separate. Applications for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The principal support provided by my Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme, which provides grant assistance to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed eligibility criteria, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) is the single grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The decision on eligibility for student grant assistance is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine. SUSI is mindful of the difficult circumstances affecting individuals applying for a student grant and implements arrangements to sensitively accommodate circumstances including but not...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: Under the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved full-time course at an approved institution. Part-time courses are not eligible for support under the scheme. However, part-time students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund (SAF). The SAF provides...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: Last Friday (4th Feb), I launched the stakeholder consultation on the next iteration of the International Education, Research and Innovation Strategy. All documentation is available on my Department's website. The legislative provisions necessary to facilitate the introduction of the International Education Mark (IEM) are contained in the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education...

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

Simon Harris: On 1st February 2022 the Minister for Education announced that the Leaving Certificate examinations would be proceeding with no corresponding Accredited Grades process, but with adjustments to the examinations which take into account the disruption faced by students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Education and the State Examinations Commission have made a commitment that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (8 Feb 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 to address these issues. This remains very much a priority for my Department. An important element of this is ensuring that higher education institutions have access to low-cost financing....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: Tackling sexual violence and harassment in our tertiary education system is and will remain, a key policy focus for me and my Department. I really want to thank students and staff across the country who took the time to engage with this survey and share their experiences with us. A total of 11,417 responses were analysed (7,901 students and 3,516 staff) and inform the findings. The survey...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: I am happy to give an update on the review of the Student Grant Scheme. This was a very important commitment in the Programme for Government, which will help shape decision-making on how we support students over the years to come. Following a procurement process, the review was undertaken by Indecon Economic Consultants, under the guidance of a steering group which included student and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The changes I announced in Budget 2022, to reduce the qualifying distance criteria for the non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant from 45km to 30km is a key support measure. This will significantly increase the maintenance grant rate for students, who were previously entitled to the adjacent rate of maintenance grant, due to the distance between their place of residence and their college...

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

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 134, 518 and 519 together. 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. This remains very much a priority for my Department. The existing National Student Accommodation Strategy is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The National FET Strategy Future FET, Transforming Learning 2020-2024launched in July 2020 concentrates on the three core pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion, and facilitating pathways to deliver a more strategic and integrated FET system. Significant progress has been made to date across the three pillars. With regard to Building Skills, the range of upskilling and reskilling...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Feb 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Assistance Fund is a critical support which is allocated by my Department to higher education institutions. The fund has a dual focus. It is designed to support students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds with ongoing needs for financial support and also to provide emergency financial assistance for other students. Students can apply for supports from this fund...