Results 8,541-8,560 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (17 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Details on the number of students not currently eligible under the criteria of the Department's Free Fees Initiative due to previous attendance on an undergraduate course are not readily available. Under the Department's Free Fees Initiative (FFI), the Exchequer pays tuition fees on behalf of eligible first time undergraduate students attending approved full-time undergraduate courses. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (17 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Officials from my Department were recently been advised by representatives from Northern Ireland Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that their participation in Erasmus was extended to May, 2023, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. On this basis, they had secured funding to cover all NI higher education Erasmus mobilities for the 2022/2023 academic year. In the light of this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (17 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 172 together. We are currently collating the information, and will revert to the Deputy with a response as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (17 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The CAO application portal for the 2022 academic year opened on 5th November. Information on how the number of applicants compares to previous years is therefore not yet available. My Department will closely monitoring any potential impact that the level of applications may have on entry to further and higher education in 2022. A key goal of my Department is to ensure that all students...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (17 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for SUSI to determine. In assessing an application for the 2021/22 academic year, SUSI will have regard to the following qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant: 1. The student must qualify for the standard rate of grant;2. Total reckonable income, after income disregards and Child Dependant Increase(s) are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 427, 428 and 430 together. There are ten NZEB programmes available at the current time. Five of which are general construction related (NZEB fundamentals, site supervisor, ventilation, retrofit and NZEB for construction workers) and five of which are targeted to skilled craftspersons in specific trades (Bricklaying, Carpentry, Electrical, Plastering and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The development of a new National Strategy for Research and Innovation (R&I) is a key commitment in the Government’s Economic Recovery Plan 2021, which sets out the “dual ambition of placing research, development and innovation at the heart of addressing Ireland’s economic and societal challenges, and building capacity and capability across the research and innovation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Adult Education Provision (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The Adult Literacy for Life Strategy identifies the following high-level strategic targets compared to the baselines, as follows: - Decrease the share of adults with unmet literacy needs (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) level 1 or below) from 18% (2012 data) to 7%. - Decrease the share of adults with unmet numeracy needs (PIAAC Level 1 or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The devolved capital grant allocation for 2021 facilitates higher institutions to address a number of key capital investment priorities including the procurement of additional ICT devices, i.e. laptops and other devices, to support disadvantaged students who have difficulty in accessing a suitable device for their studies. The laptop grant scheme is managed by each institution. Therefore the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: There are three higher education projects that have been delivered to date, by way of Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract. The National Maritime College of Ireland and Cork School of Music, which are part of Munster Technological University, are now well over half way through the PPP contract period. The most recently delivered PPP project is the East and Central Quads at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: At this time, the TU Dublin property disposal strategy has yielded some €172 million, all of which will be reinvested in the Grangegorman development, mostly Programme 3. The Central & East Quad buildings were delivered by way of a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) PPP contract, and therefore most of the costs will be payable by way of monthly unitary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Science Foundation Ireland (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: A key mission for TUs is the building of research capacity and the promotion of innovation and its diffusion, through support for firm-level innovation, developing research centres and gateways in established and emerging regional clusters and ensuring that the research system in the regions is internationally connected. In respect of competitive funding calls carried out by Science...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: There are a number of ongoing (non PPP) higher education investment projects which support the TUs and IOTs. Currently there are 27 capital projects approved or under way in the TU/IOT sector. These projects are approved for €106m in Exchequer funding. My Department is also reviewing the parameters of the next phase of Exchequer capital investment in the higher education sector...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Science Foundation Ireland (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The information regarding the Allocation and Expenditure each year since 2012 for Science Foundation Ireland is set out in the following document. SFI funding for next year will be confirmed once the Revised Estimates Volume 2022 has been published. In the meantime, I can confirm that NRRP funding is included in my Department’s overall NDP ceilings as set out in the recent NDP review....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department is currently seeking to progress a sector wide borrowing framework for TUs in line with the recommendations of the 2019 TURN report. Although at a relatively preliminary stage, it is anticipated that in the first instance any borrowing framework would prioritise the provision of purpose built student accommodation in line with commitments in the Government's Housing for All plan.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: I remain committed to expanding the imprint of higher education across the south east region. IT Carlow and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) have been very clear that the new TU will serve the entire South East region. This will include a larger footprint for higher education in Waterford and the acquisition of a site to accommodate a purpose-built campus in Wexford. WIT is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The design, including costing, of models of academic programme delivery remains a matter for agreement by the relevant applicant institutes seeking to become a TU and as such, my Department was not involved in the process referred to by the Deputy in the case of the TUSEI consortium comprising IT Carlow and Waterford IT. Government has demonstrated and I have reiterated on many occasions...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department has no responsibility for the agreement of any extension of contractual arrangements, should such be the case, as the TUSEI consortium of IT Carlow and Waterford IT is the contracting party for the services of the consultancy firm referred to by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department does not hold individualised data of learners in further and higher education. Such data is held by SOLAS in the Programme and Learner Support Systems (PLSS) and by the HEA in their Student Records System (SRS), as well as by the further and higher education institutions themselves. As such, analysis of learner data is typically undertaken by the Statistics Unit in the HEA or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (16 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: This data is not collected on an annual basis. Data on the transition rate from further to higher education was collated as part of a working paper on the topic, published in 2020. Two different measures of the transition rate were identified. The first is CAO acceptances. In 2017 7.3% (3,517) of CAO acceptances were by candidates who were offered their course on the basis of a QQI/FET...