Results 8,981-9,000 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disability Services (27 Jul 2021)

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 vulnerable learners, the most marginalised and those with special and additional needs. A range of supports and measures are in place for learners with disabilities; some of these supports are targeted...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme is the principal financial support for students participating in higher education, including those with disabilities. The Student Grant Scheme provides for fee and maintenance grants to all students who meet the qualifying criteria such as means, residency, nationality and progression. To date SUSI has received over 80,000 student grant applications for the 2021/22...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1272, 1294 and 1295 together. In light of high number of CAO applications this year, and the pressures faced by the Leaving Certificate students of 2021, my officials have been working with the HEA and the higher education institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided for the 2021/2022 academic year. However there are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: Last year more than 2,250 additional places were provided in order to offset the particular pressures faced by the higher education system. My Department is working with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided this year. All bodies involved will continue to work to ensure the availability of a full range of options...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1274, 1276, 1282 and 1296 together. As the Deputy will be aware, officials from my Department have been working with the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government on measures to ensure greater affordability of student accommodation. Legislation has passed the Oireachtas which restricts the up-front payments required to secure accommodation,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy will be aware, the Residential Tenancies (No.2) Act 2021 restricts the up-front payments required to secure accommodation, including student accommodation, to no more than the equivalent of two months’ rent, and limit payments thereafter to on month’s rent at a time. The legislation does contain an exemption for student specific accommodation, which was included to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: There are many different factors giving rise to non-permanent staffing arrangements, which I understand are a feature of many higher education and research systems, and I have sought to ensure the necessary information is examined to see how the issue can best be addressed. The Department has engaged with representative bodies of the Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and been advised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I understand that the HEA confirmed in early May 2021 that it would meet with the HEI representative bodies in order to agree a definition of occasional staff, with a view to collecting data in respect of those staff.  The HEA has confirmed that their meetings with the representative bodies are ongoing; that this is expected to lead to a revised reporting template for HEIs; and - given...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: Officials in my Department are engaging with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Higher Education Authority to agree principles for a new Higher Education Staffing Agreement. This committee intends to be in a position to consult with all stakeholders in Q4 2021 prior to any agreement being finalised. A new Staffing Agreement will update the current...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I understand from data provided by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in returns made for 31 Dec 2020 that the total number (whole time equivalent or WTE) of academic staff in the HE sector was 15,147.17.  This is broken down into Core Academic staff numbers of 10,668.95 WTE and Academic research and specialist numbers of 4478.217 WTE. With regards to a definition for researcher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: International Students (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: On 14 July, along with the Minster for Education, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Secretary of State, confirming, inter alia, that UK higher education students in Ireland would be treated the same as Irish students for the purposes of fees. In addition, they would be eligible to apply for SUSI grants, which has been confirmed by a recent amendment to the Student Support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The Government has committed to planning for a significant increase in onsite attendance in the tertiary education sector in the next academic year. Following intensive consultation with sectoral stakeholders and Government approval, I published A Safe Return: Plan for a safe return to on-site Further and Higher Education and Research in 2021/22. The Plan reflects the essential...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: Covid-19 and the closure of the construction sector in March 2020 impacted heavily on apprentice registrations. Registrations recovered in the second half of the year with the support of the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme, reaching a total of 3,104 registrations on construction related apprenticeships by year end 2020. As of end June 2021, there have been 2,083 new registrations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department has allocated the following for projects and initiatives in County Tipperary in 2021: - €29m allocated to Tipperary Education and Training Board through SOLAS, the national Further Education and Training Authority, for the provision of Further Education and Training in County Tipperary. This funds a wide variety of programmes such as apprenticeships, traineeships,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The IT Carlow Wexford campus has been in operation since 1995. The current campus facilities consist of two separate rented sites which offer little opportunity for expansion. It has been a long term ambition of IT Carlow to secure a more suitable permanent campus site in Wexford. In the broader context of higher education progression and integration in the South East, this is an objective I...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was formed in summer 2020. The funding allocated to my Department, as set down in the annual Estimates, is used to meet costs associated with the provision of further and higher education, labour market initiatives including skills, and Irish research and development. The allocation is provided both directly...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding to the institutions via the recurrent funding model. The HEA also allocates funding under specific initititives and programmes including Skills funding under the NTF; access initiatives; capital grants;...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will be aware that the HEAR and DARE schemes are reduced points mechanisms for entry into higher education. The schemes are managed and operated by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) on behalf of the higher education institutions who are autonomous bodies. Participating higher education institutions provide the funding for the IUA to manage the schemes on their behalf.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Communications (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1291 and 1292 together. 40864 and 40866 together. The Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) for a Framework of Co-operation Between The Government Of The State of Israel and the Government of Ireland in the Field of Industrial Scientific Research and Technological Development was signed on 27 October 1999. As far as my Department is aware, there has been no...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Harris: Universities and Institutes of Technology are autonomous and determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf. Decisions on admissions are made by the higher education institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore neither I nor my Department have a...