Results 9,121-9,140 of 47,419 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (2 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The university sector collects full economic costing data .The full economic cost of each student enrolled as an undergraduate student will vary depending on the discipline.   The estimated total cost per undergraduate nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy student is c.€10,000 – €11,000 per student per year. The estimated total cost of educating an...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health and Safety (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Keogan for raising this important and timely matter. Before I get into the substance let me be very clear that we do need an overhaul of the construction licensing system. We intend to bring forward legislation on this matter shortly. It will give Members of the House and the Senator an opportunity to contribute to ensure we have a modern fit-for-purpose safety system when...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health and Safety (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The move will be very welcome and I am the first to admit that it is long overdue. Moving the process online will make a significant difference to people and will be a practical way to help them to go about their business. We want people on-site as quickly as possible and we all know that is important. We need to do so in a safe manner and I think that having an online renewal process will...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health and Safety (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator. She has shown a great interest in this matter, apprenticeships and the like since becoming a Member. My best guesstimate is around the month of October but certainly before the end of the year. We are working to make sure that the Safe Pass registration process fully transitions online by the end of the year. I know that the initiative will be very welcome having...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Student Universal Support Ireland Grant (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank my colleague for his work on this matter. It is a good example of common-sense politics where one identifies an issue and bring forward proposals to fix the issue. I thank him for tabling this proposal at a meeting of our parliamentary party and for engaging with me on same. The proposal is good for students, local businesses and families. In addition, there is the concept that...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Student Universal Support Ireland Grant (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I largely agree with everything the Senator said. When it was set as the income level in 2016, €4,500 was worth a different amount in real terms. The world has changed, including in the context of inflation and in terms of minimum wage changes. This is a common-sense proposal the Senator is bringing forward but I often find common sense is not that common. It is important when we...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to fully determine the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to consider the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under the student grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: During the 2020/2021 academic year,(the latest year data is available)  statistics  from the Higher Education Authority show that there were 49,658 students studying at all levels in our publicly funded institutions on a part time basis. The costs of extending the SUSI grant scheme to these part time students would depend on an assessment to see if they meet the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by SUSI on behalf of my department, is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics and the expansion and extension of alternative educational opportunities. It is therefore not possible to consider the number of new applicant's who may apply for supports under the student grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: During the 2020/2021 academic year,(the latest year that data is available)  statistics  from the Higher Education Authority show that there were 49,658 students studying at all levels in our publicly funded institutions on a part time basis. The costs of extending the SUSI grant scheme to these part time students would depend on an assessment to see if they meet the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chairman. I will go through my statement because there is information within it that I want to share with colleagues. I will go through it quickly if that is okay with the Chairman. I thank the committee for having me and my officials here today. Like the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and their officials, we are working...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has hit on a really valid point. We have to recognise that every student is going to be in a different scenario. That is the beauty - if I can call it that - of this national line and contact point. Students can come in have a conversation, say that they were a third-year engineering student, to take a random example, and ask where they fit in the education system, what their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: I will send the clerk to the committee a detailed note on MSCA4Ukraine. It will be done through the Irish Universities Association. I will get Deputy Ó Cathasaigh more detail on that. My best answer on the difference in the figures, about which the Deputy is right, is that the larger figure is the number of people who we know fall within an age group that may well be in third level...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Deputy Ó Cathasaigh better make sure that happens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Somebody should probably agree on my behalf as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Yes, it is an important point. It will be paid for in the same way that an Erasmus+ student is paid. They will be Erasmus+ students for all intents and purposes. Support is paid for through the Erasmus+ office in any given higher education instruction. We have to update the Government and subject to the Government decision, we will make this information available through the helpline. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: Yes. I can give the Deputy a note on this. The first answer is, to be very honest, that we do not, nor could we, have a full sense of the total demand. Deputy Ó Cathasaigh got to the heart of that. We know that more than 3,000 of these people are within the age group that might be considered the typical college-going age. However, only a fraction of that number so far has even...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: -----because that is not what we are about. To return to the point I raised with Deputy Alan Farrell, there will also potentially be a significant proportion of students who will want to keep doing their Ukrainian programme. Quite a number of universities in Ukraine provide online education. Therefore, they will be relying on our colleges for support, wrap-around services and additional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Provision of Education Supports for Ukrainian Students (1 Jun 2022)

Simon Harris: It is both. This has been passed to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is co-ordinating accommodation. In the first instance, my Department wrote to all of the universities, higher education institutions to ask them to help and to ask them what they could do. Approximately 1,000 beds came through that exercise. A further exercise was done and...