Results 9,241-9,260 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The matter of health workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of qualified healthcare workers within Ireland, is a major priority for my Department. This would be a priority even in normal times, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant strain on our healthcare sector, further underscores its importance. The Programme for Government commits the Department of Health to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The Adult Literacy for Life, or ALL, Strategy sets out a cross-government, cross-economy, cross-society approach to address this priority. It sets out the detailed pathway to achieve the vision of an Ireland where every adult has the necessary literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to engage in society and realise their potential. I believe that the Strategy can be transformative in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Nov 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: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Delivery of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 is progressing, overseen by a Steering Group comprising representatives of SOLAS, the HEA, QQI and the Department. Key developments so far this year include: - Work on the establishment of the National Apprenticeship Office (NAO) with a draft Memorandum of Understanding prepared by SOLAS and HEA due to be submitted to their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The development and progression of technological universities (TUs) is an established policy objective of Government in the context of overarching national strategy on higher education landscape restructuring and this is underscored in the commitment in the current Programme for Government. However, it remains a matter for the governing bodies of autonomous Institutes of Technology as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The support and wellbeing of our students is a priority for my Department, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the increased stress and pressure resulting from it. In 2020, a total of €5 million was provided to address student mental health and wellbeing in higher education. HEIs were requested to distribute funding to student-facing services such as: - Recruitment of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (30 Nov 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 persons on low income and those with special and additional needs. A range of supports and measures are in place for learners with low income and with disabilities; some of these supports are targeted...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Where an apprentice pays an Annual Student Contribution, he amount of ASC charged to apprentices is calculated on a pro rata basis of the time which they spend in the institution during the academic year. In cases where training is delivered in an Education and Training Board there is no contribution required from the apprentice. For craft apprenticeships, the ASC charged is typically one...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are governed by the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technologies Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Within the meaning of these Acts, higher education institutions are autonomous with regard to management of their academic affairs and the location of their campuses. For example, IT Carlow currently has a footprint...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The support and wellbeing of our students is a priority for my Department, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the increased stress and pressure resulting from it. In 2020, I secured a comprehensive package of financial supports from Government for the higher education and further education and training sectors to mitigate the impact of Covid. This package included funding of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cross-Border Co-operation (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The new draft PEACE PLUS programme, which has been approved by the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive through the North-South Ministerial Council, includes for the first time a provision for the delivery of skills initiatives on a cross-border basis. While final approval is awaited must be secured from the Commission, a provision of €50m has been set aside to fund...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 was launched on 19th April and sets out a five year plan which sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship accessible to employers and learners. The plan will deliver on a target of 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per annum by 2025. The Plan will address the clear need to broaden the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department will closely monitoring any potential impact that the level of CAO applications or Leaving Certificate grades may have on entry to further and higher education in 2022. A key goal of my Department is to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to pursue educational pathways which allow them to achieve their full potential. Budget 2022 including funding for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Examinations (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: I am conscious of the concerns some students have about in-person end of term examinations, and on Friday 19th November I met with management, staff and student representatives to discuss a number of key issues, including arrangements for examinations. Management bodies confirmed that they are actively looking at a range of approaches to ensure that end of term examinations will be safe,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Work on the development of the next National Access Plan (NAP) 2022 - 2026 is currently underway. The consultation process, which closed on 18th June 2021, invited all interested parties to make their views known on this matter and other matters related to access to higher education particularly for groups who are underrepresented in the higher education population. One-to-one...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The brick and stonelaying apprenticeship has a standard craft apprenticeship structure of seven phases of alternating on-the-job and off-the-job phases. The off-the-job training for these programmes is delivered in Education and Training Board Training Centres (Phase 2), Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities (Phases 4 & 6). At the end of October 2021, there were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The awarding of a student grant is a matter for SUSI to determine. With regard to the specific application, I have been advised by my officials that the student outlined by the Deputy submitted an application for the 2021/22 academic year applying as an independent student and was requested to provide evidence of same. The application was refused due to insufficient documentation to prove...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department or the Minister have no role in the awarding of a student grant. For the 2021/22 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the reference period 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020. However, a very important feature of the scheme that I would point to is the change of circumstances...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not routinely collected by SOLAS. There are currently 62 apprenticeships leading to qualifications at level 5-10 of the National Framework of Qualifications. Three of the existing apprenticeships and five of the apprenticeships known to be in development are at level 9 or 10 of the framework. These may well necessitate a qualification at level 7...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (30 Nov 2021)

Simon Harris: Eight higher education institutions were approved in 2020 to progress projects under the Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme 2020 co-funded with SEAI. These projects will test and demonstrate energy retrofit approaches, build scale, and inform key stakeholders. Please see table attached below with the current status and expected completion dates for the projects in...