Results 9,641-9,660 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The response of tertiary education to the COVID-19 pandemic is coordinated by my Department through the Covid-19 Tertiary Education Sector Steering Group and structure of working groups. The steering group is comprised of representatives from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science,  our agencies, Higher Education Institutions, Students, Adult...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: According to the information available to me, the quotas in relation to primary school teaching, nursing and medicine are the only quotas determined by government departments. Higher Education Institutions are autonomous bodies, and, aside from where a quota has been set, can determine the places available in a given course. However even when there are no formal quotas imposed practical...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: On occasions, reports are jointly commissioned by key Government Departments, North and South on cross-Border enrolments - the last such report An Analysis of Existing Statistics on Student Flows between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in Higher Education was published in December 2018 jointly by the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Education and Skills and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: In the Parliamentary Questions referenced the Deputy sought information in relation to the percentage share of public funding in the total revenue of Higher Education Institutions. In my response I confirmed that my department does not compile the information requested by the deputy. It is important to note that, in considering the total level of resource available to the sector,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Following the revised estimates for 2021, and as previously advised, exclusive of further education (programme A) and research allocations (programme C) total planned exchequer (programme B) and NTF funding of the HE sector for 2021 is in the order of €1.98billion. Within this allocation funding the following items are included in response to COVID 19 impacts: - 20million for expected...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Training Fund (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The National Training Fund (NTF) Act, 2000 provides for a levy on employers to be used to fund the development of and raising of skills amongst those in, or seeking, employment. The reserve surplus of the NTF by 2025 if expenditure remained stable (excluding Covid emergency spending) is €1.8 billion. See table below for further details. Table – NTF projected surplus...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department has not incurred any expenditure on public relations advice or media advice.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Advertising (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department has conducted three paid advertising campaigns in 2020 and 2021. There were two campaigns around COVID-19 safety messaging for young adults and students, and one to advertise The Right Course, a one-stop shop for training and learning opportunities for employers and employees. Campaign Channels Company Amount Year ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Officials in my Department are liaising with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to confirm the position and the details will be communicated to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Electric Vehicles (28 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department does not lease or own any vehicles. The information in respect of state bodies within the scope of the Deputy’s question is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document should the Deputy wish to contact them directly with his query. Contact E-Mail Addresses for State Bodies under the...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the committee for providing me with the opportunity to update it on a number of key Brexit matters which fall within the scope of my Department. It is really important that we continue to have Oireachtas committees scrutinising such issues. We are five months into post-Brexit implementation and while it no longer occupies the day-to-day level of political and media attention that it...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Senator. We will deliver three technological universities and we will definitely deliver one for the south-east. I can assure him of that and thank him for his leadership on the matter. I look forward to engaging with him intensively this week on it. I sincerely thank him for his kind words about my officials in my Department and the HEA, which I echo. In particular, I...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: In relation to going to the UK to study or a UK student coming here, I am pleased that as a result of the common travel area and agreements between Britain and Ireland, there is no change to the cost of going to college in the UK, with the exception of Scotland. That is-----

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: It is 10,000. The Scottish thing is a significant change, there is no two ways about it. Before Brexit, as an Irish student, I could head to Scotland and avail of the Scottish free fees initiative. I cannot now. The short answer as to what other supports are available is that I am pleased and grateful to the Scottish Government for allowing access to Irish students to some of its loan...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I agree with that. The Government, in the previous budget, funded 4,000 additional college places this year compared with the current year. Every year, we grow quite substantially the number of college places. In fairness to Government, the Minister, Deputy McGrath, and others who provided funding in this regard, as a result of the pandemic, we have significantly grown the size of the...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: Absolutely. There are three parts to the work the Higher Education Authority, HEA, is doing with my Department. One is identifying what more the colleges could do with current resources. The second is what more they could do with additional resources while obviously trying as much as possible to benefit from the CAO data in terms of where the demand is. The third part is trickiest but...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The short answer is that we are not but we have really started on a lot of it over the past couple of months. I will give the Senator two examples related to the most difficult area. I refer to the work of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on child protection and welfare and the work being led by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on disability....

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: We are full and very willing participants in that process. In fairness to the Minister of State, she has turbocharged this since coming into office. There are other areas but disability is a good example of where there is a need to join up the public service need with the number of training places. Sláintecare, and health more broadly, is another example. If we want to deliver on...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator O'Reilly for his questions. As a Border politician, he is particularly conscious of the North-South issues. To be very clear, we are exploring, and will be proactive in exploring, every possible opportunity to do more on a North-South basis. I have had many interesting political meetings on this. I had a very good meeting with the leader of the SDLP, Colum Eastwood, on...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Responses to Brexit in Further and Higher Education: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (26 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chairperson for her questions. Speaking bluntly, the point she made about Erasmus is correct. My Department needs to make the case - and we will - that there are additional costs for Irish students accessing Erasmus abroad in comparison with students who live on the Continent. If I lived somewhere in mainland Europe, I could connect with universities and institutions in other...