Results 9,701-9,720 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information (1 Apr 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, HEIs are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs including dealing with policy and procedure in relation to fee collection. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) was introduced as part of a series of reforms to the student immigration system for international education in line with the Government decision of 19 May 2015. These reforms have been designed to: - tackle abuse of the immigration regime, - tackle abuse of the labour market, - improve the overall quality of offering to international students, -...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached spreadsheet. The data given is from the 2019/20 academic year, the latest available. The data on the year of study is taken as given by the Higher Education Institutions in their statistical returns to the HEA. In some instances HEIs categorise postgraduate students as being in their fifth or sixth year of study, while in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not held by my Department and therefore cannot be provided. There are a number of external constraints which may place limits on the number of students that a HEI can enroll in a given course. In a course where a clinical or other work placement forms a necessary part of the learning experience, the capacity to provide such placements may limit the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: My Department is aware of the issue referred to by the Deputy. The matter is currently under consideration by my officials with a view to addressing the issues involved. Separately, my Department has committed to a review of the decision-making process in relation to the examination of previous complaints on governance issues at the institution. The process of compiling the records in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: As, the Deputy is aware, my Department was established in June 2020. I have attached a breakdown of the higher executive officers, administration officers, assistant principal officers, principal officers and assistant secretaries in my Department by gender, please see the attached table. However, we are continuing to engage with colleagues in Government regarding an additional Assistant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: In October 2020, my Department provided the Department of Health with a list of Further Education and Training, Higher Education public and HECA member institutions, addresses and contact numbers. Data in respect of the number of students in full time higher education institution-owned accommodation, with a breakdown of figures by institution was also provided in October 2020. No other data...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: General Data Protection Regulation (1 Apr 2021)

Simon Harris: As you are aware, my Department was established in June 2020. I have attached a spreadsheet which shows details of the number of complaints that were received from members of the public under the heading of GDPR and data information requests since 2018 to date in 2021, the number of data information requests that have been refused and accepted, respectively and the number of GDPR requests...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached table. This data comes from the HEA's Student Records System (SRS) and runs from the 2014/2015 academic year to the 2019/2020 academic year, which is the latest available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Erasmus+ Programme (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: While Erasmus+ (2021-2028) was approved in principle in December 2020, the formal EU regulatory processes have yet to be concluded. Notwithstanding this, the Higher Education Authority (HEA), which acts as the National Agency for the Erasmus+ Higher Education programme, is expecting to announce a call for applications to all participating Higher Education Institutions shortly. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Straitéisí Ranna (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: Táim chun Ceisteanna Uimh. 742 agus 743 athógáil le chéile. Is doiciméad ardleibhéil é an Ráiteas Straitéise ina leagtar béim ar spriocanna straitéiseacha don Roinn Breisoideachais agus Ardoideachais, Taighde, Nuálaíochta agus Eolaíochta. I gcomhréir leis an gcur chuige seo, ní thagraítear go sonrach do...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Legal Cases (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: The Minister is not aware of any threatened or extant litigation arising from the inclusion of social clauses in public procurement contracts in each of the years from 2017 to 2020.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Reform (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: Preparatory work is on-going between my Department and the Higher Education Authority on the next National Access Plan (2022 -2026). A consultation phase has commenced, and a public call for submissions will be announced shortly. The aim to have a new plan published by the end of 2021.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: In 2020 the HEA commissioned a study on the issues and challenges associated with first-time mature student participation in higher education and to make recommendations that will support increased participation from this group. Following a competitive tender process, Indecon Economic Consultants were appointed to carry out a study which included a comprehensive stakeholder consultation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Quality and Qualifications Ireland (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: I propose to take question Nos. 750 and 753 together. The Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019 was signed into law on 23rd July 2019. While many of the provisions of the Act have been commenced, a number of Sections have yet to be. These are Sections 9, 14, 23, 25 to 33, and 38. A considerable amount of preparatory work is required to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: Under Articles 15(6) and (7) of the Student Grant Scheme 2020, a student must be moving from year to year within a course having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course. A grant will not be paid to a student for a repeat period of study on the same course, or...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Correspondence (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: The USI Education for All Campaign covers a wide range of issues including public financing of higher education and student accommodation on which I as Minister and my Department are actively engaging with USI and relevant stakeholders in higher education. Throughout the last number of months my Department has been engaging with sectoral representatives to address the challenges faced by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Properties (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is being sought and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: The main support available to assist postgraduate students with the cost of attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. In line with the Programme for Government commitment to address the gap in postgraduate grants, from September 2021 the postgraduate fee grant will increase from €2,000 to €3,500. This increase will allay some of the costs for postgraduate study and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: English Language Training Organisations (31 Mar 2021)

Simon Harris: English language education (ELE) in Ireland is a broad and diverse sector with the vast majority of activity undertaken by private sector providers. I am aware of the important contribution made by this sector and of the challenges that are being encountered given the substantial impact that the Covid-19 outbreak has had on students, teachers and providers. As part of the response to the...