Results 9,941-9,960 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I should have kept talking.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I met with the management board in the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and we discussed a number of issues, including Magee. We need concrete proposals in terms of what can be done but the Deputy is correct. The technological university for the north west has a significant opportunity to partner with institutions like Magee in the North. North-South relations will be key in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I know the Deputy has been in contact with me about this. There are huge opportunities for Athlone Institute of Technology and Limerick Institute of Technology - the university of the midlands, if we can call it that. There is already a footprint in Laois and I am very eager that we do more, particularly around training for Bord na Móna. I had some engagement last week on that at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I am determined to tackle the funding issue. We are awaiting the economic evaluation and the input of the European Commission. We are likely to receive that in the second quarter of this year. No doubt we will be talking about it at great length. As an Oireachtas and Government, we really need to crack this and I am eager to work with the committee on that. Regarding the adult...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: My thanks to Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for the questions. I want to acknowledge that most of the representatives in Waterford, both Government and Opposition representatives, are not playing politics with this. They are trying to deliver a university. Some are choosing to do different things. That is their democratic right and we wish them well. We are going to deliver a technological...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I speak very fast. My thanks to Deputy Cullinane for being an enthusiastic supporter and for not playing politics with this. My thanks to the Deputy for being constructive in his engagement on this matter - I acknowledge that. The Deputy is right on capital. The overall capital envelope will be decided in the national development plan. Let me say this without going too far: that is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his questions. The point he made about boards is interesting. We must be honest about this. People who serve on boards are undertaking public service and it is often hard to attract good people to these posts. That is no reflection on the people serving now. Fewer people are putting up their hands these days to serve on boards and those of us involved in politics...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Farrell for his questions. I will begin by picking up on his last point. We must reform the CAO process. In saying that, I mean no disrespect to a body which does a very good job. It does not fall under the remit of my Department. It is unfair to young people that we narrow the conversation about their educational choices at such a young age. Those young people often only...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator O'Reilly for her question. She put it very well when she spoke about the core values of technological universities. The first part of my answer is that they need to be owned by the regions. I keep on having these conversations with the regions. The Government can set up a technological university in Dublin, but we then need to have the infrastructure in place for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I will try to go through the questions quickly, as I want to talk about the funding. We have three research funding agencies within the remit of my Department. We have Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, the Irish Research Council, IRC, and then we have each of the individual higher education institutions, HEIs, which I will group together as HEIs. The current thinking of the Department is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Dillon for his questions and for joining me at the recent meeting with the president of GMIT and the vice president who is based at the Castlebar campus. Castlebar is going to become a university town and Mayo is going to have a university presence. This has the ability to be transformational for Mayo, Castlebar and the north west of our country. I am really excited about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I am happy to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Crowe. He is entirely correct that Ennis is going to become a university town and that the opportunities this will provide for the region are very significant. To update the Deputy, Limerick Institute of Technology and Athlone Institute of Technology submitted their application in November. We appointed the independent international panel in December. The panel conducted...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I will not tell the Deputy's wife.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I have yet to have a Gaeltacht experience myself but I know how hugely beneficial it has been for so many people and we need to continue to promote it. We are talking about people who require it as part of their qualification and studies. I have received much correspondence on this matter and I have sought advice from my officials. Somewhat surprisingly, I am told that it remains a matter...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I thank the Chairman and echo his thanks to the presidents, chairs and members of the governing authority, as well as all the staff of Waterford IT and IT Carlow. While we are moving to a new landscape in the south east, that does not in any way take away from the incredible work both institutions have done. In many ways we are trying to build on that success for the new model. I am taken...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Future Expansion of the Technological Universities: Discussion (23 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I should have acknowledged earlier that the Minister of State, being from the mid-west, has taken a very keen interest in AIT and LIT. It is great to have that local knowledge of the region in our Department. I thank Senator Byrne for his comment on the hospitality sector. We will collaborate very closely with this sector which has been so badly hit. I could not agree with him more on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (18 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: Higher Education Institutions are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Institutions of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Under this legislation the institutions are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes, and neither I nor my Department has a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: I am conscious of the impact that Covid-19 has had on the leaving certificate class of 2021, and will take action as necessary to ensure that a full range of further and higher education options are available to them. I am aware of the high number of CAO applications this year, and my officials are engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (18 Feb 2021)

Simon Harris: The response for the Deputy is in the attached spreadsheet.