Results 10,241-10,260 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: In recognition of the challenges facing full time third level students the Government has approved once off funding of €50m to provide additional financial assistance in this academic year.  The funding, which was provided in Budget 2021, in recognition of the significant upheaval they have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic will offer financial assistance to all EU...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 324, 334 and 335 together. The vision of National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2021 is that the student body entering, participating in, and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population. The plan set out five goals and more than thirty actions, developed following...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 325, 327, 329 and 336 together. The distinction between academic and technical courses is not one used by my Department. Figures on enrolments by subject area for the years 2014 - 2018 is available in the attached table. 2018 is the latest year for which this data is available. This year more students than ever before were offered a place in higher education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 328, 330 and 331 together. Innovation 2020, the current national strategy for research and development, science and technology, acknowledges the importance of the pipeline of skilled and talented individuals playing a critical factor in innovation. From pre-primary through to further and higher education and throughout an individual’s career, skills...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The tertiary education system has a number of key strategies in place at all levels to ensure we meet existing and future skills demands. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified science and technical graduates, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills and capacity to meet these demands.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Costs (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme where students are studying for the first time or are progressing to study at a higher level e.g. progressing to postgraduate study. To qualify for grant support, a student has to meet various criteria such as means, residency, nationality and progression. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Budgets (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: A summary of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science funding allocations for 2021 is set out in Chapter 9 of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s 2021 Expenditure Report that was published on 13 October 2020 as part of 2021 Budget day documentation. This sets out the main areas identified for funding in 2021, with the caveat that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The current position is the CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on behalf of higher education institutions, which are autonomous.   Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates.  It is my intention that an important part of the work of my new Department will be to expand...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The transition rate of pupils from post-primary to higher education has remained relatively steady in recent years, varying between 63% and 64%. This refers to the proportion of post-primary school completers who enter higher education up to five years after they finish post-primary education. Ireland has one of the highest educational attainment rates in the OECD, with 55% of 25-34 year olds...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The Irish Survey of Student Engagement National Report 2020 was published in November, in partnership with the HEA, the IUA, THEA and the USI.  StudentSurvey.ie asks students directly about their experiences of higher education, including their academic, personal, and social development. In 2020, 44,707 students in 26 higher education institutions participated. For the purposes of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (10 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The student numbers for all faculties during the academic year 2018/19 is contained in the attached excel spreadsheet. The Department of Education's STEM Education Policy Statement 2017–2026, published in November 2017, sets out the ambitious goals and actions required to achieve and improve the STEM education experience and outcomes for all learners from Early Years to Post...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and as such are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes. Therefore responsibility for examinations and assessments rests ultimately with each individual institution. The national co-ordination group for tertiary education, which includes representatives...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The matters referred to by the Deputy are employment issues for the Dublin City University, rather than Departmental policy matters, as the University has autonomy with regard to its HR function.   The terms of employment for employees of universities are a matter for the employing institutions and HR policies vary in line with the size, structure, culture and work of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Nursing Education (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating student and graduate data from all HEA-funded higher education institutions. Data below is for 2018/2019 Republic of Ireland enrolments in bachelor nursing training courses by course year. Data in relation to enrolments in the 2019/2020 academic year is currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The decision on eligibility for student grant applications is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland).   For student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.    A student may be assessed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies Data (9 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Details of the bodies under the aegis including the criteria for appointments to each Board that falls under the remit of my Department are available in the attached table. The details are also available on the Department of Education’s website at the following link; https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Agencies/Details-...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The EU Directive on Professional Qualifications will no longer apply once the Transition Period has concluded on 31st December 2020. While responsibility for recognition of professional qualifications rests with each relevent Department and their regulators, my Department is responsible for co-ordinating the response to this issue.  Since late 2018, my officials have been working on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: English Language Training Organisations (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: As part of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19, the Government has announced modified Level 3 requirements commencing on 1 December 2020.  These set out that Further, Higher and Adult education should remain primarily online. In this context, a set of guiding principles has been agreed with the further and higher education sectors for implementing a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Employees, in Higher Education Institutions, have a number of industrial relation mechanisms available to them to address queries on employment matters, with either their employer or their union representatives. If unions wish to raise issues, there are also structures within which they can do so, which include Fora for unions representing a wide range of staff. The Workplace Relations...