Results 10,301-10,320 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Throughout the last number of months my Department has been engaging with representatives from the higher education sector including the USI to address the challenges faced by students in this difficult time. I will continue to liaise with the USI and have met regularly with the President of the USI including on one occasion specifically in relation to the USI's...

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

Simon Harris: Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) is the state agency with responsibility for the external quality assurance of further and higher education and training in Ireland. Higher education providers are required to establish quality assurance procedures in accordance with QQI's Core Statutory Quality Assurance Guidelines. In addition, QQI's Statutory Sector-Specific Guidelines for...

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

Simon Harris: Under the statutory framework provided in the Technological Universities Act 2018, two or more applicant institutes may jointly seek technological university (TU) designation through a prescribed legislative process subject to their jointly meeting specified eligibility criteria. Section 29of the 2018 Act provides that two or more applicant institutes may jointly apply to the Minister for...

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

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 479 to 481, inclusive, together. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) collects statistical data from the higher education institutions, and the detailed field of study and programme type is the most granular level of statistical data that the HEA provides data on. The HEA does not have statistics by institutional campus location...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Entry to medicine in Irish HEIs is provided through both undergraduate and graduate entry routes. HEIs operate access and foundation courses that act as an alternative means of entry for students to higher education courses. Many HEIs also participate in the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) and Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) schemes which offer places on courses on a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disability Act Employment Targets (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Part V of the Disability Act 2005 requires that public bodies promote and support the employment of people with disabilities and ensure that 3% of staff employed by them are people with disabilities.  The requirement applies to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and certain of its aegis bodies. The Comprehensive Employment Strategy for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: My Department has introduced and is implementing effective control measures on an ongoing basis to ensure that physical distancing can be observed at all times by staff in accordance with the Work Safely Protocol.  The facility to work remotely has been introduced and communications and meetings are now conducted through online platforms. Control measures have also been implemented, in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I am conscious of the difficulties being experienced by students and their families as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and of the importance of the Student Grant Scheme and related supports, such as the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. These supports have a fundamental role in assisting students and families who are putting their children through further...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies as set out in legislation and are responsible for the day-to-day management and operational affairs of the institution. They retain the right to determine their own policies and procedures. The level of fees to be charged are therefore a matter for the relevant institution to determine in line with its own criteria.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Data Protection (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Since my Department was established in July 2020, it has not been the subject of any formal statutory investigation by the DPC under the Data Protection Acts. There is an ongoing formal investigation relating to SUSI, a body under the aegis of my Department, which is a joint controller of data with my Department, in response to a breach reported by SUSI in 2018, prior to the establishment of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (3 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 full-time...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 and 298 together. The application for TU designation under the Technological Universities Act 2018 by the MTU TU development consortium, comprising Cork Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Tralee, on 12 February 2019 was subject to a comprehensive assessment process including an advisory panel review and the views of the Higher Education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The information requested by the Deputy is not available. UCD, TCD and DCU are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997 and under this legislation they are entitled to regulate their own administrative processes. Neither I nor my Department have a role in the administration of fee waivers for staff within these institutions, and information on them is not held...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (3 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: In line with the Common Travel Area, I can assure the Deputy that Irish students, unlike students from other EU Member States, will not be treated as International Students for fee purposes. Officials in my Department are currently engaged in intensive discussion with their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations in the UK with a view to finalising the fees to be charged to Irish...

Seanad: Technological Universities Agenda: Statements (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I am grateful for the opportunity for me and the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, who will also contribute to the debate, to update the House on the progression of the technological university agenda nationally. I am delighted to see such interest in this in Seanad Éireann. It warms my heart that the time for these statements was extended. I am encouraged that there is great...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The principal support provided by the Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. The decision on eligibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Under the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the terms and conditions of funding, including those relating to residency, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: Due to the differences between different types of part time courses, no meaningful average cost can be provided to the Deputy. Part-time and flexible students can fall under a number of categories such part-time students on traditional on-campus full-time programmes, blended learning, evening/weekend on-campus students and remote students. Part-time students can take a wide range of number of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: I am conscious of the challenges faced by students in relation to student accommodation this year due to financial pressures and the blended learning format of the 2020/21 academic year. Throughout the last number of months my Department has been engaging with representatives from the higher education sector to address the challenges faced by students in this difficult time. My Department, in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (2 Dec 2020)

Simon Harris: The Government supports the gradual, negotiated repeal of the FEMPI legislation, having due regard to the priority to improve public services and in recognition of the essential role played by public servants. The matter of new entrant pay is a cross sectoral issue, not just an issue for the education sector alone and the public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration...