Results 10,601-10,620 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Springboard Programme (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The intention of Springboard+ is to enable the upskilling and re-skilling of the labour force in order to meet the identified skills needs. Eligibility for Springboard+ courses for those in receipt of DEASP benefits is based on their eligibility for those benefits, and is a matter for DEASP. For returners to the workforce or those in employment, in order to be eligible applicants need to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The CAO is a company established by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore application and offer data is held by the CAO and the HEI in question, not by my Department and the data...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Citizenship Applications (13 Oct 2020)

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

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: Following the conclusion of the review of the code used to generate Calculated Grades, improved Calculated Grades results were transmitted to the CAO on Saturday 3rdOctober. The CAO subsequently identified 485 students who were entitled to an higher preference CAO offer as a result of their improved grades. As of CAO Round 4, which was issued on Thursday 8thOctober, all of these students have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health Insurance (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: I am aware of the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in relation to health insurance provision for international students. The possession of adequate health insurance is a requirement of our immigration services, in order to protect the exchequer from potentially substantial additional costs for the public health system in managing the health needs of a large number of people from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: Universities are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997 and the subject matter in relation to these cases is for the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) to manage. The legal costs in relation to these cases are a matter for NUIG. Under the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, the University is obliged to record relevant legal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The central grant awarding authority Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), a business unit of the City of Dublin ETB, administer the Student Grant Scheme on behalf of my Department. My officials have advised me that the awarding authority has been unable to identify the student in question based on the information provided. Enquiries regarding the status of an application on behalf of an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The National Student Accommodation Strategy (NSAS) was published in 2017 and is designed to support the delivery of an increased level of supply of purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) by reducing planning barriers for public and private sector developers of student accommodation and seeking to address financing barriers for our higher education institutions. The aim is to reduce the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The principal support provided by the Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Grant 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 365 and 366 together. The Government has provided additional funding in the amount of €168m to support the return of students to further and higher education. For the Education providers under the remit of my Department, the allocation includes funding towards Immediate ICT costs relating to online provision. My Department allocates recurrent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: Higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies and as such are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes. Decisions on deferral of college places are a matter for individual institutions, and I have not been made aware of any HEI having a policy of requesting that students with disabilities or underlying health conditions defer their place. As...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The once-off Covid-19 Grant to support disadvantaged students in the higher education sector in accessing ICT devices has issued to the higher education institutions. This grant funding is being used to procure devices which will then be lent to students in accordance with application and assessment processes managed locally by each institution. The equipment funding is complemented...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (13 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: While neither I nor my Department have a role in relation to financial supports for student nurses and midwives on clinical placements arranged by the relevant higher education institutions with health service providers, I am concerned at the difficulties faced by some students arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, I asked my officials to raise the matter directly with the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: Since the discovery of the errors in the Calculated Grades algorithm, my officials have been engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector, with meetings held with representatives from the Irish Universities Association (IUA), Technological Higher Education Association (THEA) and TU Dublin on Wednesday 30th September and Friday 2nd October. I myself met with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: In order to help mitigate the impact of the changes to the grading system I announced the creation of an additional 2,225 places on high-demand courses in Higher Education Institutions. These places were provided in order ensure that as many students as possible could be accommodated on a course of their choice, given the unprecedented circumstances they are facing. 5 of these places were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The student grant scheme, administered by SUSI, provides maintenance grants to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. Student maintenance grants are payable at either the adjacent or non-adjacent rate. The distance to be measured is the shortest non-tolled most direct route from the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Contracts (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has not entered into any contacts with public relations agencies or consultants.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: Universities and Institutes of Technology are autonomous and determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf. Decisions on admissions are made by the higher education institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore neither I nor my Department have a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: A transfer of functions order will be made later in the month in respect of functions transferring between the Department of Education and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Once the transfer of functions is completed and the formal transfer of staff has taken place an organisation chart...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: General Scheme of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Minister with responsibility for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (8 Oct 2020)

Simon Harris: I congratulate Deputy Kehoe on his appointment as Chairman of this committee, which covers not only education but also further and higher education, research, innovation and science. I am delighted to be here today and to be joined by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Collins. I am conscious that the most recent CAO offers, the so-called round four, came out approximately an...