Results 10,781-10,800 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further Education and Training Programmes (10 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: Local Training Initiatives (LTIs) are training and work experience programmes carried out in partnership with community and voluntary organisations. They provide a basis for the 16 Education and Training Boards to contract with community bodies to provide a service initiative in a locality where there are identified community needs. Training provision is intended to be sufficiently flexible...

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

Simon Harris: The Higher Education Authority (HEA) has been engaging with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on an ongoing basis to determine the number of additional places that can be provided in high demand courses this year. There have also been a number of meetings on this between officials from my Department and representatives from the Irish Universities Association (IUA), the Technological Higher...

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

Simon Harris: Under the Department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate Higher Education students. Students pay a student contribution of €3,000 per annum which can be paid in instalments. The state pays the contribution in full or part for an estimated 44 per cent of all students eligible for free fees funding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (10 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: The purpose of the Student Grant Scheme is to provide additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold, or in the case of independent mature students, where the level of income of the student and his or her spouse warrants additional assistance by way of a grant. The scheme operates in the context of competing educational priorities and limited public funding. The aim...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Social Media Monitoring (10 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: My Department is not monitoring social media on the basis referred to by the Question. The social media operations of bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are a matter for those organisations themselves.

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

Simon Harris: As part of a package of COVID-19 supports for the higher and further education sectors, my Department has allocated €15 million to higher and further education providers for a once-off COVID-19 Grant to support disadvantaged students in accessing ICT devices. This initiative addresses concerns regarding the digital divide in the context of the shift to online and blended models...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Technological Universities (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Murphy for the question. I am sure she will not mind me also acknowledging that Deputy Marian Harkin raised this with me earlier in the interests of her constituency. The establishment of technological universities, including a technological university in the Connacht-Ulster region, is an important part of the Government’s higher education policy as underscored in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Technological Universities (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputies Murphy and Harkin. I note those metrics and will reflect on them. In the period between now and December the Connacht-Ulster alliance plans to finalise its memorandum of understanding with the Teachers Union of Ireland; hold monthly meetings with representatives of professional management and support staff; verify key achievements of technological university criteria and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Durkan for the question. There is an exciting opportunity with the creation of this new Department. For the first time, we are bringing further and higher education together with research, innovation and science. This is an education Department but it is also a business Department. It is about trying to get those two working together. Education is about a lot more than...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Further and Higher Education (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I am satisfied that the great work done by the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Department of Education and Skills ensured that this year we could have a calculated grades system that provided a pathway from second level education to third level education. 12 o’clock That will ensure that the pipeline of high quality graduates in key areas continues and that there is not paralysis...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: We both agree on the need to increase funding for higher education. Let us be honest, though. Approximately 80% of the higher education budget is going on fixed staff costs and that is right and proper. The Deputy would be the first to tell me if that was not being addressed. We cannot pretend that the cost of providing the education system this year is decreasing, in fact, it is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I like horses and I too prefer students. That is why as Minister with responsibility for further and higher education within the first eight weeks in the job the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and I have made a number of measures and initiatives to significantly increase the supports going to students. The model we have in place at the moment ensures that those on the lowest...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Support Schemes (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy O'Connor. I am more than willing to work with the Deputy on this, knowing his knowledge, interest and past experience in the area. I assure him that we will look to best practice in other countries. I hope the establishment of our new Department provides an opportunity to bring a new focus and energy to these issues in a way that may not have been humanly possible when they...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Support Schemes (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for her willingness not to repeat the debate we have had. I know the issue of mental health is very serious and important. Some €121,000 will be allocated to IT Sligo and €164,000 will be allocated to Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT. I will provide the Deputy with a full breakdown of the funding by institution. The additional places we have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Support Schemes (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this issue. We can talk about mental health in a general sense, and it is important that we do so, but the sexual harassment and sexual violence taking place in our institutions must be called out by all of us. It is an issue for both students and staff. I intend to approach this with a degree of priority and focus that may not have been there in the past....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Support Schemes (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: There is a reason I have asked for several actions to be taken by the group chaired by the National Women's Council of Ireland in advance of planning for the coming budgetary year. I want to do more. Funding for third level institutions also comes from research agencies such as Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council. We must make sure those agencies are aware of any...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I am aware of Deputy Boyd Barrett's views on this. I intend to address the funding for higher education, an issue that has been avoided for many years. A new Government and a new Department provide that opportunity. Issues around the registration fee are decided on through the budgetary process. I hope the Deputy will acknowledge that I have taken several measures to provide students with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: On overhauling SUSI, the programme for Government commits to a fundamental reform to student support structures. I hope we can make progress on this in the coming period. Deputy Brendan Smith is correct that we must be much more visible in terms of students knowing how to access these supports. I encourage everybody, including every Deputy, to direct people towards yourmentalhealth.ie. For...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I look forward to visiting Cavan and Monaghan with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and seeing the two institutes in question. The Deputy is entirely correct and I have been making the same point to the Irish Universities Association and the education and training boards. One cannot orientate someone into college via Zoom. Students need to be brought in to the college. To be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Support Schemes (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I congratulate Deputy O'Connor on his election. I think he is the youngest Deputy in the House, as I once was, although I have now reached the ripe old age of 33. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, on which he also wrote to me. The decision on eligibility for student grant applications is a matter for Student Universal Support Ireland. For student grant purposes, students are...