Results 10,861-10,880 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

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

Simon Harris: My Department has recently allocated €15 million of capital funding for a once-off COVID-19 grant to support disadvantaged students in the further and higher education sectors in accessing ICT devices. The grant is being made available to further and higher education providers, who are using it to purchase devices to support disadvantaged students who are encountering challenges in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Springboard Programme (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: Eligibility for Springboard+ courses for those in receipt of payments operated by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is the responsibility of that Department. In advance of commencing a course of education or training, either part-time or full-time, including Springboard+ courses, a person in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be required to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together. The Deputy will be aware of the recently announced €168m funding package for the return to education. This package includes a €10m access support package for higher education students. I have approved the allocation of €8.1m of this funding to top up the Student Assistance Fund, which assists students in a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Priorities (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: The challenge to meet the need to compete on the international market for available job vacancies is a priority for my Department. Structures such as the National Skills Council, the Regional Skills Fora, the National Training Fund Advisory Group and the Apprenticeship Council help identify and respond to skills needs and ensure that we have a national and regional labour force equipped...

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

Simon Harris: In line with the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, the Government continues to support the development and progression of technological universities (TUs) as a key national strategic objective in advancing the higher education, skills, access, research and regional development agendas. The Programme for Government 2020 commits to supporting recently established TUs and to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Priorities (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: The Programme for Government published earlier this Summer, specifically pages 114-119, sets out priority objectives for the further and higher education, research, innovation and science sector. This includes higher education funding and restructuring, further education and community education sectors, apprenticeships, student supports , tackling sexual harassment in higher and further...

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

Simon Harris: Innovation 2020, the current national strategy for research and development, science and technology, acknowledges the importance of having a pipeline of skilled and talented individuals playing a critical factor in innovation provision and devlopment. The expansion of higher education has been a key enabling factor in this regard and by extenson in the growth of the Irish economy. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: As part of the multi-billion euro July stimulus package announced recently, an additional €100m million will be allocated to further and higher education and training. These measures are aimed at helping people return to the workplace or education after they may have lost jobs and income due to Covid-19. Some key measures in the education and training sector include: - The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 to 227, inclusive, together. The further and higher education system has a number of key strategies in place to ensure we meet existing and future skills demands. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified graduates, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: Innovation 2020, the current national strategy for research and development, science and technology, is due to conclude at the end of this year. Its successor strategy, which will be developed by my Department, will set out a renewed vision for research and innovation in Ireland. The new strategy will be developed in consultation with all other relevant Government departments and agencies and...

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

Simon Harris: The Department of Education's Projections of Demand for Full-Time Third Level Education estimate that 196,609 students will be enrolled in full-time higher education in the 2020/2021 academic year. Further details on these projections can be found on the Department of Education's website at the following link: There are no projections of enrolment available for Further Education. The actual...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: The development and progression of technological universities is an established policy objective of Government in the context of overarching national strategy on higher education landscape restructuring and this is underscored in the commitment in the current Programme for Government. The 2019 TU Research Network (TURN) Report entitled ‘Technological Universities: Connectedness...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (9 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I am conscious of the pressures challenges faced by students regarding 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...

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

Simon Harris: The Student Grant Scheme, administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides grant assistance to eligible students attending an approved course at an approved institution 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...

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

Simon Harris: The data provided in the table attached is the estimated number of students that would be affected by changing the SUSI adjacency rates from 45km to 25km. Maintenance Grant Rate Students distance is measured between 25km and 45km Special Rate 2,862 100% Ordinary Rate 3,928 75% Ordinary Rate 225 ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (8 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 833, 842, 843 and 844 together. The system whereby calculated grades are generated includes a process of national standardisation in which marks and rankings submitted by schools will be examined and may be adjusted using statistical methods to ensure a common national standard is applied. National profiles of achievement at Leaving Certificate level over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (8 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: My Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding, including the funding of student services, is a matter for the individual institution. All...

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

Simon Harris: 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 relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. To satisfy the terms and conditions of the scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to...

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

Simon Harris: The assessment of means under the student grant scheme is based on gross income from all sources, with certain social welfare and health service executive payments being exempt. In the assessment of means, a deduction can be made for holiday earnings made by the applicant from employment outside of term time but within the reference period. Student grant applications for academic...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Protected Disclosures (8 Sep 2020)

Simon Harris: The disclosure referred to by the Deputy was received in the Department in May 2017. Following consideration by the Department, it was considered appropriate that the disclosure be treated as a protected disclosure and in that regard, it was subsequently forwarded to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for examination. This is in line with the Department’s protocol in relation to the...