Results 1,421-1,440 of 11,766 for speaker:Niall Collins

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: I will get back to the Deputy on that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is absolutely one location that could answer the call for expressions of interest regarding student accommodation, which will go out in the new year, since it is close to the University of Limerick.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will send the Deputy a detailed, up-to-date note on that tomorrow. It is very advanced. If it has not gone out to tender, but it is at a point where it is about to. I know the background to it. As the Deputy noted, it has been through a journey which has taken far too long. It is fair to say that it is at a point where we will see the refurbishment and development of the site as the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will get the Deputy an exact update on that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is a specific query about Ukrainian qualifications in dentistry. We will liaise with QQI and come back to the Deputy directly about it. On the broader issue of additional college places, €38 million was provided in 2021, with €40 million in 2022 and €32.2 million in 2023, for the provision of extra college places, particularly in high-demand courses. To respond to...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: The figure that has been approved by the Government is €32 million. As the Deputy has described, that money is intended to unlock planning permission that is ready to be taken up. We are looking at three locations, namely, Galway, Limerick and Maynooth. The Government approved a decision this week, as the Deputy knows. The Department will arrange to advertise for expressions of...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will get a note on that for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: In the year 2021-2022 the total allocation was €18.5 million. In the year 2022-2023 the total amount provided is €17.1 million. I can step it back to the year 2020-2021 when it was €18.2 million, and in 2019-2020 it was €10.1 million. I also have a breakdown of the allocations to each of the different colleges and if the Deputy would like me to run through...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: It is recognised that there is a shortage of dentists in the country. Work is being undertaken with the higher education institutions to provide more capacity to train more dentists.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is fine. As I said in my reply to Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, a feature of the student assistance fund is allowing local decision-making. It is about giving colleges local autonomy. They know their students better than we know them. This is the first occasion I have heard of it, since Deputies Conway-Walsh and Crowe have raised it. It was never brought to my attention before. I would...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: There is no definitive reason for the decrease in the number of student grant applications. We are working to understand the causes behind it. There are some potential explanations for the decrease in applications for SUSI grants and it is likely that the true reason is a mixture of some or all of the hypotheses. It must be stressed that there may be another cause for the decrease in...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: I also make the point that the savings are being invested back into SUSI. We broadened the eligibility criteria, increased the threshold and have completed the entire SUSI review. Professor Tom Collins is working on that to see the next level of changes should be made to the scheme. That is a decision that will have to be taken in due course. There was also a small increase in the amount...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: The increase in the income threshold will allow for more people to apply and that will give us more real-time data on the profile of people who are applying. We can get an exact note on the numbers of people who have applied to give the trend and where we see the trend going in the coming years as a result of what was have changed as a result of the SUSI review.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is a fair question. We cannot answer it now but we will get the committee a note.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: I will have to revert to the Deputy on that too. There are two types of membership: associate and full. There are different numbers attaching to each.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: You can be a pavilion member or a full member of a golf club. We will come back to the Deputy on that.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: On funding, we have published the Funding the Future framework document on funding for further and higher education, which follows on from the Cassells report. It identified a funding deficit of €307 million. We built €40 million into our base as a first step to close that gap. We have lots of competing demands. We spoke about the pension shortfall, which is a reality that...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: Our budget for apprenticeships with SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority is in the amount of €200 million.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: We will come back to the Deputy on that point.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 26 - Education (Supplementary)
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2022)

Niall Collins: That is a fair comment.