Results 161-180 of 6,887 for speaker:James Lawless

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Legal Cases (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy is referring to a legal settlement agreed by the Board of Research Ireland to bring legal proceedings taken by a former employee to a conclusion. It would not be appropriate for myself or my department to comment on this matter, which was negotiated and resolved through the respective legal teams of the parties involved. The final Financial Statements for Science Foundation...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: My Department allocates funding to SOLAS from both the Exchequer and the National Training Fund (NTF) to deliver Further Education and Training (FET) programmes and services through the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and other agencies throughout the country. For 2025, a total of €1.152 billion is allocated to SOLAS from my Department, comprising of circa. €550...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Statutory Instruments (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: I can confirm that I and my predecessors, as Ministers for Further and Higher Education; Research; Innovation and Science, signed off on the following Statutory instruments in 2024 and 2025: 2024S.I. No. 62/2024 – National University of Ireland, Galway (Change of Name of University) Order 2024S.I. No. 103/2024 - Student Grant Scheme 2024S.I. No. 104/2024 - Student Support Regulations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Under the Short-Term Activation Programme, €100m funding was allocated to Higher Education Institutions with Purpose-Built Student Accommodation projects that had secured planning permission but had stalled due to viability challenges. As part of the funding conditions, a proportion of the new student beds will be ringfenced for students from target groups identified in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Standards (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1423 and 1424 together. The recent revisions to the CAO points assigned to A level grades arose as a result of a Working Group established in 2023 under the auspices of Universities Ireland, which is an organisation composed of the Presidents and Vice Chancellors of Universities on the island of Ireland. Higher education institutions, as autonomous...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: I am acutely conscious of the financial challenges facing students and the need for the progressive implementation of measures to address costs as a barrier to education. I am committed to easing this burden for students and their families in a financially sustainable way. A once-off cost-of-living package was provided for in the last three budgets. This included a €1,000 reduction...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: At the outset, the provision of university scholarships for students escaping war zones is underpinned by international human rights and a range of international conventions for which Ireland is a strong proponent and advocate. In this particular instance as has been the case in many universities across the world given the longstanding principles and values of higher education, Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The data requested by the Deputy is in the spreadsheet attached. This data was sourced from the Student Records System of the Higher Education Authority (HEA). This is enrolment data from 2015/2016 academic year to the most recent available and is rounded to the nearest 5. The Deprivation Index Score (DIS) information is also included, it shows that the majority of students studying GEM of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) is a pathway for degree holders who wish to pursue a medical career on an accelerated four-year programme. Students pursuing GEM programmes do so as second degree courses and consequently are not eligible for funding under the Free Fees Initiative. They are also not eligible for funding under the Student Grant Scheme as they do not meet the progression criteria...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs. This includes determining tuition fees for individual courses. The higher education tuition fee payable by a student can vary depending on a variety of factors including the type of course and the student's access route. The assessment of a student’s...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: My Department is committed to ensuring that all learners have access to the supports they need to engage meaningfully with education and skills development – contributing to personal, community and national growth. There are a range of further education and training (FET) opportunities funded by my Department, via SOLAS and the Education and Training Boards (ETBs), specifically...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (17 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The Deputy may be aware that we already have a support in place for families that have two or more children attending higher education. The Tax Relief on Tuition Fees Paid for Third Level Education is available to families with two or more children attending higher education or for families paying fees above €3,000. Details of this tax relief measure is available at: I am acutely...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Higher Education Institutions in Ireland are autonomous bodies in respect of HR and IR matters. As such, they are required to have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage any issues that may arise. It would therefore not be appropriate for the Minister or Departmental officials to comment on or otherwise become directly involved with an individual case. If they wish to do so,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Courses Accreditation (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The Student Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses is a statutory based scheme administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). To qualify for student supports under the scheme, students must be attending an ‘approved course’ at an ‘approved institution’. The definition of an approved institution is set out in Section 7 of the Student...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) assesses eligibility for student grants based on reckonable household income from the previous calendar year. Student grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period. The Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (both...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: In 2024, there were 7,113 craft apprentice registrations. Of these, in 2025, 123 have been recorded with a 'Left Trade Status'. Apprentices with “Left trade status” may choose to re-join programmes and finish their apprenticeship, or to transfer to another apprenticeship, or they may choose to "leave trade" after a period of pausing their apprenticeships. As such, an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Under the Short-Term Activation Programme, funding was allocated to Higher Education Institutions with Purpose-Built Student Accommodation projects that had secured planning permission but had stalled due to viability challenges. As a funding condition, a proportion of the new beds will be ring-fenced for students from target groups identified in the National Access Plan and offered at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: Please find below the currently available data on the non-progression rates of first year students in TUS Athlone. - Academic Year Institute 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 TUS Athlone 12% 12% 14% 18% 15% ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) Scheme is managed and operated by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) on behalf of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who are autonomous bodies. Admissions under the scheme are regulated by the HEIs themselves. Each institution determines its own admissions policy in relation to the schemes, the number of places they reserve and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (8 Sep 2025)

James Lawless: The information that the Deputy has requested is not readily available, my officials are currently collecting and collating this information. I will come back to you as soon as possible.