Results 1-20 of 4,957 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (9 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy may be aware, the main support available to assist students with the cost of attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved full-time course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (9 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I can confirm that Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s (both Non-Contributory & Contributory) Pensions are reckonable income under the Student Grant Scheme 2024 and are therefore not listed as income disregards under the scheme. The Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant is a once-off payment to widows, widowers or surviving civil partners with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (9 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) provides funding to higher and further education institutions to assist them in offering supports and services to eligible students with disabilities. The initial decision around disclosure about the need for support rests with the individual. The number of students in the category of blind/vision impaired included in the most recent Resource...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Energy Conservation (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Near Zero Energy Building/ Retrofit training is an important step in meeting the Government’s ambitious target to retrofit 500,000 homes to BER B2 standards by 2030 as set out in the National Retrofit Plan. The development of a national suite of NZEB Centres of Excellence is key to providing workers with the skills and knowledge required to reach this goal. Six centres are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: University College Cork (UCC) has confirmed that it is implementing the 2.25% pay increase backdated to 1st January 2024 as set out in the circular issued by my Department on 4 April 2024. UCC has advised that the implementation of a pay increase with a back-dated element must take a number of variables into account over the period in question including salaries, allowances, overtime,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: There are no employees of my Department currently suspended on full pay pending disciplinary investigations. The information in respect of state bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document, should the Deputy wish to contact the aegis bodies directly with their query. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: European Union (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department of Further and Higher Education; Research; Innovation and Science has not paid into or received funds from EU programmes or funds outside of the multi-annual financial framework for the relevant period, noting this Department was established late 2020.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Inquiries (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 652, 653 and 654 together. The former national high-performance computer (HPC) - “Kay” - hosted by the Irish Centre for High End Computing (ICHEC) under the auspices of University Galway reached its end of life in November 2023. In the years leading to this event, my Department worked closely with both University Galway and ICHEC for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I have not visited DCU since my appointment as Minister; however, I intend to visit a number of HEIs in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy may be aware, the objective of the statutory based 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. For student grants purposes, students are categorised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous and administer their own admissions criteria. Applicants for post graduate programmes apply directly to the individual HEIs, neither the Minister nor the Department has a role in this process or access to this data. The following data was sourced from the Student Records System of the Higher Education Authority and is rounded to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Research and Development (8 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 662 and 663 together. As part of my Department’s whole of government strategic approach to drive research and innovation (Impact 2030), DFHERIS directly manages some of Ireland's EU and other international research partnerships. This is not the case with European Research Infrastructure Consortium’s (ERICs) – such as EATRIS, as it...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Dental Services (2 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Planning for current and future public sector skills needs is a priority for my Department. My Department is closely engaging with the Department of Health to expand and maximise healthcare workforce capacity, including oral healthcare workforce capacity, in Ireland. It is important to note that my Department is not in a position to specify the workforce planning demand requirements for any...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (2 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Erasmus+ Programme promotes and funds Green Travel which is defined in the programme guide as “Travel that uses low-emissions means of transport for the main part of the travel, such as bus, train, bike or car-pooling.” In this definition, ferries are not considered to be more green than air travel. Irish participants of the programme are encouraged to prioritise green...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Education (2 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: As the Deputy may be aware, Technological Universities and Institutes of Technology are autonomous bodies in relation to their administrative and academic affairs as provided for in the Institutes of Technology Act (2006) and the Technological Universities Act (2018). This includes the administering of disciplinary matters such as expulsions, and neither I nor my Department have any role in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (2 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Currently, all off-the-job training for craft apprentices is carried out through Education and Training Boards and Technological Universities. €67 million was allocated for apprenticeship through the Estimates process, bringing total investment to €300 million in 2024. This is a vital step in building the capacity required in Education and Training Boards and Technological...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (1 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the information she has requested in relation to the University of Limerick is not held in my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (1 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies; responsible for establishing their own procedures for course transfers and determining if a student is repeating a period of study. In this regard, as the Deputy will appreciate, it is not possible for my Department to offer guidance on the repeat period of study arrangements that may apply for individual students, such as those that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (1 May 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: The table below outlines the number of individual apprenticeships that are available in each of the ETBs in the State. Number of Programmes offered - Education Training Board Craft Consortia Total 1 City of Dublin ETB 7 4 11 2 Cork ETB 10 4 14 ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (30 Apr 2024)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a pilot part time grant scheme will be introduced from September 2024. It will provide fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. The scheme is currently being finalised and the Department is working closely with SUSI on this. Details of the Scheme will be issued in...