Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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100. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a person (details supplied) received the certificate required to complete their young farmer scheme application from Dundalk IT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33969/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are governed by the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technologies Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Within the meaning of these Acts, HEIs are autonomous with regard to the management of their academic affairs and retain the right to determine their own policies and procedures in this area. Decisions on how courses and campus services will operate, including graduations and the awarding of qualifications, are made by each institution, in line with public health advice, and arrangements will vary between institutions and between courses. As a result of current circumstances, HEIs have had to alter graduation dates in order to ensure the wellbeing of the student body.

Questions on or issues arising from arrangements for a specific institution or course should be directed to the institution in question, as I do not have a function in this regard.

However, my Department has been informed by the Department of Agriculture that, for the purposes of the Young Farmer Scheme, where a graduation has not yet taken place, a letter from the HEI and a transcript of results will be accepted. They have further confirmed that the applicant should then upload a copy of the qualification once it is available following graduation.