Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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318. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the student involvement that he envisages in testing the value of spending in higher and further education as he plans to increase investment in the sector. [25448/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On 4th May I launched the Funding the Future framework which includes the Government's policy response to the Cassells and DG Reform Reviews on the future of higher education and which sets out my intention to implement a progressive range of measures to address costs as a barrier to education, in the context of overall Budgetary decision-making.

I am very conscious of the difficulties that students, like so many others in society, face as a result of the increased costs of living. For students and their families this includes not just costs such as accommodation and food but also education-specific costs such as the student contribution or other fees.

I have regular meetings with the USI and engagement with students across the country and I hear stories of how these costs affect people. As part of the Student Grant Scheme Review a very welcome feature of the process was engagement with students, and I understand that over 9,000 survey responses were received from students across the country. In a specific briefing for USI, as part of the future funding launch, my Department advised USI that we are available to discuss proposals and engage on key priorities of importance to students to inform the design and implementation of Funding the Future.

Future Funding implementation will be based on partnership between Government, the higher education sector and wider societal and enterprise interests. This will entail a stronger focus on measuring and verifying performance from the system, as well as assessing information on costs, quality issues and outcomes which respond to economic and societal need.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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319. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that is being made on CAO reform; and the initiatives that have been taken to make it easier for students to apply for apprenticeships. [25449/22]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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A key goal for my Department is to enhance the visibility of further education and training (FET) and apprenticeship options for school leavers and the changes to allow school leavers explore options across the third level system, whether in higher education, further education or apprenticeship options, from the CAO website is an important development.

Within the FET sector, a central portal has been developed to enable learners to apply for their chosen courses, from over 700 courses which have been updated in terms of course naming conventions and learner requirements. This is being managed through FETCH / PLSS (which is a central application system for FET courses delivered through Education and Training Boards throughout the country).? Technical experts from SOLAS and the CAO are working together to ensure that technology developed for FET in the short-term aligns with CAO systems to enable integration over time. The further development and expansion of the CAO FET offers to include wider options will build on the experience of the 2022 application process. By 11^thMay there had been 16,290 visits to to www.fetchcourses.ie directly from the CAO website.

For apprenticeship options, where students can be hired by approved employers throughout the year, the CAO website links to www.apprenticeship.ie, a one-stop-shop website for information and guidance on apprenticeships. There were a record 8,607 new apprentice registrations last year. There were 28,758 visits to apprenticeship.ie from the CAO website by 11^thMay.There is also a freephone number available - 1800 794 487 for guidance on apprenticeships which is open 12pm-6pm Monday-Friday.There have been over 500 calls to the helpline since November 2021.

A briefing session for guidance counsellors was also organised by ETBI and SOLAS to provide information on apprenticeship options. Collectively, these measures will increase awareness of and access to apprenticeship programmes.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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320. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will develop a part-time education path for pharmacy technicians to pursue full qualification to work as a pharmacist. [25574/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government commits the Department of Health to working with the education sectors, regulators, and professional bodies to improve the availability of health professionals and reform their training to support integrated care across the entire health service.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies as set out in legislation and as such the management of their academic affairs, including the courses offered by any HEI, are generally a matter for the institution in question. As such, any course to be offered allowing pharmacy technicians to qualify as pharmacists would be a matter for the institution in question, in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland which is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of pharmacists in Ireland.

My officials are actively engaging with the Department of Health on determining the longer term skills needs of the healthcare services, and the role which the further and higher education sector can play in meeting those skills needs. I will ensure that there is continued engagement with all stakeholders to ensure that we deliver graduates with the skills necessary to support our healthcare system and support the strategic workforce planning by the health sector.