Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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516. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide increased financial supports for students of Masters in Post Primary Education; if he will report on his engagement with the Minister for Education in respect of the need to train more teachers; and the existing financial supports in place. [28367/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that policy and regulatory questions relating to the Professional Masters in Education, and the teaching profession more generally, are a matter for the Department of Education and my colleague Minister Foley. The Department of Education engage directly with higher education institutions in relation to the scale of provision in teacher education programmes.

Students on the PME courses are entitled to apply for the Student Grant Scheme administered by SUSI on behalf of my Department, which supports students on their journey through education.

The Deputy may also be aware that my Department also supports access to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for targeted priority groups under the Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) 1, as part of the National Access Plan. The objectives of PATH 1 are to increase the number of students from under-represented groups entering ITE and provide more role models for students from these groups. PATH 1 supports a range of new initiatives and partnerships, and it is expected that these activities will result in increased students from under-represented groups participating in ITE programmes.