Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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60. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the Higher Education Authority has reached agreement with third level institutions to increase the number of training places for dental students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14520/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My officials are working closely with the Department of Health to expand the healthcare workforce capacity of the country, including oral healthcare.

My Department does not place a quota on dental courses, and therefore the number of places offered is a matter for the higher education institutions, in line with their autonomy. However, I do acknowledge that due to a high level of practical work there can be material constraints on the number of students that can be accepted onto dentistry courses.

The provision of healthcare programmes is complex and involves many different parts of the system. It is important that any increases in places are done in a sustainable way with an evidence based understanding of the future needs of the health system.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) ran an exercise to identify options for the creation of additional capacity in a range of priority healthcare disciplines including Dentistry. A number of dentistry options were identified. Following recommendations received from the HEA, it was announced on 18th October 2024 that several universities will establish new programmes in areas of Dentistry, Medicine and Pharmacy. The programmes included support for a new Bachelor of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), which will train students in a community-based model of dental education, significantly increasing the number of dentistry training places available nationally and expanding access to dental services. This programme will provide at least 20 new dentistry places per annum for Irish/EEA students from 2025 onwards.

It is worth emphasising that my Department is not in a position to specify the workforce planning demand requirements for any discipline – this must come from the relevant line Department. It is my understanding that the Department of Health is commencing work on a workforce scoping project and skills assessment across the oral healthcare sector.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the projects for Further Education Colleges that will be progressed in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14302/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Further Education and Training (FET) College of the Future Major Projects Fund was launched to address existing deficits in FET infrastructure, to support projects that drive reform of the FET sector and to facilitate consolidation and integration of further education and training.

In September 2024 following an evaluation process, six proposals met the relevant criteria and were approved to move to the next stage of development, the Pre-tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy Stage. These were proposals from Cork ETB (Bishopstown), Cavan Monaghan ETB (Cavan Town), Kilkenny Carlow ETB (Kilkenny City), Kildare Wicklow ETB (Bray), Limerick Clare ETB (Newcastle West) & Tipperary ETB (Clonmel). SOLAS continues to engage with these six ETBs around further developing their proposals and associated schedules of accommodation. Work has also begun on the development of standardised procurement and tender documents as part of this stage of development.

The next round of evaluations under the FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund is scheduled to take place during the first week of April 2025, where a further number of submitted business cases will be evaluated. A further evaluation will be convened later in the year for those ETBs who are unable to meet the April deadline.

The FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund is the first ever significant major capital programme call for the FET sector and I and my department remain committed to delivering these key projects for the sector.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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63. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will commit to establishing a minimum PhD stipend of €28,000 for all PhD students, as recommended by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14567/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Under Budget 2025, additional funding was announced for Research Ireland in order to increase its PhD stipend level to €25,000, i.e. an increase of over 31% in two years. This announcement builds on the increases secured under preceding Budgets, demonstrating my Department’s consistent focus and progress on this issue. It has come into effect from 1 January 2025.In doing so, my Department has now implemented the recommendation of the independent review of State Supports for PhD researchers for an optimum stipend level of €25,000, subject to funding availability. That review exercise, announced in October 2022, is the first time that PhD provision in Ireland was so comprehensively reviewed. For those PhD students in receipt of stipends from national competitive funding agencies outside the remit of my Department, the level of stipend awarded is at the discretion of each funder and its parent Department. Institutional scholarship supports received by PhD students from their higher education institution are funded primarily by the core funding provided to the sector. The use of core funding is at the discretion of each higher education institution whose autonomy in this respect is established in legislation.

As part of Budget 2025, a National Training Fund funding package of nearly €1.5 billion over a six-year period was agreed for the tertiary sector. This includes €650m in a core funding package for the higher education institutions, to utilise as they deem appropriate consistent with the need to secure the most beneficial, effective and efficient use of those resources.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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64. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the new strategy for the further education and training sector includes a review of infrastructure capacity so as to cater for the continued growth in demand for further education and training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13980/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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SOLAS, in collaboration with my Department, is currently developing the new FET Strategy for 2025-2029, which will build on the growth of the sector to date, further empowering individuals, communities and businesses to achieve their full potential.

Since its establishment, my Department has taken steps to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support the sector’s development.

The FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund was launched in February 2022 to address existing deficits in FET infrastructure, to support projects that drive reform of the FET sector and to facilitate consolidation and integration of FET. It is the first ever significant major capital programme call for the sector and 12 ETBs throughout the Country are progressing significant capital infrastructure projects under this fund.

In January, my Department, along with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications announced €60m in co-funding to drive energy efficiency and decarbonisation in FET buildings. This will directly contribute to the implementation of energy retrofit works and decarbonisation measures.

Additionally, as part of Budget 2025, my Department secured €150m investment from the six year NTF surplus package to fund innovative equipment for the FET sector. This funding will position FET as a driver of workforce transformation. My officials are working with SOLAS to progress this significant investment.