Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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883. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of his Department to further extend the ceiling of core-funded posts in Higher Education with regard to the 2011 employment control framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27316/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Reply not received from Department.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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884. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to update on the expansion of the part-time pilot scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27317/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department recognises the need to offer support for more flexible forms of learning and last year, for the first time, a new Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses was introduced.

This Scheme provides fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. This includes specified in person and blended/hybrid courses. Its aim is to provide additional flexibility in respect of course provision to students who are socio-economically disadvantaged.

The 2025 Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses has been finalised and opened for applications on 03 April 2025. The 2025 Part-Time Fee Scheme now has 111 approved courses, representing a significant increase from 62 approved courses in 2024.

Any future expansion of the parameters of the scheme can only be considered in the context of the budgetary allocation, having regard to overall resource constraints and other competing demands in the further and higher education sector.