Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

889. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work by officials within his Department's corporate services to reduce the reliance on the Department of Education and expand the number of processes performed in house across a range of functions. [27355/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Officials within my Department have recently taken on a number of corporate and sectoral governance responsibilities as part of the Transfer of Functions from the Department of Education to DFHERIS.

The following transfer of sectoral governance responsibilities began in Q4 2024:

• The Compliance Assurance Return - Corporate Services assists in providing the Accounting Officer with an up-to-date view of aegis body compliance with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies; and also to assist in addressing the Accounting Officer’s obligations under Section A.5.19 of the Public Financial Procedures.
• State Board Membership and Vacancies – Corporate Services maintains the DFHERIS database of members and vacancies of aegis bodies’ boards, to ensure that timely information can be provided to the members of the Oireachtas, media and ad hoc queries from senior management.
• Financial Statements – Corporate Services monitors the process of the audit and reporting of aegis bodies’ annual financial statements.
• Early Warning Reports –Corporate Services monitors the quarterly process of formal disclosures from DFHERIS aegis bodies to the Department, making sure there is timely sharing of information by relevant aegis bodies in regard to significant issues coming to attention within the bodies.
• Aegis Body Contacts for the Oireachtas – To comply with Circular 25/2016, Corporate Services maintains a list of relevant contacts within the DFHERIS aegis bodies. Updated contact lists are shared with the Oireachtas.
• SOLAS Periodic Critical Review – Corporate Services is assisting in the administration of a Periodic Critical Review of SOLAS.

• Account Management of Department Mobile Phones - The Department of Education was also responsible for the account management and distribution of DFHERIS phones until the end of 2023. After a brief hand-over period in Q4 2023, a dedicated team within Corporate Services in DFHERIS took full responsibility for the account management and distribution of Department-issued phones. A Memorandum of Understanding is still in place regarding mobile phones as the Department is included in the Department of Education’s overall account. Department of Education IT Unit are also responsible for the additional security measures installed on DFHERIS official mobile phones.
• The Human Resource functions of HR Operations and Employee Relations and the associated team, were transferred from DoE to DFHERIS in April 2025 and the initial Memorandum of Understanding between the two Departments was completed. All other remaining HR activities with the exception of the joint flexi-clock system will transfer by the end of the year.
• Sectoral Pensions function
  • In Q3-4 of 2024, a team was established in DFHERIS to provide oversight of pension schemes in the further and higher education sector to ensure compliance with pension schemes and relevant legislation.
  • In February 2025, DFHERIS assumed full responsibility for the administration of pension matters.
  • In April, S.I. 105 of 2025 - the Transfer of Functions Order in respect of the Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 – went live on the Irish Statute Book website.

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

890. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of officials within his Department on the implementation of the housing for all communications plan; and if a review has taken place regarding the success of this work. [27356/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My department is leading on a number of initiatives to address the skills gap in construction under Housing for All.

"" is a social media campaign designed both to change the perception of the construction sector from the narrow lens of 'on-site' to the opportunities that exist through MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) and other advances; and to end the stereotype that the sector is inappropriate for women.

The campaign comprises 12 young adults from different disciplines documenting their “day-in-the-life" working and training across social media over six months.

To date, our Building Heroes have created over 100 videos which have received more than 7 million impressions across all channels. 53% of followers on Facebook and Instagram are female.

A on careers in construction, featuring three Building Heroes:

- a graduate working in MMC,

- an apprentice electrician,

- an architectural BIM (Building Information Modeling) technologist was distributed to secondary schools across Ireland in Q4 2004 to encourage second-level students to consider careers in the sector.

A purpose-built Building Heroes stand at WorldSkills Ireland (a collaboration between government, education, and industry partners to promote skills-based career paths and apprenticeships to young people across the country) hosted by our Building Heroes. This year’s WorldSkills Ireland welcomed approximately 34,000 students over three days.

Explaining MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) to a wider audience via a documentary (in development) and a series of informational videos - launched earlier this month on the Skillnet Accelerate Portal - on: - Pre-Manufacturing 3D primary structural systems / Volumetric - Structural Panelised / 2D Panelised

- Non Systemised Structural / Pre Manufacturing Components

- Additive Manufacturing

- Components & Assemblies

- Traditional Building Product Led Improvements

- Site Led Improvements

"" - an advertising campaign aimed at Irish construction workers abroad who are considering returning home - which took place over two weeks last October in Canada and Australia. This campaign recognises that after two plus years abroad some Irish construction workers are considering the return journey and aims to accelerate their decision to return.

The social media element of the campaign had more than 1.8m impressions during the two-week period, while digital audio ads had 769,000 impressions. The landing page for the campaign, which featured information on returning home, had more than 3,000 views during the two week period.

My department is also supporting the following initiatives.

"Facts, Faces, Futures" – an apprenticeship campaign by the National Apprenticeship Office to encourage more women into the sector - an online resource to help workers understand MMC career options, access training, and transition into new roles.

Review of the campaigns has indicated significant reach and impressions across all social media channels. Even more importantly, however, are real-world results showing both a 10% increase in construction apprenticeship registrations between year-end 2023 and year-end 2024, and first choice preferences in CAO applications for courses in architecture, construction and engineering rising by 22% this year (versus an increase in total CAO applications of 8.5%).