Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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888. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to University College Cork from the estimated €208,787,000 in 2022 to the estimated €195,477,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36009/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

In considering the specific matters raised, it is important to distinguish between recurrent funding allocations and the impact of supplementary or temporary provisions. Each year, my Department receives a core recurrent allocation that is considered as part of the annual Budget negotiations.

There were three main reasons for the variation between 2022 and 2023. In 2022, UCC received €20,094,000 in supplementary pension funding, its year-on-year capital funding reduced by €8,700,000 in 2023, and its recurrent funding increased by €12,422,000 over the same period.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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889. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to Trinity College Dublin from the estimated €210,341,000 in 2022 to the estimated €196,316,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36010/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

In considering the specific matters raised, it is important to distinguish between recurrent funding allocations and the impact of supplementary or temporary provisions. Each year, my Department receives a core recurrent allocation that is considered as part of the annual Budget negotiations.

There were two main reasons for the variation between 2022 and 2023. In 2022, Trinity College Dublin received €19,083,000 in supplementary pension funding while their recurrent funding, during the period in question, increased by €5,410,000.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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890. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to St. Angela’s College from the estimated €10,464,000 in 2022 to the estimated €9,483,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36011/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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895. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in recurrent grants paid to St. Angela’s College from the estimated €8,795,000 in 2022 to the estimated €7,655,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36016/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 890 and 895 together.

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

St Angela’s College was incorporated into the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) on 1st November 2023. The incorporation had implications for how the financial statements for the institution were presented. The funding amounts for 2023 relate to a 10-month period whereas those for 2022 relate to a full calendar year.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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891. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to the Irish University Association from the estimated €9,049,000 in 2022 to the estimated €4,066,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36012/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

I have been advised by my officials that allocations for the Irish University Association (IUA) in 2022 and 2023 were €949,000 and €466,000 respectively.

The IUA is the representative body for the seven traditional universities. It receives funding for specific projects from time to time. The difference in allocations relates to the range of projects being funded in 2023 compared with 2022 and the timing of payments.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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892. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to the National College of Ireland from the estimated €2,886,000 in 2022 to the estimated €2,728,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36013/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

In considering the specific matters raised, it is important to distinguish between recurrent funding allocations and the impact of supplementary or temporary provisions. Each year, my Department receives a core recurrent allocation that is considered as part of the annual Budget negotiations.

The variances between 2022 and 2023 were due to a number of factors. Temporary Covid related increases for Springboard that applied in the 2020-2022 period, did not carry through into 2023, resulting in a reduction of €413,000 in 2023. Erasmus funding also reduced by €81,000 over the same period. Other initiatives saw an increase in their funding in 2023 with the Human Capital Initiative, Apprenticeships and Access funding increasing by €101,000, €62,000 and €183,000 respectively in 2023 when compared to 2022.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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893. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to the Royal Irish Academy from the estimated €7,463,000 in 2022 to the estimated €7,062,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36014/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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896. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in recurrent grants paid to the Royal Irish Academy from the estimated €6,167,000 in 2022 to the estimated €5,596,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36017/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 893 and 896 together.

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

In considering the specific matters raised, it is important to distinguish between recurrent funding allocations and the impact of supplementary or temporary provisions. Each year, my Department receives a core recurrent allocation that is considered as part of the annual Budget negotiations.

The principal reason for the reduction in total funding to the RIA in 2023 over 2022 is a decrease in funding allocated towards the National Open Research Forum (NORF) of €1,150,000. Core funding to RIA increased by €579,000 and Capital funding increased by €200,000 over the same period.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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894. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to Griffith College from the estimated €1,801,000 in 2022 to the estimated €1,336,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36015/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

As the Deputy will be aware Griffith College is a private higher education institution.

Private institutions play an important role in the overall higher education landscape. These institutions may be in receipt of some limited funding from the State for certain courses that are approved for funding under specific initiatives. These tend to relate to competitive calls for proposals to meet identified stills needs in the economy. Under the respective arrangements, the State has agreed to provide funding for specific courses in line with specific agreements made between the relevant funding body and the private institution.

The variances between 2022 and 2023 were due to a number of factors. There were fewer registrations on Springboard courses and temporary Covid related increases that applied in the 2020-2022 period, did not carry through into 2023. These two factors accounted for €397,000 of the variance. Separately, apprenticeship funding was €59,000 lower in 2023 due to the provision of once off funding in 2022 to assist with the roll out of new programmes in that year. The remaining variance is due to differences in registrations from year to year.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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897. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for details as to the reason there has been no increase in recurrent grants paid of the estimated €1,105,000 for Maynooth University since 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36018/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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898. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in skills grant payments for a college (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36054/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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899. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in the skills grant payments for a college (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36055/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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900. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for detailed information regarding the decrease in Skills Grant Payments for a college (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36056/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 897 to 900, inclusive, together.

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.

The B4 subhead is used to fund current activities in higher education institutions. The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis, is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy of the Government.

In considering the specific matters raised, it is important to distinguish between recurrent funding allocations and the impact of supplementary or temporary provisions. Each year, my Department receives a core recurrent allocation that is considered as part of the annual Budget negotiations. Separately, my Department may receive additional allocations through supplementary funding that only applies in the calendar year to which it is received.

In 2024, funding for the B4 subhead amounted to €1,380,683,000. This figure was supplemented by a further €234,781,000, bringing the final 2024 allocation to €1,615,464,000. The additional supplementary funding was used to meet costs such as, once off cost-of-living measures, Ukrainian supports, and pay costs.

The funding for the higher education institutions to which the Deputy refers, can vary from year to year, depending on a number of factors. Funding is primarily linked to student numbers which can vary from year to year in each higher education institution. Some programmes, like the Human Capital Initiative, are temporary, time bound measures, where funding can vary from year to year, depending on the timing of when measures commenced in each institution and how the programmes came to a natural completion in the programme period. Some programmes, like Springboard, received a temporary increase in the funding available in 2020 to 2022 period, as a response to the Covid pandemic.