Vol. 1027 No. 7
86. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps that are being taken by his Department to assist young people in aftercare, that is persons who have left Tusla residential or foster care placements at the age of 18 years, who are in further or higher education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51338/22]
Children or teenagers in State care are sometimes very vulnerable people with complex and sometimes very difficult experiences.
It is vital the Government seeks to assist them as they progress through what is referred to as aftercare, which is a period immediately after they leave foster care placements or residential care. What is the Department doing to assist people with aftercare?
I thank the Deputy for his question; it is one of the most important with which we will deal this evening and I will genuinely work with him on this issue. We have had a number of meetings with Empowering People In Care, EPIC. Marissa Ryan, its CEO, is doing great work and Rory Brown, a member of its youth council, recently spoke at the launch of the new national access plan. Before I get into my formal answer, I make the point that we have agreed to include exactly the types of students to whom the Deputy is referring as a priority cohort group in the new national access plan. For the first time, they are identified as a priority group. That is important because what we put in the plan as a priority group gets measured. Ultimately, targets get set and data get generated. It also enables the group to begin to access funding for people leaving aftercare trying to access higher education in terms of the various schemes we have in place.
It is evident from the consultations we have had that those leaving the care system represent an important group whose life experiences and situations merit additional support in accessing and participating in further and higher education. With that in mind, the new national access plan, which I launched in late August, for the first time identifies people with experience of the care system as one of the priority groups for action under the plan. The plan sets a high level of ambition for the higher education system in supporting access, participation and success among groups identified as priority groups. It aims to support inclusion and diversity in the student body. Delivery of the plan is supported by the programme for access to higher education, PATH, which provides a range of supports, including financial supports, to priority groups. The supports include access to bursaries and scholarship schemes and support for people from target groups in accessing initial teacher education. There are other strands to the PATH programme and, in the interest of time, I will send the Deputy a note on those aspects.
In working to address the issues of people with experience of the care system, I acknowledge, as they have asked me to do, that there is a lot more work that needs to be done to develop better data on care leavers and their path through higher education. The first priority will be to establish new baseline data for these learners and then, from that, develop specific targets in terms of increased participation. We will be working to develop better data in this area to help us understand what targeted interventions look like.
I welcome that this group will be considered a priority group and that there will be proposed analysis of their pathway through third level, etc. Subject to assessment, care leavers are entitled to aftercare from the age of 18, when their foster or residential placements end, until the age of 21. Aftercare supports can be extended to the age of 23 if the young person goes to further or higher education. The Minister will agree that is discriminatory and unfair. All young people, regardless of the path they take in life, be it an apprenticeship or going straight into the world of work, should be granted supports for an equal length of time on leaving care. Aftercare should be placed on a statutory footing for all young people leaving care and there should not be a barrier for those who are not in further education from the age of 21. I am not sure what role the Minister's Department can play in that aspect in terms of the drafting of rules but if it is in his power to reform that system, I ask him to so do. It is a big issue for my party - Ógra Aontú, our youth section, is passionate about it - and I ask the Minister to look into it.
I appreciate and acknowledge the passion. It is a serious issue and we will look into it. As the Deputy implied, it is not directly within the remit of my Department. The benefit of the national access plan, however, is that it involves other Departments on the implementation group. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Protection and the likes play a role in the oversight and implementation of the plan, as do stakeholders and people with lived experiences in terms of the priority groups. I am happy to send the Deputy a note on the matter.
When my officials and I met with EPIC on a number of occasions to discuss several of these issues relating to the emerging challenges that students who have experience of the care system encounter, we discussed 12 items, including the need for wrap-around supports, data collection, career guidance into higher education, specific focus on retention, streamlining of the SUSI supports, the need for more flexibility, therapeutic supports in some cases, role models to spread positivity around the system and the issue of trust being key in the context of the relationship with access officers. I accept that we have a big body of work to do here. Naming these young people as a priority group genuinely brings a focus and a reporting mechanism that has been lacking to date.
I, too, recognise the great work done by EPIC. According to EUROSTAT figures, 80% of people aged between 16 and 29 in this country are still living at home with their parents. In every town and village in the country, young adults are living with their parents due to the cost-of-living crisis and other spiralling pressures such as rents. The age of 18 is very young for a person to leave home. Many of those who do so often feel anxious and return to the family home at weekends or, at least, can phone their parents to look for financial or other assistance. Obviously, most young people return to their family homes at Christmas, for example. For an 18-year-old in foster care, the State placement ends on the person's 18th birthday and aftercare supports can end for many of those people as well. It is important that we go further and look to potentially extend foster care from the age of 18 to the age of 21. Would the Minister agree to that proposal?
I do not want to stray too far outside my remit as I do not have responsibility for that matter but I will be engaging with relevant Departments and Government colleagues on these issues. If we are serious about fixing access to further and higher education for people who have had experience of the care system - and we are - that will be interdependent on several other things happening across a range of Departments. I will certainly engage with colleagues and I am happy to engage further with the Deputy.
He is right to say young persons experience a moment of major transition from second level education into third level. It is a big moment in anybody's life. It is very different, however, to the quite serious cliff edge that a person leaving foster care immediately encounters. We all probably have a sense of that. Since my engagement with people who have had direct experience of the care system, I have a much better sense of it than I did previously. It has made us determined to try to support these students. There are a number of things on which we can try to move pretty quickly in terms of the access offices, flexibility around the student assistance fund, SAF, and examining the SUSI grant system. I am happy to have a further meeting or engagement with the Deputy on this matter.
87. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason mature students who are studying blended learning courses will be ineligible to receive the €1,000 reduction in fees announced in budget 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51632/22]
I wish to raise a matter raised with me by Deborah, a constituent of mine. My question relates to the welcome recent measures for students that were introduced in budget 2023. Why will mature students who are juggling work and engaged in blended learning courses be ineligible to receive the €1,000 reduction in fees? Does the Department plan to remedy that in any way?
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on behalf of her constituent. As she is aware, as part of the budget 2023 we have secured a significant cost-of-living package for third level students, including a once-off €1,000 State financial support towards the undergraduate student contribution fee for higher education students eligible for the free fees scheme. This measure will reduce the student contribution payable by students from €3,000 to €2,000 in the current academic year. The measure applies to all students eligible for free fees, including mature students. This additional level of support towards the student contribution will benefit approximately 94,000 or 95,000 additional students.
The student contribution is paid in respect of programmes covered by my Department’s free fees scheme. At present, part-time or blended courses are not eligible for inclusion in this scheme and students attending such courses pay a tuition fee. In short, this is not an issue relating to mature students as compared with non-mature students, if that is the right phrase. The issue here is the linkage with the €3,000 fee. The decision we took in the budget was to reduce the €3,000 fee on a once-off basis by €1,000, to €2,000. Regardless of whether one is a mature student, if one is paying or required to pay the €3,000 fee, that is reduced to €2,000.
I concede the point that there are a number of other students who pay different fees or are involved in different ways of doing college, including part-time learning, blended learning and the likes, in respect of which they are not eligible for the €3,000 fee and, therefore, do not benefit from the €1,000 reduction. However, in an effort to be helpful to the Deputy's constituent, I point out that we have increased the allocation in the student assistance fund for the current academic year. The fund provides financial support to students experiencing financial difficulties while attending college and can provide assistance towards rent, childcare costs, transport costs and books and class materials. The fund is open to full- or part-time registered students on courses of not less than one year's duration leading to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification. Application to the fund can be made through the access office in a student’s third level institution. I know it is not the ideal answer the Deputy would like, but I hope the information I have provided is helpful.
I thank the Minister for his response. It is important to note that, under the SAF, tuition fees, registration fees, and student loan repayments are not covered. Some colleges have a closing date for those applications. Nelson Mandela once said that education is the most powerful weapon that one can use to change the world, and according to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, it reported last year that more than three in ten people said that they would like to return to education. Of these, 74% said they would be more likely to choose a course through blended or remote learning and, for those in employment, that figure was 76%.
Part-time students have many and varied reasons for not being able to study full time, such as raising families, providing full-time care, actively participating in the workforce and ultimately paying back into the State. Covid-19 brought with it many challenges, but one opportunity it gave us was to develop further practices and policies to make remote or blended learning and working part of our lives. These opportunities should not be disregarded. These students pay a full-time contribution, they complete exactly the same amount of work and the same hours on placement, and after four years, their qualification is the same as that of a full-time student.
I find myself fundamentally in agreement with the Deputy. To be blunt and honest here, we had to start somewhere and we started at the €3,000 fee. Any student linked to the €3,000 undergraduate fee benefits from the €1,000 reduction. Do we want to do more? Yes. Do we need to do more in respect of part-time students? We absolutely do for the reasons the Deputy has said. There are many people in society with a variety of backgrounds who will either need to access education in a part-time or blended way or it will suit them better to do so.
At the moment there is a policy contradiction in place. We encourage people to access part-time education but then they cannot access, for example, the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, student grants. We have an immediate body of work under way as part of our Funding the Future implementation group, where Professor Tom Collins is looking specifically at the criteria and rules that could be arranged for part-time students in accessing SUSI, for example. That could be a potential game-changer for many part-time students in Ireland. It will be a priority body of work for me and my Department in 2023 to try to make progress on that in advance of the next budget.
I thank the Minister again for his response. I appreciate all of the information he has outlined. In the past week the Union of Students in Ireland led 20,000 students on campuses across Ireland to walk out of lectures in protest. Findings this week from the Irish student survey of engagement found that more than one third of students are contemplating dropping out. We can fairly easily assume that, in addition to mental health and the cost of living, the student accommodation crisis is playing a major part in this. The current national student accommodation strategy is now seven years out of date and the path forward is unclear. The Minister has committed to scrapping and replacing this strategy, but we saw no funding provided in budget 2023. Will the Minister commit to scrapping this outdated strategy and producing a credible successor to it with the needs and concerns of students and their representatives at heart?
Yes, I can, and it will be replaced in 2023. The first priority, and it has to be my first one, is to get building student accommodation. There are a number of sites and universities that have planning permission and land today and I need to get those projects built. It has not been possible to build them, and I do not mean to say this in a critical way of them, for whatever one may want to call it, be it market failure or lack of viability. We need to make a State intervention to get these projects moving. I intend to bring proposals to the Cabinet committee this month to make progress on that.
Once we get that over the way, I believe it will be right we then replace the student accommodation strategy with one that is up to date because a great deal has changed in the world, in housing and everything else, since the previous strategy was put in place. The Deputy can expect a new student accommodation strategy in 2023, but rather than having officials writing new strategies, the first thing I want to do is to try to get what are potentially several thousand units under way and moving in respect of universities which already have planning permission.
88. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will report on the initiatives that he plans to encourage the recruitment of apprentices in the renewable energy sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51441/22]
This question is being taken by Deputy Leddin.
Will the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science report on the initiatives he plans to encourage the recruitment of apprentices in the renewable energy sector, and will he make a statement on the matter?
I thank Deputy Leddin for his question. The Climate Action Plan 2021 is a detailed plan for taking decisive action to set us on a path to reach net zero emissions by no later than 2050. The plan contains key measures driving the creation of the new green jobs with new skills required to achieve climate action goals, including for renewable energy generation.
The November 2021 Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report, Skills for Zero Carbon, identified the main occupational roles essential to meet Ireland’s renewable energy targets, including construction and installation occupations, maintenance technicians and engineering professionals. The April 2021 Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 details the actions and ambitious targets that will ensure the national apprenticeship system plays a key role in meeting skill needs for renewable energy. In that context, alongside the established craft apprenticeships, there is now a wind turbine maintenance technician apprenticeship in place.
A key deliverable in the action plan is driving employer participation in apprenticeship provision through both financial and non-financial measures. A new employer grant of €2,000 per apprentice per annum has already been available from January 2022. Its introduction has meant that, for the first time, employers of all apprentices have access to financial support, either through direct payment of allowances to apprentices or through the employer grant.
A central role of the National Apprenticeship Office, also established under the plan, is to engage with employers and education and training providers to support the design and development of further apprenticeships to meet priority skills needs. The National Apprenticeship Office is now fully open for business and can facilitate the development of apprenticeships to underpin the accelerated growth required in Ireland's offshore wind energy sector to meet crucial and ambitious Government targets for offshore wind energy generation.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Its work in this area and the assessment of how best to secure strong employer participation in apprenticeship in renewable energy will be strongly informed and guided by the ongoing assessment of the actions required for the accelerated development of this sector, including by the cross-departmental offshore wind development task force. Apprenticeship is one of many ways through which the skills needs of the sector are being met by the tertiary education system including by, for example, the Green Tech Skillnet and its wind turbine technician programme.
I thank the Minister of State for his detailed answer. It gives me a great deal of confidence to hear an answer like that because the challenge we have as a society is one of total reform as we take on this very significant and monumental challenge which is climate change. If we could fast-forward a few years, we could probably see that our energy, transport, housing and agriculture sectors will all look very different, but it is very much a question of the time and effort we put in now to training our young people. To a certain degree, we will have to go overseas for some of these skills but there should be very significant opportunities for our young people, in particular, and for our not-so-young people to transition into new roles. We will need engineers, technologists, ecologists, planners and many other skill sets to succeed in this very significant challenge. It is not just about wind or offshore wind but also involves the other sectors, and we should be mindful of the reform agenda we have in those sectors.
I also want to mention to the Deputy in the context of this question the area of Skillnet Ireland. We have a Green Tech Skillnet, which is an enterprise-led network facilitating the workforce and development needs of the Irish renewable energy industry. Green Tech Skillnet is promoted by Wind Energy Ireland, the representative body for the Irish wind industry, which is working to promote wind energy as an essential, economic and environmentally friendly part of Ireland's low-carbon energy future. In 2020, Green Tech Skillnet supported more than 180 companies and provided upskilling for in excess of 600 employed trainees throughout the 1,700 training days in the course, which included introduction to wind, advanced composite wind turbine blade repair, the clean energy package review and risk assessment, and the wind turbine technician skills. The Green Tech Skillnet also delivers programmes through the Skills Connect initiative to support jobseekers seeking to enter the renewable sector, which includes the wind turbine programme.
We have a number of supplementary contributors now; four in number.
I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I am very familiar with Skillnet Ireland. I met some of its people in the University of Limerick recently and they told me about the micro-credential programmes they have, which are very interesting and innovative.
I welcome the Minister of State's answer. Something that has been reported recently, and certainly the employer representatives have mentioned it, is the National Training Fund, where there is €855 million this year, and it is predicted to increase to something between €1.4 billion and €1.9 billion by 2025. There is a very significant amount of money there. What do we need to do to unlock that money and is there a role for that kind of funding to develop apprenticeships for the various sectors as we reform our society?
I thank my colleague for raising this issue and I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Regarding wind turbines at sea, in view of the fact we do not have a huge amount of expertise in that area to date, I ask whether part of that funding would allow companies to have people work overseas for a period in order to get experience or necessary training. A number of other countries are well ahead of us regarding wind turbines at sea. We do not appear to have the relevant expertise here to the degree we need it if we want to develop that whole area very quickly.
I welcome the expansion of apprenticeships. I ask the Minister for an update on the waiting lists for accessing the class-based training for each of the stages and when that backlog is going to be cleared.
We will get the Deputy a written update on that. We discussed it in the House previously. The Deputy knows that a lot of additional resources apply to that and there has been hiring of staff to address it. It is an issue. We will get the Department to furnish the Deputy with an exact update.
With regard to the National Training Fund, the Department is working closely with other Departments to develop options for application to the National Training Fund to support skills priorities and to develop our workforce. That is an area where we envisage Skillnet Ireland will have a role to play. I want to flag that at higher education level there are 14 courses in renewable energy which had been established under Springboard Plus 2021 and under the human capital initiative of Pillar 1.
As I am out of time, I will revert to Deputy Colm Burke with regard to offshore wind.
90. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to address the inequity experienced by PhD researchers who are excluded from the €500 one-off payment; if the PhD researchers excluded are on average on lower stipends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51727/22]
What steps is the Minister taking to address the inequity experienced by PhD researchers, specifically those who are excluded from the €500 once-off payment, and if the PhD researchers excluded are on the average or the lower stipends? Has the Minister's approach excluded PhD researchers most in need? I say that given all PhD researchers are in a very difficult situation, but specifically these ones.
It is important to note that my Department allocates recurrent funding to the HEA for direct disbursement to HEA-designated higher education institutions. However, as autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding is a matter for the individual institution. As is clear from the actions already taken in the cost-of-living measures outlined in the budget, my Department is monitoring the issue of stipends and the views expressed by students and other stakeholders. With that in mind, as an immediate and tangible relief against the challenges of the rising cost of living, I am introducing a once-off payment in 2022 of €500 for PhD students who receive an Irish Research Council, IRC, or Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, award, and a €500 increase to the stipend baseline in 2023 for PhD students who receive either of those awards. PhD student recipients may also, in certain circumstances, qualify for support from SUSI.
I confirm that my Department will soon begin a review of PhD student support, and we plan to have a report commissioned and finished by early 2023. I intend to announce further details in the coming days, once finalised, and I would welcome the Deputy’s views in this regard. In my first budget as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, I increased the IRC stipend from €16,000 per annum to €18,500, matching that of SFI. In the context of the Government's cost-of-living package, I was happy to secure a further €500 increase for the SFI and IRC PhD stipends. However, a more fundamental look at stipends and other associated issues that I hear about from students is merited at this stage.
My Department does not collate information on the level of stipends awarded by funding agencies. However, I can confirm that the stipends provided by the SFI and the IRC are set at €18,500. I understand there is variation in stipends awarded by other bodies, whether sourced from public funds, own resources or private funds. The issue of a recommended minimum stipend is one that could usefully be considered by the review I am initiating currently. There could be merit in that. At the moment, stipends are funded either through the two agencies, the IRC and the SFI, but also by individual institutions. Some can come from private funding, some from public funding and some from a mix of both. There is not this issue of a recommended minimum stipend in Ireland and I think that is something we could usefully advance in the context of the review.
The problem is in terms of announcing different things and saying there are different amounts of money available in the budget. Rents have increased 82% since the Government came into office, which compares with an average of 17% across the rest of the EU. That is an 82% increase in rents and wages have gone nowhere near keeping up with that, never mind the SUSI grants or PhD stipends. In that context, it is easy to see how students would be so discontented. The budget stated that 4,000 PhD researchers would benefit from the €500 increase. However, in an answer the Minister gave me on 23 June, he said there were fewer than 3,000 PhDs funded through the SFI and the IRC. That would mean that less than half of all the PhD researchers would benefit from the payment. We also need a wider discussion, as the Minister said, around how we expect PhD researchers to live on the stipends of €19,000, which is far less than the minimum wage. I welcome the review but I want to know its scope and when it will be completed. It is essential that there be a minimum floor to the stipends for full-time PhDs.
I do not want to pre-empt the review but my instinctive view is in line with the Deputy’s in terms of this idea of a recommended minimum stipend. That is something that would be quite helpful because the more one looks into this issue, the more one realises there are so many different and diverse ways in which stipends are funded. There are the ones directly funded through my own Department’s agencies, there are the ones funded through public funds from higher education institutions directly, through the block grant, if we like, there are ones funded from the own resources of a university and there are some from private sources as well. The issue of a recommended minimum stipend is one that could usefully be considered by the review I am initiating.
I am very happy to share the details of the terms of reference with the Deputy and I should be in a position to do that this week. I also intend to appoint someone external to carry that out and their first job will be to engage with PhD students and their representative bodies. I can tell the Deputy from my work so far that I think the terms of reference will be pretty broad. I am trying to get a balance between covering the range of issues and trying to have it ready for early 2023 so we can act on this in 2023.
I welcome that. We should look at the apprenticeship model because apprentices have worker status and employment contracts, and they get paid more each year as the balance between the learning and the work shifts. I think that is important for us to look at. If there is a model already there that works in terms of respecting PhD researchers, we need to examine that. We need to deal with this situation once and for all. We desperately need these PhD researchers. I am very concerned that they are going to be put off doing the really valuable work they do. I know and the Minister knows from going to colleges about all of the different work that they do. There is a very unsavoury way in which these workers are unappreciated. Their work is not valued, despite the value they add. That is even aside from the cost of living. What are we telling and showing students in these colleges if we can treat researchers like this?
This is an important issue for the well-being of our students, the next generation of leaders and some of our best and brightest. It is also an important issue from the point of view of the competitiveness of our country, a knowledge-based economy. I want to look at the stipend but, in any review, I want to look at more than the stipend, as the Deputy is suggesting. I think there are legitimate issues around how a PhD researcher or PhD student is classified within the university. I am not suggesting that there is a one-size-fits-all model, or saying the Deputy is suggesting that. Some countries that are viewed as doing very well in this area classify the PhD students as employees while others who also do very well and support PhD students well do not classify them as such. It is an issue that needs to be teased through. I hear of other issues that are probably in the remit of the Department of Justice around visas and the rights of a spouse of a PhD student to work. There are many issues. What we will try to do in the coming days is capture them in a review, appoint an external person to carry this out, engage and then, crucially, report early in 2023.
I am happy to work closely with the Deputy on that issue.
91. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans, if any, for the further development and expansion of local training initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51633/22]
What are the Government's plans, if any, for the further development and expansion of local training initiatives, and will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter, which I have raised in the House previously? I look forward to his reply.
Local training initiatives, LTIs, are, and will continue to be, an important element of the broad range of education and training supports provided by the further education and training, FET, system to local communities. They operate under the education and training boards, ETBs, and are community-based training programmes targeted at economically, socially, geographically and educationally disadvantaged people. The programmes are designed to assist learners in entering or re-entering the labour market and-or further education and training. Training provision organised through LTI programmes is not intended to be permanent, and it is this aspect that provides ETBs with the flexibility to use their resources in the community effectively in response to new and emerging needs. The relevant programmes enable local communities to carry out valuable and necessary projects of benefit in their communities. The provision of training courses under the initiatives is influenced by the overall live register and local demand.
SOLAS approved an allocation of €16.83 million for 2022, which is broadly in line with the €16.53 million approved for 2021. The latest projections are that some 2,200 beneficiaries will take part in LTI programmes in 2022, compared with 2,095 in 2021.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
An operational guidelines working group, under the auspices of Education and Training Boards Ireland, which is the representative body of ETBs, is reviewing the operational guidelines applying to LTIs and other provision within the FET sector. The group is due to report to the ETB FET directors later in 2022.
The FET strategy, Future FET: Transforming Learning, sets out the ambition and vision for the FET sector up to 2024. As part of that strategy and the strategic performance agreements being agreed between SOLAS and the 16 ETBs, ETBs will be seeking to consolidate and standardise provision and supports to this learner group across all programmes, including those under LTIs.
Does the Minister of State agree that it is fantastic that people coming from, as he described them, "economically, socially, geographically and educationally disadvantaged" areas can benefit from these LTIs and that more than 2,000 people are benefiting? Will he confirm whether there are people on waiting lists because the LTIs cannot meet the level of need? Does he agree that the people who are providing these courses are skilled, and have to be in order to be successful, but that they are at a disadvantage because they do not have permanent contracts? Will he confirm whether he will examine this matter? I do not agree that LTIs should be temporary rather than permanent. They should be permanent. Will the Minister of State examine this matter and make these LTIs permanent so that people from the backgrounds he described can benefit from them in greater numbers? Will he focus on this for his remaining period in office?
I agree with the Deputy's sentiments on LTIs. In 2022, a provision of €16.83 million was approved by SOLAS for LTIs, which is broadly in line with the €16.53 million approved for 2021. The 2023 allocation for LTIs will not be decided until the FET budget is finalised with SOLAS, having considered the funding applications that will be submitted by our 16 ETBs.
The number of beneficiaries has declined in recent years. In 2018, it was 3,280. The figure dropped year on year to 2021. I assume that Covid played a role in that. While the planned provision across the 16 ETBs in 2022 was originally for just under 2,500 beneficiaries, a mid-year review saw the approved beneficiaries reduced to 2,205. The number has climbed again, which is positive. We are going in the right direction.
It is fantastic that people can go through these courses, end up in employment or further education and training, and reach their potential. However, does the Minister of State not agree that, if the people instructing on these courses do not have certainty regarding their own career pathways, they will move on and their skill sets will be lost, as will their passion for helping what are mainly young people to get on the pathway to work? Will the Minister of State commit to examining the issue of the trainers not having certainty around their employment? It goes from year to year, so they leave their roles and move on, which is a major loss of passion, skills and experience. This is the one commitment I want from tonight's questions.
I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this important question and the Minister of State for his response. We need to consider this issue. People are dropping out of the education system and finding it difficult to get back into training. We need to do much more for them. One of the frightening figures over the past week was that 12% of households of people aged 20 to 64 years did not have an income coming in other than through State supports. The figure in the UK is 8%. In other European countries, it is 6%. Has this analysis been examined by the Department in order to see what further work can be done to develop additional educational facilities so that we can get people into training and then into employment?
A review of the LTIs' operational guidelines is in progress. The working group is a subgroup of the directors of the FET forum, which is served by a complement of staff from the ETBs. This group will facilitate consultation and engagement with the national stakeholders to explore, clarify and resolve specific issues that may arise. All relevant stakeholders will be invited to engage with the group. The review will cover the workings of LTIs.
On 21 March, there was a Labour Court recommendation on LTI community training supervisors. I will furnish the Deputies with the details. Suffice it to say that SOLAS has proposed issuing revised pay scales to LTI staff in line with the related linked grade increases. This proposal is being worked on within the Department. I will have a note sent to the Deputies.
93. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the further development of the technological universities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51634/22]
This question has to do with the fantastic development of technological universities. It is an innovative and far-seeing initiative from the Government. What plans has the Minister for the further development of technological universities?
I agree that the technological universities have the potential to enhance progress in the delivery of national and regional priorities significantly, bringing higher education into the regions while creating institutions that are mandated by law to interact with local business and local industry on the development of courses. They also place an emphasis on matters like inclusion, access and serving the needs of their local populations. Their potential includes access to higher education, research-informed teaching and learning, research capacity building, increased support for enterprise and skills development, and enhancement of socioeconomic progress and regional development.
I am proud to say that we have successfully established a network of five technological universities across 25 campuses, including a university presence in the south east for the first time. We also have the Munster Technological University in the Deputy's own region. I was delighted to be there recently and will be there again next month.
The focus of the pivotal post-establishment technological university, TU, phase is now on enabling these new universities to deliver on their functions and specific regional missions. This is important. Even in a country the geographic size of Ireland, the needs of regions differ and all five TUs need not look exactly the same. They need to be empowered to develop to suit their respective regions. My Department and the Higher Education Authority will be supporting the TUs to achieve the transformation necessary to deliver on these goals.
The higher education public private partnership programme has a specific focus on enhancing infrastructure in the TU sector, which is badly needed. A number of projects are planned to enter construction next year. An ambitious new phase of capital development is also being advanced through the technological sector strategic projects fund. I expect to be in a position to announce a number of capital projects from that fund in the coming weeks. Work is also taking place on related agendas, including physical and digital infrastructure and borrowing frameworks, particularly so that TUs can build student accommodation.
Work on an OECD review of the academic contract career structures and leadership in TUs is also approaching completion and I hope to report to the Government later this year in this regard. We are extremely committed to helping them on the next stage of their journey.
I thank the Minister for that response. Would he agree with me that there is a different energy and focus in respect of the technological universities versus the traditional universities? I am not saying there is not also a focus and energy in those institutions because there is. There is, however, a differentiation in this regard between the two types of institution. Will the Minister outline what this differentiation is? Is he working to ensure it persists? In other words, is he working to ensure we will not have the technological universities morphing into a traditional type of university? The technological universities are separate and have a different type of energy. Will the Minister comment on, for example, the National Maritime College of Ireland, NMCI, which is close to my constituency? I refer to the great potential there to develop the skill sets required in the offshore wind energy sector etc. This college is part of the MTU. As the Minister also said in his earlier response, this college is also different in its own way and deserves focus and support because, as Deputy Matthews said earlier, we need to develop the skill sets required in the offshore wind energy sector. This is an exciting development but without institutions like the NMCI retaining their current focus and getting the support to do so, then we could slip in this regard.
I agree with that and I look forward to visiting the National Maritime College of Ireland later this year with Deputy Stanton and exploring how we can work together to offer support. I thank him for keeping in touch with me regarding this subject. When we talk about the technological universities, I very much believe they are equal to but distinct from the traditional universities. This is important; they are equal and there is parity of esteem. They are universities and it is possible to get any one of the whole spectrum of university qualifications right up to a PhD. These institutions do, however, have a distinctive mission. This is not just my view, a mission that was legally sanctioned by inclusion in the Technological Universities Act 2018. It is important that people remain true to this objective, and I believe they will. This means engaging with industry, for example, providing for local skills needs and access and inclusion in respect of how programmes are delivered.
I do wish to see work done on the career structures. There will be great opportunities if we can get new academic contracts agreed through the OECD process and subsequent engagement. I also refer to making these institutions more research intensive, improving their capital resources and ensuring they have access to the borrowing framework, particularly for student accommodation. These are some of our next priorities in the sector.
Many other countries were ahead of us in developing technological universities. The Minister has now caught us up in this regard, which is fantastic. Will the Minister tell me whether links are being developed between our technological universities and similar research institutions abroad in order that they can learn from best practice, learn from each other and build on the work they are doing? Taking the really exciting example of blockchain technology, are developments in this area being explored in the technological universities and so on?
Technological university status is the only show in town and in this context, I raise the issue of Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, where Dr. Bob McKiernan is in place as interim president. We realise there will be change regarding this post. It must be ensured that DkIT is facilitated to make this necessary journey to TU status. I discussed this with the Minister, particularly when he was at the institute to open the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, LMETB, centre of excellence in Drogheda for apprenticeships. Visits like that will always be welcome. I also will be following up on the necessary issue of personal assistants, PAs, because this needs to be dealt with in the third level sector.
Can the Minister tell me if there is any reason students from the technological universities would be told the amount that could be allocated to the student assistance fund will be halved this year? I ask the Minister to look into this matter and give me some information regarding how the distribution of the student assistance fund is undertaken so we can ensure there is fairness in this regard.
This should not be the case. I will look into this issue and revert to the Deputy with the figures. We have topped up, for want of a better phrase, the student assistance fund in recent weeks with the €8 million announced. I will respond directly to her regarding this matter.
Turning to Deputy Stanton's contribution, I am eager that the technological universities collaborate internationally, and the area of blockchain technology is an interesting one. I will get a note for the Deputy regarding where these collaborations are now happening.
It is hard to believe that event in Drogheda referred to by Deputy Ó Murchú happened only yesterday. It was a good announcement in the north east. I know how important technological university status is. The Deputy does not need me to give him the rehearsed lines in this regard. The application needs to come from the university. As we discussed yesterday, however, I will be happy to facilitate a meeting of all Oireachtas Members from Louth and the wider region, together with representatives of the university management and governing authority.
I also intend to honour my commitment to meet with people around PA working conditions and these types of issues that the Deputy and I discussed during one of my many recent visits to Louth.
96. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his engagement with private third level institutions on the one-off €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee for higher education students to ensure their inclusion in this measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51645/22]
The introduction of the €1,000 reduction in third level fees is a positive development and has been widely welcomed. For various reasons, however, some students find themselves excluded. Has the Minister engaged with the various institutions and examined opportunities and ways in which the students can be included within the ambit of this fee reduction, if this is possible?
I thank Deputy Aindrias Moynihan for raising this issue. To be honest about this issue, and it is important to be so, the Government's decision in the budget we announced links the €1,000 reduction to the €3,000 fee. The way I explain this in my own mind, therefore, is that if people are eligible to pay the €3,000 fee, they are then eligible to get the €1,000 reduction. This will benefit in or around 94,000 or 95,000 students between now and Christmas. We all welcome it, including the Deputy.
There is an issue with our relationship with private colleges in this State. I do not necessarily mean our relationship with the institutions but with the students within them. Many students who may attend a private college may still need financial assistance. This idea that people who attend private institutions are not in need of financial assistance is a misplaced understanding of the whole variety of reasons people might go to a private college.
I met the Higher Education Colleges Association, HECA, relatively recently. I met its chief executive and the presidents of the private colleges. As the Higher Education Bill 2022 passed through the Oireachtas, we discussed how this does provide an opportunity for what we call designated status. As part of institutions, be they public or private, seeking designation, we can have a conversation in the context of those institutions deciding to be a designated institution and that not meaning the loss of private status. We will recognise such a college as a designated institution. What conversation does this open for us in respect of student grants and financial assistance for students in need? I would like to have this conversation because I am aware, and I come across these cases, as I am sure the Deputy does in his constituency work as well, where some students are in private institutions but do require financial assistance and at present are blocked from accessing schemes. I think this designation process, therefore, is the route to go. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy in this regard.
I thank the Minister for the overview of this area. Typically, I understand that the free fee scheme acts as the qualifying criterion in this regard. For a whole range of different reasons, though, students may be attending different courses and they will be feeling the same pressures in respect of accommodation, energy and food cost-of-living issues as everybody else. Being in that situation is not determined by the course being pursued. For these students, therefore, to be able to access the fee reduction is important, if this opportunity is possible. It is good that the Minister engaged with various stakeholders on this issue. Has the question emerged regarding quantifying how many people find themselves in this situation on these courses? Has the Minister been able to get a measure of this problem?
Truthfully, I do not have the information here. If I do, I cannot come across it now but I will get it for the Deputy. He has made a fair point. I agree with his analysis that there are many students attending a whole variety of institutions that are not publicly funded but who may need assistance. This could be in terms of the cost-of-living crisis or in respect of other issues that can arise from time to time, in the context of the fund for students with disabilities, SUSI student grants and the like. I have clearly told the sector, and its representatives will confirm, that I believe the way forward is to have the conversation about being a designated institution. If we are to have any sort of relationship involving taxpayers' money, then it will be in the context where the new Higher Education Authority legislation now provides opportunities in this regard. The budget announcement delivered in this House last month by the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, provides a whole variety of ways of trying to help people. The reduction in student fees is just one of them. It is right and proper and somewhat understandable, though I am sure frustrating for some, that only institutions that are publicly funded, where a fee is set in this House, can be provided with a reduction in fees. We can only really provide a reduction in the context of fees imposed by the Government, as opposed to those set by private institutions.
I thank the Minister and draw his attention to several other students also falling outside this scheme, even though they are part of the free fees scheme. I refer to part-time students. Many people doing the green certificate, for example, will do it part time.
People could be doing part-time courses for a variety of reasons. People who are repeating a year are finding themselves excluded from it as well. If there was some way of supporting them in the scheme, that would be important. During the pandemic, many people have had stressful and difficult experiences with the leaving certificate and with starting college. What happened to them may have challenged their abilities when it comes to college.
In the context of non-EU citizens, the perception often is that these people are coming from outside the country. However, within the country, there are people in direct provision who have come through the system, who sat the leaving certificate, who would be looking to go to college and who will possibly find themselves hit with those fees, as well as finding themselves excluded. Is there a way of bringing on board those people who find themselves outside of the system?
The Deputy has rightly highlighted the work that remains to be done in reducing the cost of education. The Government that we are a part of - my party, the Deputy's and the Green Party - is the first to reduce college fees in about 27 years. It is a first step and it is not the only step we intend to take together. It has to be seen in the round. There is a reduction in the €1,000 fee, which is once-off. There is a permanent reduction of €500 from next year and an increase in the postgraduate supports so that more students who access SUSI as postgraduates will get a higher amount of support. There is an increased stipend for PhD students, which is a once-off payment, and in 2023 there will be an extra SUSI payment on 16 December. There will be increases in student grants by 10% to 14% from January. However, the Deputy is right, particularly on part-time students. One of the priorities for the Department and me for 2023 is to see how we begin to define part-time students and the criteria, particularly for SUSI. I accept that there is more to be done and the Deputy has given me a useful to-do list to be working on.
97. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will outline the process for contribution fee refunds in 2022; when students can expect a refund of their contribution fee in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51686/22]
There was a welcome announcement on the refund of €1,000 to students. I want to ascertain when the process for the repayment of this €1,000 will commence. Will it occur over the next eight to ten weeks? The other issue is we saw the refund of moneys to people in the health sector delayed for quite a period. Is the structure established to make sure this can be dealt with in an efficient and timely manner?
I thank the Deputy for the question and the short answer is that it is established. It is important that when you have an announcement in the budget, you examine how you will translate that into implementation. As part of the budget, I was delighted to receive a significant cost-of-living package for third level students. Some €143 million will be spent between now and the end of the year to reduce the cost of education for students and their families. That is in addition to the public transport fare reductions for students and the rent relief.
Part of that project, as the Deputy said, is including a once-off €1,000 State financial support towards the undergraduate student contribution fee. This will assist students with the costs of attending higher education and will help alleviate some of the financial pressures which they and their families are facing. The measure will reduce the student contribution payable by free fees for eligible students from €3,000 to €2,000 in this academic year. We expect this measure to benefit 94,000 additional students. It is anticipated that students who are paying their student contribution fee in two instalments will have the amount reduced from their next instalment by their institution during semester 2. This means that if a student is paying the €3,000 in two instalments, €1,500 now and €1,500 in the second half of the year, the latter amount will automatically be reduced to €500. That will affect the bulk of students because most of them pay in instalments. However, some students will have paid the full €3,000 upfront. Students who have paid the full contribution fee already will receive a refund from their institutions before the end of the year.
Institutions will communicate with students directly on how the refund process for students who paid their full student contributions during semester 1 will operate. Students should expect to hear from their institutions this week and next and that will largely be to seek the bank details of where they would like the refund to be paid into. Those refunds will automatically process in the weeks ahead. If a student does not respond with bank details or if a small number need to be paid in 2023 we are ready and intending to pay them between now and the end of the year and as quickly as possible. This is a measure of putting money back in people's pockets, particularly between now and Christmas.
Has there been engagement with the third level institutions? Is it a case that the Department will have to provide the funding to those institutions to enable them to provide the refunds? When will that process commence?
There has been close engagement. I want to thank the HEA, SUSI, the Irish Universities Association, IUA, the Technological Higher Education Association, THEA, and the higher education institutions themselves for their assistance. We have had engagement with all of them and it is an important point because this is not money being taken from the colleges; it is the Government providing taxpayers' funds so the colleges can give that money back to students and their families. That process is in place. In addition to that, as the Deputy will be aware, we are paying a bonus student grant payment on 16 December. Any student in receipt of a SUSI grant will get their normal December payment. That is due on 16 December, and on the following day they will get a repeat bonus payment. For some students that will be worth over €600 in additional support. This is in recognition of the cost-of-living challenges that students and their families are facing.
I refer to the PhD students who will get the additional €500 as part of their stipend. When is that likely to be paid? Is provision made for that in 2022?
I welcome the suite of recent budgetary measures, especially for young people. They are practical measures that would help students and families with the cost of education and the cost of living generally. There are over 1,736 students in Mayo who will receive the additional student grant repayment. This is very welcome, on top of the €1,000 fee reduction. On the Minister's hard work on the cost of third level education through the funding the future policy, can he provide an update on how we can reduce fees in the coming years?
On PhD students, we will fund the IRC and the SFI for those stipends. I expect those stipend increases to be paid between now and the end of the year and I will get Deputy Colm Burke a detailed note on it. The Deputy will also be pleased to know that 4,809 students in Cork will benefit from the additional student grant payment on 16 December. As Deputy Dillon rightly says, 1,736 students in Mayo will benefit from the additional payment on 16 December and I know that will help.
Deputy Dillon is right that we are only getting started and warming up. This reduction in student contribution fees is not the extent of my ambition for the cost of education, which is too high. I said that when I became Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and I acted on it in this budget in conjunction with colleagues in the Government parties. We will do more in the weeks, months and years ahead. We need to overhaul the student grant system, we need to do more on PhD students and postgraduates and we need to continue to drive down the cost of education. I still see barriers in cost and we have more work we need to do in the months ahead.
