Written Answers Nos. 1326-1344
1326. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the projections for the future revenue of the national training fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19579/21]
View answerThe National Training Fund (NTF) Act, 2000 provides for a levy on employers to be used to fund the development of and raising of skills amongst those in, or seeking, employment.
Funding from the NTF is allocated by my Department with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in accordance with the provisions of the National Training Fund Act, 2000.
The NTF levy is collected by the Revenue Commissioners as part of the PRSI collection system. The funds collected is included in the transfer of gross PRSI from the Revenue Commissioners to the Social Insurance Fund of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP). Each year DEASP undertakes an apportionment exercise to analyse PRSI collection data and to apportion funds to the Social Insurance Fund; the Health Levy and the National Training Fund.
Following a consultation process, the Government, as part of Budget 2018, decided to raise the rate of the NTF levy by 0.1% in 2018 to 0.8% and by a further 0.1% in both 2019 and 2020. The increase to the levy was accompanied by a programme of reforms in how the NTF is managed, evaluated and reported on.
The following table shows the forecast of future revenue from PRSI as calculated by the Department of Social Protection in April 2021:
Table 1 – National Training Fund projected future revenue from PRSI
|
2021 published Revised Estimate |
2022 projection |
2023 projection |
2024 projection |
2025 projection |
|
€000 |
€000 |
€000 |
€000 |
€000 |
|
774,300 |
783,500 |
826,300 |
870,900 |
918,400 |
The National Fund also receives income from the European Social Fund (ESF) in respect of ESF co-financed activities that have been pre-financed from the NTF. The level of ESF receipts to the NTF in any year depends on the amounts certified to and reimbursed by the Commission in that year in respect of NTF funded activities. As set out in the Revised Estimates Volume, ESF receipts are forecasted to be circa €28 million for 2021.
1328. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the cost to construct a single-occupancy bedroom as part of a student accommodation complex; if he plans to alter the policy on the way they increase the supply of student accommodation in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19735/21]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy on construction costs is not held by my Department. My Department is not directly involved in the building of any student accommodation.
The National Student Accommodation Strategy (NSAS) was published in 2017 and is designed to support the delivery of an increased level of supply of purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) by reducing planning barriers for public and private sector developers of student accommodation and seeking to address financing barriers for our higher education institutions. The target as set out in Rebuilding Ireland and the NSAS is the provision of 7,000 bed spaces by end 2019 and a total of 21,000 additional PBSA beds by 2024. The 2019 target has been surpassed, with 8,346 bed spaces completed by the end of that year. My Department will continue to liaise with the higher education institutions to ensure access to financing for PBSA projects, in line with the actions set out in the NSAS.
1329. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has been contacted by students on the Erasmus programme who are concerned about mandatory quarantine and the fees associated with same; the actions he has taken in relation to the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19758/21]
View answer1330. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if Irish third-level students currently studying abroad on the Erasmus programme will be subject to the full costs of mandatory hotel quarantine upon their return to Ireland; the measures being put in place to alleviate same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19807/21]
View answer1332. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if matters raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) regarding the hotel quarantine fees faced by students who have studied abroad will receive a response. [19853/21]
View answer1334. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the measures he will put in place to address the hardship being levied on Erasmus students and students studying abroad as a result of the mandatory hotel quarantine system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19894/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1329, 1330, 1332 and 1334 together.
My Department has received representations from Erasmus+ students following the decision to extend the list of countries subject to mandatory quarantine at a designated facility on arrival in Ireland. At present, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Italy are the Erasmus+ Programme Countries in this category.
Ireland is designated as a programme country under the Erasmus+ programme. As a programme country, Ireland is eligible to participate in all actions of the programme and has benefitted significantly from our participation.
As part of the programme, each programme country must nominate a National Authority to monitor and supervise the management of the programme at National level. Ireland’s nominated Erasmus+ national authority is based in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
As national authority, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has designated the Higher Education Authority (HEA), as national agency for Erasmus+ in the field of higher education. As the national agency, the HEA is responsible for the participation of the higher education sector. The national authority provides co-funding for the operational costs to the European Programmes Unit of the HEA.
The policy of the national authority has always been to strongly encourage participation in the Erasmus+ programme. On this basis, the Department as national authority, has agreed at the request and advice of the national agency, to cover the cost of mandatory hotel quarantine for Erasmus+ participants at all levels who are returning to Ireland from countries on the quarantine list.
We are currently working with the Department of Health on the arrangements to support this decision.
1331. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if all vacancies (details supplied) are advertised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19816/21]
View answer1333. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if any person can apply for a position (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19871/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1331 and 1333 together.
The Deputy should note that Board appointments, while made by me as Minister, are not in all cases made at my discretion. Individuals may be nominated for appointment by various organisations arising from the terms in the relevant statutes of the Body concerned.
The guidelines for appointments to State Boards, which can be viewed on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's website www.per.gov.ie codify the process for filling vacancies on State Boards, for bodies under the aegis of my Department. This process is normally managed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS), whereby applications are made through the dedicated website www. Stateboards.ie. The website www.Stateboards.ie is the channel used by PAS to both inform the public of vacancies and to collate expressions of interest in vacancies. Members of the public interested in service on a state board may register with PAS via www.public jobs.ie and receive alerts when state board vacancies are advertised.
An assessment process is undertaken by PAS leading to the creation of a list of candidates suitable for appointments to Boards.
For the Deputy's information details of board appointments to State Boards under the remit of my Department, including the term of specific board appointments, can be downloaded from Gov.ie website at
https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/7b903-state-agencies-under-the-aegis-of-the-department-of-further-and-higher-education-research-innovation-and-science/
1335. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has engaged with the Minister for Health, the HSE and or higher education institutes to ensure that students on clinical placements in hospitals who opt not to be vaccinated can complete their placements at a later date without failing or repeating the previous academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19919/21]
View answerClinical placements are organised at the level of each individual Higher Education Institution (HEI), as part of their programme offerings to be delivered in conjunction with relevant placement providers. Where appropriate, each HEI will develop their programme offerings to meet the accreditation standards of relevant regulatory and professional recognition bodies including where placements are a requirement.
Vaccination requirements for undertaking clinical training placements in hospital settings are a matter for the Health Service Executive and the relevant placement provider in line with relevant public health advice. The Minister has no function in relation to this matter.
1336. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the PPP proposal to construct a new engineering building on the grounds of Waterford Institute of Technology; the new target date for the sign-off on build contract given the scheduled date of 31 March 2021 for tender award has passed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19963/21]
View answerThe building proposed for delivery in WIT under the HEI PPP Programme is a 12,834m2 Engineering, Computing and General Teaching building. It will consist of undergraduate and postgraduate laboratories, general and specialised teaching space, learning resource space, administration space and ancillary space. In conjunction with decanted space elsewhere on campus, the new building will increase capacity of the HEI by 1,037 students. The project is the largest in the Higher Education PPP Programme and will also facilitate a transfer of the WIT College St Building to Waterford Wexford ETB.
The higher education PPP programme consists of 11 higher education building projects divided into two bundles. WIT is included in Bundle 2. It was never the intention for the tender award to be complete by March 31st 2021. Bundle 2 projects are currently expected to go to tender in late Q2/early Q3.
1337. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to provide an income disregard for a student on the pandemic unemployment payment who is applying to SUSI for a grant given that they would have received this income disregard if working over the holidays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19981/21]
View answerUnder the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the terms and conditions of funding, including those relating to residency, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.
The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine. For the 2021/22 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the reference period 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2020.
The Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020 establishes the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment as a social insurance benefit scheme separate from other social protection statutory schemes including the Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Jobseeker Allowance and Jobseeker Benefit schemes.
For student grant purposes the Covid-19 payment has been treated as reckonable income for the SUSI means assessment process since it was introduced in March 2020. This means that the Covid-19 payment is treated in a similar fashion to other Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection payments such as Jobseekers Benefit/Allowance, thus ensuring a consistency of approach and an equitable treatment of students and their families in the SUSI means assessment process.
As per Article 22(5)(b) of the Student Grant Scheme 2021, income from an applicant’s employment which represents holiday earnings outside of term time but within the reference period, subject to a maximum of €4,500 can be deducted from the total reckonable income assessed. The student must also have been in education when this income was earned.
This holiday earnings disregard under the Student Grant Scheme can only be applied to income from employment earned by the student in the manner described. The holiday earnings disregard pertains specifically to income from employment only; there is no provision to offset this disregard against any other sources of income, such as a social welfare payment.
During the summer months in 2020 restrictions were eased enabling many students to return to work for the summer and Christmas periods. Any students who engaged in work during non-term times can avail of the holiday earnings being excluded from their reckonable income up to the value of €4500 for the 2021/22 academic year. My Department continues to engage with Department of Social Protection on a regular basis and with SUSI on all student grant issues that are COVID related.
All applications are assessed nationally with reference to the terms and conditions of the relevant student grant scheme. The terms and conditions of funding are applied impartially to all applicants.
Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, students can apply for supports under the Student Assistance Fund. The fund assists students in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Institutions have the autonomy to maximise the flexibility in the Student Assistance Fund to enable HEIs to support students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in the higher education institution attended. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.
In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from a student's local Tax office or from the Revenue Commissioners website www.revenue.ie
1338. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated amount of the Solas fund established for a group (details supplied) that is still available; if he has considered allowing this fund to be used towards the payment of enhanced redundancy sums that have been denied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20085/21]
View answerI appreciate how difficult the situation is for this group and their families. The Government has always sought to ensure that the concerns of workers are heard, and that the State’s welfare, employment and training services are responding to the needs of the group in question.
In recognition of the exceptional circumstances to this matter the Government has agreed to provide a fund of €3m with the very specific objective of supporting career guidance, training, education and business start-ups for the group affected. This fund will be administered by SOLAS and cannot make direct payments for redundancy compensation. I am informed by my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that there is no legal scope for the Government to supplement or ‘top-up’ redundancy payments to honour a collective agreement between an employer and its employees.
The full amount of the fund remains available for the purposes for which it was established. Following an initial rejection, SOLAS are engaging with the workers and their union to provide the necessary information to inform their further consideration of the proposal to establish the Fund.
1339. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if student nurses who were requested by the State to work during the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020 will be penalised by SUSI when their earnings are taken into account for the current academic year; if he can intervene in such cases; if he will amend the regulations that are facilitating the reduction in the grants available to student nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20330/21]
View answerUnder the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the terms and conditions of funding, including those relating to residency, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.
The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine. For the 2020/21 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the period 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019. Any student in receipt of a maintenance grant who takes part in a placement as part of their course continues to receive payment of their maintenance grant while on that placement. In relation to holiday earnings, in the assessment of means for student grant purposes a deduction can be made for holiday earnings made by the applicant from employment outside of term time but within the reference period. A maximum of €4,500 can be deducted from the total reckonable income assessed. The student must also have been in education when this income was earned.
The Student Grant Scheme 2021 was published on the 25th March 2021. Under this scheme the Pandemic Placement Grant that was recently announced by the HSE and recommended by the Department of Health has been included as an income disregard. This will mean that it will not be included in the calculation of reckonable income for the 2021/22 academic year. Details of this scheme can be accessed via the SUSI website at https://susi.ie/resources/ SUSI’s online application process is now open for renewal applications for the 2021/22 academic year. New grant applicants will be able to apply on April 22nd. Students attending college in the academic year 2021/22 will be required to submit their grant application to SUSI (via www.susi.ie ) to have their eligibility for grant assistance assessed.
1342. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the staff-to-teacher ratio in higher education since 2008, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20358/21]
View answerThe data that the deputy is seeking is available in tabular form from 2011/12 to 2017/18 and is attached. Data from academic year 2018/19 to date is not available as of yet as it has not been finalised.
The ratio is calculated based on the enrolment figures for full time equivalent (FTE) students (full and part time) in an academic year to academic staff reported as at 31 Dec in the middle of relevant academic year.
Since 2015 there has been a significant programme of re-investment in higher education. Funding and policy developments taken in recent Budgets have taken significant steps to address the funding needs of the sector. Most notably, and in line with the recommendation of the Cassells report, a new stream of employer funding was introduced upon a review of the National Training Fund. This level of investment responded to demographic pressures and underpinned a range of initiatives in the higher education sector. Government funding demonstrably increased in the period 2016 to 2020 with increased planned investment in Higher Education, an increase of 25% compared to 2016 – an amount in the order of an additional €370 million bringing the total funding for the sector in 2020 to €1.87 billion pre-Covid (up from €1.5 billion in 2016). This represented the restoration of the peak level of expenditure on higher education achieved in 2008.
Through Budget 2021 funding will be provided to meet demographic and other pressures across the sectors, including Covid-19 impacts, and to provide for additional upskilling and reskilling opportunities, as well as increased capacity and places in the higher education sector.
|
Academic Year |
Universities |
Institutes of Technology |
|
2011/12 |
22.5 |
16.3 |
|
2012/13 |
20.2 |
16.4 |
|
2013/14 |
21 |
16 |
|
2014/15 |
20 |
17 |
|
2015/16 |
21 |
17 |
|
2016/17 |
20 |
16 |
|
2017/18 |
20 |
17 |
Figures are as per Institutional Profiles published on the HEA website.
1343. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if additional information will be provided on the all-island research centres referenced in his Departments statement of strategy 2021-2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20359/21]
View answerThe advancement of research collaboration, as set out within New Decade, New Approach is a major priority for my Department. As the Deputy notes, this has also been highlighted as an area of priority by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) as part of its recently launched strategy, Shaping our Future.
My Department and SFI are continuing to advance the discussions with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and Britain.
My Department is also working closely with the Department of the Taoiseach in this regard to support this specific activity as well as other potential initiatives in the area of research.
SFI has already put forward detailed proposals to facilitate the development of all island research centres. These mechanisms, along with requisite co-funding and research priority areas, are being discussed with officials in Northern Ireland and on an East-West basis. My Department is also examining how we can support capacity building in North-South research collaboration.
1344. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the funding that has or will be made available by his Department as part of the adult literacy strategy to implement the Labour Court recommendation to regularise the terms and conditions of the adult literacy tutors employed by the education and training boards; when his Department plans to implement the recommendation; the additional budget that will be made available for payment of tutors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20542/21]
View answerThe 10 year adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy will take a whole-of-government approach and provide a framework to support individuals to improve their literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. This new strategy will provide a framework to build on and streamline the substantial work that is already being done across a range of Government departments, state agencies and wider stakeholder groups, to increase awareness of services for the public and to capture the contribution that can be made right across Government to deliver better literacy, numeracy and digital literacy in the adult population.
The Labour Court has made a recommendation in relation to a claim brought by SIPTU and TUI in respect of regularising the terms and conditions of Adult Education Tutors employed by Education and Training Boards which has been under consideration by officials in my Department, the Department of Education and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
The recently ratified Public Service Agreement, Building Momentum, contains a mechanism to address outstanding adjudications, commitments, recommendations awards and claims within the terms of the quantum of the Sectoral Bargaining Fund available for agreed Sectoral Bargaining Units. My Department and officials from the Department of Education are engaging with the relevant unions to establish their sectoral bargaining priorities.
