Written Answers Nos. 141-157
141. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to increase the number of places for health and social care professionals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26708/21]
View answerMy Department, the HEA and the higher education institutions are committed to supporting the provision of graduates for the health service through undergraduate and postgraduate provision, with the key competencies and skills to be effective in the health workforce and allow for growth and upskilling in the future. In this regard, my Department will continue to engage with the Department of Health in relation to health workforce planning to ensure the effective delivery of skilled personnel into the future.
I am aware of the high number of CAO applications this year, and officials from my Department are engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector in relation to the 2021/22 academic year and demand for places.
€18 million has been provided in Budget 2021 which will build additional capacity in the system and address demographic growth pressures. This is in addition to additional places commencing in 2021, funded through the Human Capital Initiative Pillar 2, which will be on undergraduate courses in areas of identified skills needs.
My Department is monitoring the situation as it develops and my officials are working with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided. All bodies involved will continue to work to ensure the availability of a full range of options for applicants in 2021 and in future years.
142. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the Programme for Government commitment to promote biodiversity initiatives across primary, post-primary and third-level sectors and ensure that schools, colleges and universities across the country play an active role in providing areas to promote biodiversity. [26952/21]
View answerThe National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 2014-2020 aims to ensure that “education contributes to sustainable development by equipping learners with the relevant knowledge (the ‘what’), the key dispositions and skills (the ‘how’) and the values (the ‘why’) that will motivate and empower them throughout their lives to become informed active citizens who take action for a more sustainable future”.
This goal is aligned with the target set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4.7 and spans all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education, as well as including non-formal learning environments. I launched a public consultation on the development of the next National Strategy together with Minister Foley in the Department of Education on Earth Day, 22nd April and this will remain open for engagement until the end of June 2021.
ESD is both a target in itself but also a key enabler for delivery of all 17 SDGs. It addresses the nexus of Environmental, Political and Socio-Economic issues at the local and global levels and includes a focus on Bio-diversity within the Environmental strand.
An audit of the curriculum for opportunities and linkages with ESD, published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in 2018 shows that biodiversity (SDG 15) is integrated in Junior Cycle Science and Senior Cycle Agricultural Science but teachers can engage with the topic of biodiversity across a wide range of subjects (e.g. Art – design a poster promoting biodiversity, Languages – write an essay on biodiversity etc.). A wide range of ESD resources and programmes are available to schools to assist them to deliver ESD in the classroom and these are available centrally through the Department of Education’s portal: Scoilnet.
Bio-diversity is explored as a theme through the Green Schools and Green Campus programmes, led by An Taisce. Currently 94% of schools are involved in Green Schools and 40 higher education institution campuses are registered on the programme, 15 of whom have been awarded the Green Flag. Many higher education institutions have placed emphasis on providing areas on campus to promote Bio-Diversity. For example, UCC has a bio-diversity action plan 2018-2023, taking a comprehensive approach to managing biodiversity on its campuses, DCU’s community garden initiative is working with the Irish Beekeeping Association to help bees and promote biodiversity on campus; and Trinity College Dublin has planted a wildflower meadow on College Green. Higher education institutions are also embedding biodiversity in programmes and as a focus of research. For example, GMIT has a number of research projects focused on marine bio-diversity in Galway Bay.
144. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the analysis his Department has carried out or commissioned into the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the further education sector particularly with regard to the reduction in participation across the sector since the onset of the pandemic; his plans to develop a strategy to address the impact of Covid-19 on engagement, retention and progression in the further education sector as recommended in a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26999/21]
View answerA series of measures and initiatives have been taken or are underway in relation to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on the further education and training (FET) sector. In addition, supporting research and underpinning data has been examined by both officials in my Department and by SOLAS in relation to these activities. This will continue, in line with the ongoing response to Covid-19, and will be underpinned by the national FET Strategy 2020-2024: Future FET Transforming Learning.
The FET Strategy includes a commitment to ensure the impact of Covid-19 can be explored, including through a national learner engagement survey, as well as supported, through the Skills to Compete initiative. The Skills to Compete initiative, which is the national FET response to the upskilling and reskilling needs of people who may have been displaced from their employment as a result of the impact of Covid-19, and has been underway since July 2020, initially supported through the July Jobs Stimulus package. The initiative provides supports for learners in the areas of employability, digital skills and specific skills training.
There was a significant recovery in apprenticeship registration numbers following the introduction of the apprenticeship incentivisation scheme. This scheme is continuing in 2021. Over 1,200 companies are on board to provide places under the Skillnet Ireland Skills Connect initiative in a wide variety of sectors such as medtech, financial services and the sustainable economy.
Over 500 community education projects across Ireland have received funding under the Mitigating against Educational Disadvantage Fund. Last year I announced that this fund, provided for through Budget 2021, would be administered by SOLAS, the further education and training authority, and the 16 local Education and Training Boards (ETBs). The aim of the fund is to support community education for adult learners, who have the highest level of need, with a strong focus on building the digital infrastructure of community education providers to increase the capacity to deliver online learning. The projects benefitting from funding vary from projects to help support online learning, connect communities, providing essential travel, and providing social support to vulnerable people.
A fund of €5m for student devices was part of €168 million package for further and higher Education sectors to deal with the impacts of Covid-19 in the FET, which was provided to ETBs in accordance with allocation models agreed with SOLAS.
A Working Group for Student and Learner Wellbeing and Engagement (SLWE) was established in January 2021, chaired by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), and comprising representatives from across the further and higher education sectors. The purpose of the SLWE group has been to reflect on the challenges facing student and learner wellbeing and engagement as a result of Covid-19 and to identify existing and further measures to address these.
The new FET Strategy has increased its references to Learner Voice and reasserted its commitment to keep Learner Voice at the heart of FET Provision. This helps to ensure that FET remains learner-centred and that learner voice is valued as critical evidence that can inform the future of FET provision and this is especially relevant when considering the impacts of Covid-19 on the FET sector.
145. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has met with UCC or MTU to discuss the possibility of locating a campus on the northside of Cork city. [26935/21]
View answerI have not met with either UCC or MTU to discuss a new campus on the northside of Cork city and my Department has not been made aware of any plans by either institution in that regard.
However, my Department continues to work collaboratively with MTU and UCC on the development of capital projects in line with their established masterplans.
Higher education building projects in Cork supported by my Department include the planned new Learning Resource building at CIT's Bishopstown campus, which will be delivered as part of the Higher Education PPP Programme; a major upgrade of the main 1970s building at CIT's Bishopstown campus; the planned new building for Cork University Business School, which will be delivered as a co-funded project with UCC; and the decarbonisation of the heating system in UCC’s O’Rahilly Building, one of eight energy efficiency and decarbonisation pathfinder projects being supported in the sector.
147. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way the distances for adjacent and non-adjacent third-level SUSI grants are set; his plans for a review of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26993/21]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme, administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides grant assistance to eligible students attending an approved course at an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
Student maintenance grants are payable at either the adjacent or non-adjacent rate. The distance to be measured is the shortest non-tolled most direct route from the student’s residence to the institution attended. The adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in the case of a student whose normal residence is 45km or less from the approved institution which he or she is attending. The non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in all other cases.
The current qualifying distance threshold of more than 45km for the higher non-adjacent rate of student grant, takes into account a reasonable radius within which students may commute on a daily basis.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. The review, which commenced earlier this year, will examine eligibility criteria such as: income thresholds; postgraduate supports; grant values and adjacency rates. It anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.
148. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many potential students are blocked from accessing affordable third-level education due to their immigration status such as unaccompanied minors, children of immigrants working here and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26713/21]
View answerThe principal support provided by my Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme operated by SUSI. Under the scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. The scheme is open to prospective students who are EU, EEA, Swiss or UK nationals, or who have refugee, subsidiary protection status or leave to remain status.
Persons in the protection process (asylum and subsidiary protection) or leave to remain process, are not eligible to access the statutory based SUSI grant scheme. However, the administratively based Student Support Scheme provides supports along similar lines to the SUSI grant scheme and is available to persons in the asylum, subsidiary protection or leave to remain process.
The criteria for the Student Grant Scheme have been relaxed in recent years. The requirement for prospective applications to have attended three academic years in the Irish school system and to have obtained the Leaving Certificate in the State, no longer applies. These positive changes have resulted in more students qualifying for support under the scheme.
Access to the majority of further education and training (FET) programmes is free of charge or heavily subsidised. International protection applicants who have been granted permission to work are eligible to access FET programmes on the same basis as Irish nationals.
While access for eligible international protection applicants to the majority of FET programmes is free of charge, international fees for Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) programmes of €3,600 have applied to international protection applicants with permission to work, except for those who are eligible for the Student Support Scheme. However, I recently announced that from the start of the next academic year (2021/22), international fees for PLC courses would no longer apply for international protection applicants with permission to work.
149. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the work by his Department to extend the Erasmus plus programme to students in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26125/21]
View answerI would like to thank Deputy Richmond for raising this matter, and I take this opportunity to update all on the current position on the status of the Erasmus and NI students.
Since the Government decision in October 2020, officials in my Department have been engaging with higher education institutions (HEIs), North and South to appraise their International/ Erasmus Officers of the proposal in the first instance, but also identifying issues to be addressed in the delivery of this initiative. However, it was not possible to formalise these discussions, as at that stage, the UK had not communicated any decision in respect of its continued participation in the Erasmus programme.
As part of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which was concluded last December, provision was made for the UK to continue in the programme, subject to a fair and transparent financial contribution. The UK announced very soon afterwards that it did not wish to continue in Erasmus programme, and that it would develop its own mobility programme. This decision, of course, impacts on education institutions and their students in Northern Ireland.
Once the UK decision was confirmed, my officials began a series of meetings with representatives from NI institutions engaged in the delivery of higher education programmes. This includes the 6 Regional Colleges along with the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, where up to 20% of higher education is undertaken in NI. Overall, there is a positive reaction from the NI HEIs to the proposal, with the early indications of student interest to pursue the Erasmus option.
In parallel with this, officials in my Department were also in touch with their counterparts in the Department of the Economy in Northern Ireland, and kept them informed of their engagement with NI institutions.
The engagement process also included key officers from Irish HEIs, with the objective of developing operational guidelines for the scheme. Again, I am heartened by their response to support my Department in developing a robust process implement this measure.
In March 2021 my Department was advised by the Northern Ireland institutions that there was unspent Erasmus grant funding due to the restrictions on travel arising from the public health guidelines. They would be able to use this money to fund mobilities for the 2021/ 2022 academic year, and would avail of the new scheme from September 2022.
My Department is continuing to work on the operational guidelines with HEIs, North and South, and further meetings are planned in the coming weeks.
Northern Ireland HEIs also raised the question relationship with the proposed ‘Turing’ scheme, which the UK Government is developing to facilitate UK mobilities. My Department has stated to all stakeholders, and specifically, NI HEI representatives that the Irish Government initiative is designed to offer choice to NI students - should a student wish to pursue a Turing mobility, it is a matter of choice for him/ her. There is no requirement for the NI HEIs to offer either Erasmus or Turing.
Finally, I am also committed to explore an extension to the initiative to include Further Education students and my officials are currently working on exploring the options in this regard.
151. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if consideration has been given in the recent review of the SUSI process to resolving the difficulties for SUSI applicants who are estranged from their parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26787/21]
View answerThe objective of the statutory based student grant scheme is to provide additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold or, in the case of independent mature students, where the level of income of the student and his or her spouse warrants additional assistance by way of a grant.
For student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.
A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income.
Only in exceptional cases, where compelling evidence of estrangement from parents/guardians is provided, can candidates who are under 23 be assessed without reference to their parents/guardians income or address. Otherwise he or she will be assessed as a dependent student for student grant purposes i.e. assessed on the basis of the income and address of parents/legal guardians.
The assessment of a case of estrangement is carefully considered to ensure there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the exceptional circumstances pertaining in such cases genuinely exists. The scheme does not stipulate precisely how an awarding authority satisfies itself that such circumstances prevail. This is to allow the awarding authority sufficient flexibility to assess the evidence of irrevocable estrangement in each individual case. The type of documentary evidence required is dependent on the applicant's individual circumstances.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. The public consultation process closed a few weeks ago with over 250 submissions received. The consultants are currently in the process of seeking the views of students via a survey process which can be accessed at: https://www.research.net/r/SUSI_review.
While I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the review, it is anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.
152. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he plans to increase the proportion of dedicated research funds that are provided annually towards blue skies research to ensure that Ireland attracts and retains top scientists in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25446/21]
View answerMy Department and its agencies are significant funders of research, accounting for over half of the €869.2 million Government investment in research, development and innovation in 2019. Government investment in R&D includes funding for programmes that encompass all disciplines and all types of research. It should be noted that public funding for research is awarded according to the criteria set out in the various funding programmes operated by research funders irrespective of whether the research is basic or applied.
Public funding for basic research comes from many sources, including significant funding through the block grant from my Department through the Higher Education Authority, and through programmes operated by the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
The most recent survey of Higher Education Expenditure on R&D, published in January 2021, showed that basic research accounted for 40% or the research spend in the higher education sector, or €350 million in 2018.
The Irish Research Council’s mandate supports excellent blue-skies research across all disciplines and career stages. A key action of Innovation 2020 was the establishment of the Council’s Laureate Awards, designed to address the lack of funding for frontier basic research across all disciplines. There has been a 22.5% increase in the Council’s budget for 2021, including increased investment for the Laureate Awards. Providing opportunities for early-career researchers to conduct blue-skies research in our research and higher education institutions is key to the development of future research leaders.
The Council makes in the region of 300 awards to exceptional postgraduate scholars and postdoctoral fellows each year, with each round of awards annually representing an investment in the region of €21 million. Additional awards are made in association with strategic funding partners, including the Environmental Protection agency. A new Laureate Awards call for early-mid career stages will open in 2021 leading to a further investment of €20 million. This will be followed by a Laureate call for senior career stage researchers in 2022.
SFI funds oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Early this year I launched SFI’s new strategy - Shaping Our Future, which seeks to support our objective to be an Innovation Leader in research and innovation as set out in Our Shared Future, the programme for Government. There is a clear emphasis within the strategy on a balanced portfolio of research, from early-stage researchers and frontiers research, attracting and supporting talent, to deepening partnerships with enterprise, increased collaboration at a national and international level, and further development of our SFI Research Centres.
My Department has been working with SFI to support the implementation of this ambitious strategy and secure additional funds for research and innovation. Progress can be seen through the recently published annual plan for the agency for 2021. SFI has outlined a balanced portfolio with its approved budget. Funding of discovery/frontiers research is central to the agency’s activities. Late last year, SFI announced funding of 71 research frontiers awards under its SFI Frontiers for the Future Programme. This programme is currently active and open for new applications.
The Irish Research Council, working with SFI and key stakeholders, also seeks to support maximum success for Irish researchers in the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) award schemes. At the outset of Horizon 2020, Ireland set an ambitious target of securing €100 million in ERC funding, this target was stretched to €125 million as Ireland continued to outperform expectations. The Irish Research Council funds and jointly operates the Irish Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) office, which supports funding success for Ireland based early-career researchers in MSCA which is a key source of European funding for blue skies research across all disciplines. This successful partnership has contributed to more than €195 million of funding coming into Ireland under Horizon 2020. It is the area of highest drawdown for Ireland under Horizon 2020 and Ireland ranks second in drawdown per capita after Denmark. MSCA will continue to be a key source of investment for the next European framework programme.
The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies is a statutory corporation established in 1940 under the Institute for Advanced Studies Act, 1940. The Institute has three constituent schools – the School of Celtic Studies, the School of Theoretical Physics and the School of Cosmic Physics, each with an independent governing board. The Institute, through the constituent schools, pursues fundamental research and trains students in advanced methods of original research.
The establishment of this new Department recognised the potential and the necessity for increased focus and investment in research in Ireland. As mentioned in the programme for government, we will endeavour to make Ireland a more attractive location as a base for academic research and researchers. We want research based in Ireland to be at the forefront of the next phase of disruptive technologies, leading rather than following the technological revolution, while also being a centre for foundational and discovery research.
I am delighted that SFI, which has traditionally focused on the STEM areas, the Irish Research Council which funds researchers at all stages across all disciplines, and the Higher Education Authority, which administers the core grant to higher education institutes are already working more closely together under the auspices of my new Department.
A priority over the coming months will be to develop a new national research and innovation strategy which will position research and innovation as a key enabler of our economic recovery and transition to a knowledge-based, sustainable economy and fairer society. It will prioritise cohesion and collaboration across the research and innovation system and my Department will seek to optimise funding which will ensure a balanced portfolio of excellent research across the full continuum, embracing all disciplines and, increasingly important, at the interface between disciplines.
153. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to update the SUSI review process and potentially increase the current income thresholds and eligibility criteria for grant applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26786/21]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme, administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides grant assistance to eligible students attending an approved course at an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
The eligibility criteria for student grants are reviewed annually by the Department and approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. All proposals made in relation to higher education expenditure, including student grants for the 2021/22 academic year, are considered in the context of the annual Budget.
The student grant is a contribution towards the cost of attending college. The scheme provides for different levels of maintenance support, depending on means. There are different levels of income thresholds where families have (i) less than 4 dependent children (ii) between 4 and 7 dependent children and (iii) 8 or more dependent children.
In recognition of the additional cost to families where more than one person is attending college, income thresholds may also be increased by up to €4,830 for each additional family member attending college at the same time. In this way, the Student Grant Scheme is responsive to the individual circumstances of particular families.
Grants are also provided at adjacent and non-adjacent rates. The higher non-adjacent rates are intended to provide additional support to those students who may be living away from home. There are provisions for a number of income disregards which are not counted as reckonable income for the student grant means test.
Particular priority is afforded to those on the lowest incomes and social welfare dependents through the special rate of grant, which is payable at the higher non-adjacent rate of €5,915 or the adjacent rate of €2,375, depending on the distance from ordinary residence to the college attended.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. It anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.
154. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the measures he is taking to address additional demand for university course places later in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26946/21]
View answerI am aware of the high number of CAO applications this year, and officials from my Department are engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector in relation to the 2021/22 academic year and demand for places.
€18 million has been provided in Budget 2021 which will build additional capacity in the system and address demographic growth pressures. This is in addition to additional places commencing in 2021, funded through the Human Capital Initiative Pillar 2, which will be on undergraduate courses in areas of identified skills needs.
The CAO process applications for undergraduate courses on behalf of the Higher Education Institutions. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. As such, neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO.
However, my Department is monitoring the situation as it develops and my officials are working with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided. All bodies involved will continue to work to ensure the availability of a full range of further and higher education options for applicants in 2021 and in future years.
155. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of nursing and midwife places on undergraduate courses in the 2021-2022 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26988/21]
View answerI am aware of the high number of CAO applications this year, and officials from my Department are engaging regularly with representatives from the higher education sector in relation to the 2021/22 academic year and demand for places.
The CAO process applications for undergraduate courses on behalf of the Higher Education Institutions. Decisions on admissions are made by the HEIs who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. As such, neither I nor my Department have a role in the operation of the CAO, and it is not with our remit to provide any guarantees as to the number of places offered in any higher education course.
However, my Department is monitoring the situation as it develops and my officials are working with the HEA and the Higher Education Institutions to identify where there is scope for additional places to be provided. All bodies involved will continue to work to ensure the availability of a full range of further and higher education options for applicants in 2021 and in future years.
156. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to restore the SUSI adjacent distance payment to 50km; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26781/21]
View answerThe student grant is a contribution towards the cost of attending college. Student maintenance grants are payable at either the adjacent or non-adjacent rate. The distance to be measured is the shortest non-tolled most direct route from the student’s residence to the institution attended. The adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in the case of students whose normal residence is 45km or less from the approved institution which he or she is attending. The non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable in all other cases.
The eligibility criteria for student grants are reviewed annually by my Department and approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. All proposals made in relation to higher education expenditure, including student grants, are considered in the context of the annual Budget.
The qualifying distance criterion for entitlement to the higher non-adjacent rate of grant (distance from home to the higher education institution) was changed from 24 kilometres (15 miles) to 45 kilometres (28 miles) for all students from the start of the 2011/2012 academic year. The current qualifying distance of more than 45km for the higher non-adjacent rate of student grant takes into account a reasonable radius within which students may commute on a daily basis.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. It anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.
157. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to develop and support further and higher education in County Monaghan. [27030/21]
View answerThe Further Education and Training (FET) Strategy 2020-2024 Future FET: Transforming Learning is built on three main pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion and creating pathways. The contribution of each Education and Training Board (ETB) to the delivery of the strategy is captured in their strategic performance agreements with SOLAS. New iterations of these agreements are currently in development.
FET provision in County Monaghan is delivered or contracted by Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB). The 2021 funding allocation from SOLAS to CMETB for FET services and provision is €27,736,001.
While there are no higher education institutions in County Monaghan, a broad range of FET provision takes place in a wide range of settings, including
- Level 5 and Level 6 programmes available at Monaghan Institute,
- A wide range of part time adult basic education programmes, including Community Education and basic skills provision,
- English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses,
- Specialist Training Provision or people with disabilities,
- Specific Skills Training for unemployed people,
- Local Training Initiatives available in Castleblayney and Clones
- Education and training for early school leavers at three Youthreach facilities, and
- Upskilling and reskilling opportunities for workers provided via the Skills to Advance and Skills to Work initiatives.
There are currently 1,410 learners enrolled in FET programmes throughout the county and future plans will be set out in the strategic performance agreement currently in preparation between SOLAS and CMETB.
