Written Answers Nos. 119-128
119. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated total capital expenditure on further education, the technological sector and universities in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21376/22]
View answerThe revised National Development Plan (NDP) published in October 2021 provided clarity on Departmental capital ceilings for the period 2022 – 2025.
The table below sets out the 2022 capital ceilings. It should be noted that in addition to the €256.5m set out, a further €0.5m and €1m have been allocated to SOLAS and the HEA respectively to meet agency capital costs. Carryover amounts from 2021 into 2022 are excluded from this table but are incorporated into expenditure plans as follows: HE capital: €22.2m, HE PPPs: €3m.
|
HE Capital |
€166m |
|
HE PPPs |
€43m |
|
FET Capital |
€47.5m |
|
TOTAL |
€256.5m* |
* The amount above includes up to €15m for shared ICT Infrastructure for the Higher Education Sector programme providing investment in the upgrade of ICT infrastructure and business applications for the higher education sector.
120. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost of a 1% increase in the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, maintenance grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21378/22]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme, administered by SUSI, provides grant assistance 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 decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI to determine.
The estimated cost of a 1% increase in the 2021/22 SUSI maintenance grant rates is in the region of €1.63m. As the Deputy may be aware as part of Budget 2022, I increased all maintenance grant rates by €200, which is significantly more than 1%.
I commissioned a major review of the Student Grant Scheme, which has been conducted by Indecon International Economic Consultants under the direction of a steering group chaired by my Department and comprising a number of stakeholders.
It is my intention to bring the final report to Government shortly. It is my strong view that cost and access issues must be considered in tandem with the issues of system funding and reform. If we want the best outcomes, we need a well funded system which is accessible to people regardless of their background. Reform of the student support system can also be a critical enabler of other strategic outcomes across the tertiary system, including enhanced lifelong learning and stronger diversity among the postgraduate community.
Given these interconnections, it is my intention to bring the Student grant review to Cabinet alongside the report on funding and reform of higher education.
121. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost of extending the income threshold increase announced as part of budget 2022 to the special rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21379/22]
View answerThe Student Grant Scheme, administered by SUSI, provides grant assistance 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.
In assessing an application for the 2022/23 academic year, SUSI will have regard to the following qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant:
1. The student must qualify for the standard rate of grant;
2. Total gross reckonable income for the 2021 tax year, after income disregards and Child Dependent Increase(s) are excluded, must not exceed €24,500; and
3. As at 31st December 2021, the reckonable income must include one of the eligible long-term social welfare payments prescribed in Schedule 2 of the Student Grant Scheme 2022.
The report of the Action Group on Access to Third Level Education made detailed recommendations concerning the introduction of special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students. The target group of "those most in need" was defined in terms of the dependents of people receiving long-term welfare payments, where the necessary conditions are fulfilled.
Accordingly, to effectively target this cohort, the income limit for the special rate of grant is aligned to the maximum point of the weekly State Contributory Pension plus the maximum Qualified Adult Allowance for a person over 66 years. The student grant means test for 2022 is based on gross reckonable income for the 2021 tax year.
The income threshold for the special rate of grant is strategically aligned with the highest Department of Social Protection rate as described in order to target students from households in receipt of long term social welfare assistance effectively. The income threshold changes when this Department of Social Protection rate changes so the estimate that the Deputy is requesting is not possible to provide.
However, as the Deputy may be aware I did increase the special rate of grant payment itself by €200 as part of Budget 2022, along with all other student grant rates. For the 2022/23 academic year, the special rate of grant is payable at the non-adjacent rate of €6,115 or the adjacent rate of €2,575, depending on the distance the student is from the college attended.
122. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost of extending SUSI to support students from the South who study at approved institutions (details supplied) in the North of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21380/22]
View answerI understand that the Deputy has clarified with my officials that the Deputy wishes to know the estimated cost of extending the student contribution grant to those undergraduate students currently studying in the four approved Institutions in the North of Ireland.
Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible 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.
In general, an approved undergraduate course in this context is defined as a full-time undergraduate course of not less than two years duration pursued in a university or third level institution, which is maintained or assisted by recurrent grants from public funds in another EU Member State or the UK.
The Student Grant Scheme provides maintenance grants to eligible undergraduate students pursuing approved courses in other EU Member States. Student grant legislation was amended in 2020 to retain the status quo to allow maintenance grant funding for eligible students attending an approved undergraduate course in Northern Ireland/the UK to continue post Brexit.
The Student Grant Scheme does not extend to the payment of the student contribution to institutions outside the State for undergraduate students.
There are currently 327 students with addresses in the Republic of Ireland who have been awarded maintenance grant funding for undergraduate courses at Institutions in Northern Ireland.
The estimated cost of providing the student contribution grant to those 327 students is €1m. This does not take account of any additional students who may choose to study in Northern Ireland should a change be made to the scheme to allow for the payment of tuition fees to students studying in Northern Ireland.
123. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the residency status in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21315/22]
View answerIn response to a notification pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), written representations have been submitted on behalf of the person concerned.
These representations, together with all other information and documentation on file, will be fully considered, under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and all other applicable legislation, in advance of a final decision being made.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
124. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the residency status in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21316/22]
View answerThe person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 1G permission, which has been extended until 31 May 2022, under the automatic extension of immigration permissions I announced on 17 December 2021. All permissions are extended on the same terms and conditions to the permission already held.
It is open to the person concerned to contact their local Immigration Office before 31 May 2022 to apply for a further renewal of their immigration permission. I strongly recommend that they make efforts to renew their permission as early as possible rather than waiting until May when demand for appointments will be significantly greater.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
125. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice if her Department or any organisations under her remit have purchased services from, or otherwise sought to use, technology developed and-or sold by a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21330/22]
View answerIt has not been possible to collate the information requested in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is available.
126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the residency status of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21338/22]
View answerThe person referred to by the Deputy is the subject of a Deportation Order made on 23 September 2019. Representations were received on their behalf requesting that the Order be revoked, pursuant to the provisions of section 3(11) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). All relevant aspects of the case will be considered before a decision is made either to affirm or to revoke the Order.
Once a decision has been made, it will be notified to the person concerned in writing. In the meantime, the Deportation Order remains valid and in place.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
127. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Justice the number of asylum seekers awaiting entry into the international protection system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21347/22]
View answerThe overall objective of my Department is to have recommendations made on international protection applications as soon as possible. This ensures that those who are found to be in need of protection from the State can receive it quickly and begin rebuilding their lives here with a sense of safety and security.
For the sake of clarity, I should firstly explain that anyone who wishes to make an application for international protection must proactively do so on their own behalf and on behalf of any of their minor family members. If they apply initially at their port of entry to the State they will still need to make a formal application at the Dublin offices of the International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department. There is no need to make an appointment. Everyone completes their preliminary interview under Section 13 of the International Protection Act 2015 on the day they first attend the IPO offices. Therefore, there are no applicants waiting for a preliminary interview.
Applicants will generally receive the Temporary Residence Certificate on the same day they complete their application if there is no language barrier and if the number of applications the IPO received on that given day is not excessively high.
If an interpreter is required to assist them or for other reasons beyond the control of the IPO, the applicant may need to be called back to complete their application. The call back appointment is usually arranged quickly, unless there is a difficulty with sourcing an interpreter for the required language.
In recent months, the number of people claiming international protection has increased significantly with approximately 1,039 new applications received in the month of March alone. This has unfortunately impacted the IPO’s ability to complete an application and issue TRC cards on the same day to applicants. There are currently approximately 937 applicants who need to return to complete their applications.
The IPO has identified the practical efficiencies that can be made to improve the process and has put in place measures to ensure that the call back appointments are cleared as quickly as possible for the benefit of applicants allowing the majority of applicants complete the entire process on the first day. The target is to have up to 300 call back slots taking place per week to eliminate the backlog in the shortest timeframe possible, including by offering appointments at weekends. The IPO is determined to maintain the positive momentum around this approach and to continuing to ensure that the majority of new applicants receive their TRC cards on the day of application.
You may be interested to know that the IPO received its highest ever number of daily applicants on 19 April 2022 (163 new applicants). All 163 people received their TRC cards on the same day, eliminating the need for call back appointments.
128. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the progress to date in the determination of an appeal for a visa in the case of persons (details supplied); if an application can be treated as an emergency application given the worsening situation in Nigeria; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21348/22]
View answerThe visa application referred to by the Deputy was refused by the Visa Office in Abuja on 2 November 2020. The reasons for this decision were set out in the refusal letter sent to the applicants at that time. An appeal of this decision was launched on 19 January 2021.
Appeals for applications of this type are processed in the order in which they are received, to be fair to all applicants. While every effort is made to process these applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the volume of appeals received, their complexity, the possible need for the visa office to seek further information in relation to certain appeals and the resources available to process them.
All visa applicants are advised that the onus is on them to provide as much information in support of their application as they feel is necessary. Guidelines in this regard are posted on my Department's immigration website: www.irishimmigration.ie.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility (inisoireachtasmail@justice.ie), which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
