Written Answers Nos. 317-324
317. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total number of beds that are available in purpose-built student accommodation in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway; the number of new beds which have been made available in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022; the current number of units that are currently under construction, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14391/23]
View answerI am aware of and actively addressing the difficulties faced by students in accessing affordable student accommodation. Fundamentally the challenge of affordable student accommodation is one of supply of housing more generally, and the impact of the global economy on the cost of construction.
To assist with the shortage of accommodation for our students, on 29 November 2022, I secured Government approval to develop both short and medium term policy responses to activate supply of affordable student accommodation.
These landmark policy responses will, for the first time, see the state providing financial support for the construction of student accommodation, and underpins the policy commitments set out in Housing for All and the National Access Plan. They will ensure increased availability of and promote greater access to student accommodation, in particular for disadvantaged students.
To date our Government has approved funding support to develop nearly 1,100 additional accommodation units for students across a number of universities. These developments have or will imminently have planning permission but have stalled as a result of increased construction costs.
In parallel, longer term policy development is being advanced to examine a broader range of methods to increase supply of student accommodation. Support of €1m is being provided to our Technological Universities (TUs) to conduct a needs assessment and to identify appropriate regional activation responses. The funding will provide consultancy support to undertake a cohesive and regional focused feasibility study for each TU.
My Department is continuing to examine larger scale proposals with planning permission with potential phasing options at UCD, UCD and UCC also have projects that could potentially benefit from the short-term activation scheme, whilst we finalise the methodology for a long term state supported student accommodation scheme.
In parallel, further policy development is being advanced to examine a broader range of methods to increase supply of student accommodation.
In response to the queries raised by the Deputy, my Department receives reporting on the completion of both public and private student accommodation bed spaces since 2016. The total number of PBSA bed spaces across Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway, at the end of 2022, was over 36,000
The below tables provide the information requested:
• The total number of beds which are available in purpose built student accommodation in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway.
• The number of new beds which have been made available in each of the years from 2019 to 2022 in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway.
• The number of units currently under construction in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway.
|
Total BedsPublic + Private |
|
|
Cork |
6,491 |
|
Limerick |
6,892 |
|
Galway |
4,295 |
|
Dublin |
18,643 |
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
Public Private |
Public Private |
Public Private |
Public Private |
|
|
Cork |
0 35 |
0 808 |
255 348 |
0 868 |
|
Limerick |
0 8 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
0 68 |
|
Galway |
0 0 |
0 559 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
|
Dublin |
0 1,805 |
0 2,611 |
0 2 |
0 603 |
|
Under Construction |
|
|
Cork |
981 |
|
Limerick |
2 |
|
Galway |
674 |
|
Dublin |
4,139 |
Note: There is a margin of error rate of plus or minus 5% for the above figures.
318. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the new dental school at University College Cork; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14415/23]
View answerUCC submitted their Dental School project to the Higher Education Authority for consideration under the Higher Education Capacity Building process.
This process was developed to identify opportunities in the Higher Education system to build capacity in Dentistry, Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine programmes.
The Higher Education Authority will consider opportunities for new programme provision alongside options for current programme expansion to determine a final list of options to present to me shortly.
319. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the courses related to health and social care that are covered by the accelerated graduate programme; the number of students who graduated from each course in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14481/23]
View answerThere are two-year professional qualification programmes available in the University of Limerick at Masters level in the disciplines of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language therapy. The data for the most recently available five years of graduates from these programmes is in the table below. This data was sourced from the Student Records System (SRS) of the HEA.
|
HEI |
Programme |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
University of Limerick |
Occupational Therapy (Professional Qualification) |
25 |
35 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
|
University of Limerick |
Physiotherapy (Professional Qualification) |
10 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
20 |
|
University of Limerick |
Speech and Language Therapy (Professional Qualification) |
30 |
30 |
20 |
20 |
30 |
320. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the protocols and or guidelines he has issued in respect of the use of personal social media accounts by officials in his Department; the number of sanctions imposed by his Department on its own officials in the past ten years to date in respect of social media output by its officials, verbal, written or otherwise; if social media platforms are restricted on his Department’s network; if an application (details supplied) is available to use and or download onto Departmental-issued mobile phones; and if not, if it is barred from use. [14514/23]
View answerMy Department’s ICT Usage policy, currently under review, states that, save for approved social media accounts, staff members should not publish official business information on social media websites, bulletin boards, or other fora in the name of my Department or purport to represent its views on such platforms. Under the Civil Service Disciplinary Code, which is issued to all new entrants, any inappropriate use of social media may be considered as misconduct. Misconduct can include inappropriate behaviour outside the workplace which has an impact or could reasonably be likely to have an impact within the workplace. Since the formation of my Department in July 2020 there have been no disciplinary sanctions imposed on any member of the Department for this reason. Content filtering is applied on all internet usage on my Department’s PCs. The purpose of the content filtering is to ensure that inappropriate websites and content are not accessible by staff members. The National Cyber Security Centre is to issue updated guidance in relation to what apps are appropriate to be used on Government-issued phones.
321. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice if he has received submissions from the Probate Office for more resources to deal with the backlog of cases awaiting approval of probate there; the steps he intends taking to make those resources available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14382/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware as Minister for Justice, I have no role in the exercise of Probate functions.
The Probate Office is an office of the High Court, and management of the courts is the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and given the separation of powers in the Constitution. Probate functions are also carried out by County Registrars at District Probate Registries in 14 provincial court offices. The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas at: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie .
However, I would like to draw the Deputy’s attention to the fact that the Courts Service have embarked on a 10-year programme of modernisation of the Courts system. A proposal to roll out an eProbate project has been identified as part of the civil law modernisation workstream.
I have secured an additional funding allocation for the Courts Service to facilitate the commencement of an eProbate project this year. The introduction of this improved system should lead to a faster and more efficient process.
322. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the action that has been taken by his Department regarding a disclosure made to him by email from this Deputy's office on 18 October 2022, regarding the Garda vetting system; and if he will meet with this Deputy to discuss the content of the disclosure. [14427/23]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that officials in my Department reviewed the contents of the correspondence mentioned and that, due to the nature of the correspondence, both An Garda Síochána and Tusla were notified by my Department. A response was issued to the Deputy’s office on 18 November to inform the Deputy of this outcome. As the Deputy will appreciate, it would not be appropriate for me to meet to discuss the matters raised as both An Garda Síochána and Tusla are independent in the exercise of their functions.
323. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Justice if he has received correspondence from an organisation (details supplied) concerning the Firearms Expert Committee; when he will meet with members of two groups to address their concerns. [14489/23]
View answer325. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice if he will address the concerns raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14541/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 323 and 325 together.
I can confirm that my Department has received correspondence from the organisations referred to and I can advise the Deputies that I have responded accordingly.
It was noted in the published reports that two of the Firearms Expert Committee's (FEC) terms of reference were discussed as agenda items at the committee's sixth and seventh meetings. These were:
- To consider whether firearms certificates should be conditioned to specify the locations where the firearm may be used,
- To consider whether firearms certificates should be conditioned to limit the use of the firearm to the purpose for which the firearms certificate was sought.
These items were part of the original terms of reference approved by the Minister of State in October 2021 and have been well publicised since the process to establish the FEC commenced.
It is well established in national and EU law (Section 4(2)(a) of the Firearms Act 1925, as amended, and Article 6(1) of the Firearms Directive) that applicants for firearms licences shall have ‘good reason/cause’ for acquiring and possessing a firearm. In addition, Article 6(2) of the Firearms Directive requires that EU Member States have in place monitoring systems to ensure that the conditions of authorisation set by national law are met throughout the duration of the authorisation (i.e. licence) of any firearm.
The two terms of reference cited arise from the question of whether the ‘good reason/cause’ stated in an application for a firearm certificate would continue to be valid if the firearm is used at a location or for a purpose other than those stated when setting out ‘good reason/cause’, and whether this would be compliant with the Firearms Act and Firearms Directive.
As the FEC has not yet submitted its reports, it would not be appropriate to pre-empt any of its recommendations. In any case, the role of the FEC is to make recommendations for subsequent consideration by the Minister of State. Any policy decisions arising from any of the recommendations would of course be subject to prior consultation with stakeholders.
324. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the protocols and or guidelines he has issued in respect of the use of personal social media accounts by officials in his Department; the number of sanctions imposed by his Department on its own officials in the past ten years to date in respect of social media output by its officials, verbal, written or otherwise; if social media platforms are restricted on his Department’s network; if an application (details supplied) is available to use and or download onto Departmental-issued mobile phones; and if not, if it is barred from use. [14517/23]
View answerAll staff of the Department of Justice are bound by the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour and the Department has specific guidelines in relation to social media. Officers are routinely advised on their responsibilities and compliance with these guidelines via regular communications. Under the Civil Service Disciplinary Code, any inappropriate use of social media may be considered to be misconduct.Two officials in my Department have been formally sanctioned in relation to social media interactions in the last ten years.
Access to social media platforms on the Department’s network is restricted to those who require it for official business purposes.
My Department employs a Mobile Device Management system to secure and manage officially issued mobile devices. Applications are provided via an encrypted container and only applications required for business purposes are permitted to be installed in this container.The Department expects all users of official devices to exercise appropriate discretion in their use, and in using relevant communications services in line with appropriate usage policies.
