Written Answers Nos. 185-188
185. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the supports in place for students who cannot secure necessary living accommodation to complete third-level courses; if online facilities will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18386/23]
View answerI am actively working to address the supply of student accommodation. Increasing costs of construction and financing are impacting on viability, and as a result a number of Universities had to pause their projects. In responding to these challenges, on 29 November 2022, Government approved development of both short and medium term policy responses to activate supply.
These landmark policy responses will see the State providing financial support for the construction of student accommodation, and underpin the policy commitments set out in Housing for All.
In the short term, Government has approved funding to support development of 1,065 beds for students of the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Maynooth University and the University of Galway which have planning permission granted or at an imminent stage, but are stalled. My officials are also examining potential developments at UCD and TCD, and UCC also has proposals in development.
These proposals are in addition to the 1,806 student accommodation beds delivered in the last year, with a further 929 beds due to open in Cork and Galway before the start of the next academic year. There are also 2,057 additional beds currently under construction through private developments.
In addition to stimulating purpose built student accommodation by higher education institutions my Department is encouraging the bringing on stream of additional units through minor capital grants, promotion of digs accommodation and utilisation of the rent a room scheme.
The recent extension to the rent a room scheme means that income generated is disregarded for social welfare and student grant assessment purposes. Approval was also given to disregard this income for medical card assessment purposes and also to allow Local Authority tenants to access the scheme.
Support of €1m is also being provided to our Technological Universities (TUs) to conduct a needs assessment and my Department is examining the development of a TU Borrowing Framework in conjunction with other Government Departments, as part of the range of student accommodation initiatives underway.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Technological Universities Act 2018 and the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006. Under this legislation the institutions are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs and administrative processes, including the mode of delivery of programmes of study. HEIs have taken significant steps to ensure that teaching and learning is enhanced by the integrated use of digital technologies, both on-campus and remotely.
In 2021, key stakeholders from across the higher education sector worked collaboratively to reflect on the sudden move to online/remote learning in higher education, gather related evidence and to agree a way forward post-pandemic. Partners included the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, QQI, USI, representative bodies of HEIs, and others. The resulting report, ‘Next Steps for Teaching and Learning: Moving Forward Together’ was launched in November 2021. The report includes recommendations for the sector with regard to blended/remote teaching and learning and the use of technology to ensure that higher education is as flexible, resilient and equitable as possible for all who learn, all who teach, all who support and lead, and our wider communities.
In June 2022, the HEA announced €37.62m in funding for the ‘National Technological University Transformation for Recovery and Resilience' (NTUTORR) programme. The programme was informed by the Next Steps report and this funding will enable the technological sector to systematise the learnings from the experience of digitally enabled education and support the provision of digitally enhanced teaching, learning and assessment to meet the needs of staff, students, and enterprise in the regions.
The fourth National Access Plan, 2022 to 2028, which launched In August 2022, places an emphasis on student-centred goals, including flexibility. It aims to support students to study on a flexible basis including part-time and blended learning, and identify connectivity supports for remote learning. This is a seven-year plan with an additional dedicated investment of €35 million over the course of the plan.
Many HEIs are and will be developing new blended learning programmes for validation. Such programmes need to be designed, delivered and assessed within an approved quality assurance framework developed by HEIs with reference to the Statutory Quality Assurance Guidelines for Providers of Blended Learning Programmes. Programmes that are delivered partially or fully online, need to be developed with that mode of delivery in mind rather than merely being translated or transferred from the original face-to-face programme model.
186. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of money spent under the original CLÁR programme funding for the clearing of the railway line between Collooney in Sligo and Athenry in Galway by Iarnród Éireann; the years in which the work was carried out; if he will provide details of the work that was done and the issues encountered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18395/23]
View answerThe CLÁR programme, which was originally launched in 2001, provides funding for small scale projects in rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population. The Programme was closed in 2010 and then reopened in 2016.
CLÁR was re-structured and re-opened in 2016 with an increased focus on collaboration between communities and local authorities. My Department, which was established in the Summer of 2017, now manages the programme.
Due to the passage of time the Department does not have detailed records relating to the project referred to by the Deputy but I understand that in 2006 the Department for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs announced provision of €5 million under the CLÁR programme to support essential clearance and preservation works on the Claremorris to Collooney stretch of the Western Rail Corridor. The works were undertaken on track 7 kms south of Claremorris, Co Mayo to 3.5 kms south of Collooney, Co Sligo.
The programme of works included fencing, hedge cutting, renewal of level crossing gates as well as the provision of some essential drainage, removal of ivy and overgrowth from bridges and the provision of mile posts. The works were carried out between 2006 and 2008 in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Iarnród Éireann and I understand that some €3.2 million of the allocation was expended on the project.
187. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will outline the potential for the Atlantic Corridor to become a hub for renewable energy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18414/23]
View answerOur Rural Future, Ireland’s Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, recognises the economic potential of our rural regions, towns and villages. This includes the potential for rural areas to play a strong role in securing a sustainable renewable energy source and the opportunity presented by offshore renewable wind energy, particularly for coastal areas.
The Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) stretching from Kerry to Donegal has an abundance of natural resources along its coastline. Comprising of the Northwest, West, and Midwest regions, it also has an established onshore wind industry that accounts for more than half of the wind energy generated in Ireland. The Western Development Commission (WDC), an agency under my department’s remit, alongside other regional stakeholders such as the relevant local authorities, work towards highlighting the assets and opportunities in the AEC for employment, living and investment, and the development of pilot initiatives which aim to facilitate an internationally competitive region.
The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment’s Regional Enterprise Plans are developed by regional stakeholders and focus on undertaking collaborative initiatives that can help deliver enterprise growth in each of the nine regions across Ireland. The WDC is the coordinator of the West Regional Enterprise Plan which has specific objectives and actions set out to support and drive the renewable energy sector along the Atlantic Coast.
There is now a clear opportunity for the Atlantic region to become a hub for renewable energy. The 2022 report, ‘Growth of Onshore to Offshore Wind: Atlantic Region Wind Energy & Supply-Chain Feasibility Study’, led by a group of regional stakeholders (including the WDC), found that by 2037 there could be upwards of 5,000 jobs supported directly by the offshore wind sector alone. It also found that by 2037 the offshore wind sector could generate up to €400 million in Gross Value Add annually. The impact on indirect employment could be equally transformative with the potential the creation of high-quality, sustainable jobs. Wind energy is seen as an opportunity to deliver on climate goals, to deliver jobs, economic development, infrastructure, innovation and foreign direct investment in the Atlantic region.
The development of renewable energy infrastructure in rural areas can contribute to balanced regional development, sustainable and thriving communities, the wider national economy and our climate action policy. My Department will continue to work with our key partners across government to harness the natural resources of our rural regions which continue to make a central contribution to the achievement of the Government's vision for rural Ireland, as set out in Our Rural Future.
188. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development to provide her response to the recommendation in the UCC report Housing and Sustaining Communities on the west Cork Islands to support young families on the islands through services and infrastructure, including free ferries where access to schooling is not available on the islands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18608/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, my Department is currently finalising a new National Islands Policy. This policy will set out the Government's vision for supporting and sustaining our island communities.
Officials from my Department have engaged with the authors of the report concerned in order to discuss its findings. The report’s recommendations are now being considered by my Department in the context of the forthcoming National Islands Policy, in consultation with various stakeholders across Government Departments and State bodies, including the Department of Education, as responsibility for school transport schemes is within the remit of that Department.
