Written Answers Nos. 1817-1830
1817. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the annual budgetary amount allocated to the provision of a range of free, adequate, safe and suitable period products in all educational publicly-funded settings including schools, colleges and HEIs from 2021 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56558/23]
View answer1818. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the breakdown of the €0.5 million allocated to each further and higher education institution in Budget 2024 for free period products, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56559/23]
View answer1819. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the nine further education and training colleges that undertook the ‘Worryfree’ pilot delivering free, sustainable period products and dispensers for students in participating ETBs, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56595/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1817, 1818 and 1819 together.
As the Deputy is aware, matters relating to schools do not fall within my remit but that of my colleague Minister Foley. Regarding Education and Training Boards (ETBs), last year, a pilot called ‘Worryfree’ was rolled across further education and training colleges across six ETBs - see table below.
The pilot delivered free, sustainable period products and dispensers for students in participating ETBs. In addition to the pilot in ETBs, other work is taking place across Higher Education Institutions where free period products are currently available, such as ‘Code Red’ in MTU, ‘Any time of the month’ in University Limerick (UL), Brigit’s Basket in the National College of Ireland (NCI). The End Period Poverty campaign in UCD, DCU & Mary Immaculate College (MIC) also have similar initiatives currently running. DCU have also devised a postal service for students who are unable to access the products on campus.
The Department of Health established a Period Poverty Implementation Group to achieve cross sectoral input and to co-ordinate oversight of both the Bill and implementation measures recommended in the Discussion Paper. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit in my Department represents DFHERIS on this group. It is envisaged that the work of the Group will address the indignity experienced by those who may need period products every month but cannot afford them. The DFHERIS and the Department of Health, worked collaboratively on the development of a drawdown contract for the provision of period products in education establishments and other public institutions. The OGP Cleaning, Paper, Personal Hygiene & Period Equality products Procurement Framework commenced on 1st June 2023 and will run for twenty-four months, with a maximum of two extensions of twelve months each.
In Budget 2024, €500,000 was allocated for initiatives towards equality and diversity in the further and higher education sectors. A portion of this will be for addressing period poverty. My officials are currently finalising these allocation and I will update accordingly.
Location of ETBs which took part in Worryfree pilot
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New Ross Youthreach, Butlersland Industrial Estate, New Ross, Co Wexford. Y34 H048. |
WWETB |
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Further Education Centre, Longford, N39HR68. |
LWETB |
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BTEI, North Block, Army Barracks Campus, Dillon Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, E91 FR52 |
TETB |
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Donegal ETB, Letterkenny Training Centre, Ballyraine Industrial Estate, Ramelton Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, F92 WR89 |
Donegal ETB |
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Sligo College of Further Education Clarion Road Sligo F91 DY66. |
MSLETB |
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Castlemill Education Centre, Dublin |
DDLETB |
1820. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will consider extending the SUSI grant scheme to part-time students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56648/23]
View answerThe National Access Plan has called for more flexible forms of learning for target groups and those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. One of the priorities for Budget 2024 is reducing child poverty. We know that Education has the power to transform lives, lift people out of poverty and break down cycles of intergenerational poverty.
I have been consistent in my position that we need to develop our student support system over time to ensure that it supports more flexible forms of learning.
Through sectoral engagements, there is an increased recognition that supporting part-time and blended learning has the potential to increase access to learning in the medium term, once existing reform commitments are embedded within the sector.
The fees associated with part-time programmes are a key barrier to higher education access and the expansion of fee support to part-time students has the potential to transform how education is accessed by those most in need.
As part of the tertiary package for Budget 2024, I secured €2 million of support for the part-time provision.
From September 2024, a pilot part-time fee grant will be available to provide support for students who are undertaking eligible undergraduate part-time programmes leading to a major award, both in-person, blended and online. These students would previously have been ineligible for a student grant.
The Scheme will be means tested and available to those with reckonable income under €55,924 and will be subject to satisfying certain criteria. This will benefit vulnerable cohorts and low-income families.
The Scheme is currently under development. My Department is currently engaging in further discussions with key stakeholders and Higher Education Institutions and communication will be provided in the next few months on the new Scheme and how to apply when the parameters have been agreed.
1821. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will give due consideration to increasing the income threshold for SUSI grants by 15%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56655/23]
View answerImprovements to the student grant scheme has been a key priority since becoming Minister, and I have already made a number of significant improvements to the Student Grant Scheme over past Budgets benefiting thousands of students.
I have already started the process of increasing certain thresholds. From September 2024:-
• The Band 4 maintenance grant threshold will increase from the current threshold of €46,790 to €50,840 so more students will be eligible for a maintenance grant.
• The 100% Student Contribution threshold is increasing by 10% from €50,840 to €55,924.
Reducing the cost of education will continue to be a priority for me in 2024. As per the last number of years I will be publishing an options paper on reducing the cost of education which will examine the issue of increasing thresholds.
1822. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if recipients of the Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Scheme Postgraduate Award will receive the same increase in their stipends as IRC Government of Ireland PG Award recipients. [56665/23]
View answerPhD students who are awardees on Irish Research Council awards will each receive the stipend increase of €3,000 bringing the stipend amount to €22,000 per annum, effective from 1st January 2024. Awardees on the Enterprise Partnership Postgraduate Scheme and the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme will receive the same increase.
1823. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on stipend increases for Higher Education Authority funded PhD researchers across all categories of HEA-funded research that is, HEA PhD, HEA extensions, and so on. [56666/23]
View answerThe Higher Education Authority (HEA) has a statutory responsibility for the effective governance and regulation of the higher education system. In support of its mandate, the HEA exercises functions in respect of allocating the moneys provided by the Oireachtas for the core activities of the higher education institutions.
It allocates over one billion euro in state funds annually to the institutions in support of their spectrum of core activities which range from teaching and learning, to research and external engagement.
This funding is allocated as a block grant from the HEA to each institution. It is the subject of the Funding the Future initiative for which I secured an additional €60m in Budget 2024, building on the increase that I secured in Budget 2023.
The HEA does not operate PhD programmes directly. Institutional scholarship supports received by PhD students from their higher education institution are funded primarily from the block grant. The internal deployment of the annual block grant allocation across the above spectrum of activities is at the discretion of each autonomous higher education institution.
1824. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide a full list of PhD scholarships and awards that will see increased stipends in 2024 (details supplied). [56667/23]
View answerIn 2024, all of the PhD students who currently receive a stipend under Programmes funded by the Irish Research Council (IRC) and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) will receive the stipend increase of €3,000 per annum, bringing the stipend amount to €22,000 per annum. The provision and level of stipend provided by PhD funders outside my Department is at the discretion of each funder.
Approximately 960 students funded through the IRC and 1,870 students funded by SFI (i.e. fully funded PhD students on active SFI awards) benefited from the increase in the stipend in 2023.
The IRC and SFI forecasts that a similar number of students will benefit from the increased stipends in 2024.
IRC fund PhD students under a number of Programmes, listed below:
• Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarships
• Enterprise Partnership Postgraduate
• Employment Based Postgraduate Scholarships
• SFI/IRC Pathway Awards
• Laureate Awards
• CHIST-ERA Awards
Through SFI, the 2023 payment was made to 16 separate HEIs, and SFI expects the 2024 payment to be spread across a similar number of HEIs. See table below providing 2023 breakdown.
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2023 |
|
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Higher Education Institution |
Eligible number of students |
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University of Limerick |
147 |
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University College Dublin |
404 |
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Trinity College Dublin |
311 |
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University College Cork |
219 |
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University of Galway |
190 |
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Maynooth University |
92 |
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Dublin City University |
179 |
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Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland |
34 |
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South East Technological University |
13 |
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Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
9 |
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Teagasc |
17 |
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Tyndall National Institute |
89 |
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Technological University of Shannon |
10 |
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Technological University of Dublin |
108 |
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Atlantic Technological University |
3 |
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Munster Technological University |
45 |
|
Total |
1870 |
1825. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason motor mechanic apprentices can wear corrective lenses to compensate for colour blindness but electrical engineers cannot, despite the former dealing with more complex wires for example, plume wires; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56759/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for her question.
Currently, 58 of the 73 statutory apprenticeship programmes have no qualifying criteria associated in regards to colour blindness. More generally, to support apprentices, information is sought at the point of registration on any additional supports that may be needed. Education and training providers offer learning and other supports to apprentices during their training and many employers also provide accommodations in the workplace to apprentices with disabilities. Approximately 3% of the apprentice population has declared one or more disabilities and are receiving additional supports. A majority of these identified as having dyslexia or other disabilities related to learning.
For a small number of professions, trichromacy (i.e. normal colour vision) is a critical requirement. For apprenticeships, this impacts on the participation requirements for 15 programmes. Specifically, for these programmes apprenticeship applicants must pass the Ishihara colour vision test without the use of corrective lenses.
The list of apprenticeships that this applies to is set out below:
• Aircraft Mechanics
• Electrical
• Electrical Instrumentation
• Instrumentation
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
• Electronic Security Systems
• Floor and Wall Tiling
• Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) Engineer
• Painting and Decorating
• Agricultural Mechanics
• Construction Plant Fitting
• Heavy Vehicle Mechanics
• Vehicle Body Repairs
• Motor Mechanics
• Plumbing
SOLAS are continually reviewing the existing apprenticeship programmes and the matter of colour vision testing is included in the agenda of the PAB (Programme Advisory Board) for this process. In terms of the review of colour vision requirements for apprenticeship programmes, this was discussed at recent PAB meetings for several apprenticeship programmes where colour vision is currently a requirement:
Tues 28th November 2023– Electrical
Tues 28th November 2023 – Heavy Vehicle Mechanics
Wed 29th November 2023 – Plumbing
The matter was considered by PAB attendees, and the outcome of this agenda item discussion was that no changes were considered as necessary for the existing requirements. That is, prospective apprentices for these programmes are still required to complete the colour vision test without the use of corrective lenses, in the programmes identified.
Given the potential for medical and technological advancements, SOLAS are committed to ensuring that this matter is kept under review as part of the PAB process on an ongoing basis. Where the potential for a change to existing requirements is identified by a PAB, SOLAS will seek input from specialists to inform future formal reviews.
I know that there is a lot of interest in this particular topic and so I am happy to clarify for the Deputy that whilst the matter does not undergo a formal review, it is considered by the Programme Advisory Boards on an ongoing basis.
1826. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will list the ongoing research commissioned under the remit of his Department through the North-South Ministerial Council, Shared Island Initiative or through other all-island arrangements; if he will outline the research that has been completed; the date of publication of the research since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56915/23]
View answerPolicies within my Department are not encompassed by the Education Sectoral meetings within the North-South Ministerial Council. This is led by my colleague, the Minister for Education.
However, since the establishment of my Department in August 2020, there were two completed research projects, commissioned by the Shared Island Unit of the Department of Taoiseach, and undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). These are:
Comparison of North South Education Systems: Published in April 2022, this study, based on international and national survey data, administrative data and interviews with policy stakeholders, examined the commonalities and differences between the education systems in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
North South Student Mobility: Published in September 2023, this research analysed trends in Student Mobility in higher education between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Both reports have provided useful evidence to my Department, which has facilitated a number of initiatives to deepen collaboration in tertiary education on a North-South basis.
1827. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the amount of additional core funding that was allocated in Budget 2024 to the higher education sector. [57014/23]
View answerInvesting in further and higher education is an investment in innovation, creativity, and our future and in 2024 over €4.1 billion is being invested in these sectors. This is my Department’s fourth Budget and I’m incredibly proud of the significant progress that has been made so far in creating a sustainable and thriving future for Further and Higher Education. In 2024, Higher Education will see a significant additional increase in core funding of circa €178m which includes capital increases and pay and pension increases arising from building momentum.
This additional investment will allow my Department to:
• Address sustainable funding of higher education as laid out in Funding the Future for increased staffing levels, and strengthened capacity while also enhancing support services for students and greater alignment of provision with priority skills needs;
• Support additional medicine places for Irish/EU students. This initiative is being run in conjunction with the Department of Health.
• For the first time ever, fees for undergraduate part time studies will now be fully funded benefitting eligible one parent families, students with disabilities and carers on low incomes as part of a brand-new pilot programme
• Continue the investment in the student grant scheme with increases applying to maintenance grants, adjacent and non-adjacent rates, effective from January 2024, restoration of maintenance grants to eligible postgraduate students on a similar basis to undergraduates also commencing in January 2024 and increases to the income threshold for Band 4 Maintenance Grant and 100% Student Contribution Grant by 10% applicable from September 2024; and
• Funding to support the National Tertiary Office in expanding the number of joint degree programmes outside the Central Applications Office process;
1828. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in line with Action 54 of the Final Report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism, if his Department has, or if he has plans to, liaise with the Department of Health to increase the number of places in third-level courses in occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and nursing and work to match these numbers with clinical placements. [57103/23]
View answerA significant amount of work has taken place to date, in collaboration with the Department of Health, to increase the number of places in disciplines with acute health care and medical skills shortages. There are some fundamental issues, which are in the control of the health sector, which must be solved to enable expansion. These relate to guarantees of clinical placements, detailed and robust workforce planning projections and engagement with regulators. In addition to qualifying additional health professionals, success in the recruitment and retention of health professionals by the health sector will be key.In July 2022, I announced an increase in medicine places for EU students in Irish Medical Schools, alongside the Minister for Health. The agreement reached with the medical schools led to an increase of 60 places in September 2022, climbing to 120 in September 2023, and up to 200 by 2026. This will mean by 2026 an additional 200 students will commence medicine each year.In July 2023, the creation of over 400 additional healthcare places in higher education institutions in the State was announced. This represents meaningful additionality within existing infrastructure, and it comes on top of substantial expansion in nursing in recent years.My Department is a key member of the Steering Group for Disability Workforce chaired by Minister Rabbitte and works closely with colleagues in the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, as well as the Department of Health and HSE on expanding the workforce across therapy disciplines. Additionally there has been extensive engagement with regards to ring-fenced places in Northern Ireland for students from the Republic in key healthcare and therapy areas. Eighty (80) once-off additional places in allied health professions were made available to ROI students in Ulster University in September 2023. These included 30 places in Physiotherapy, 28 in Occupational Therapy and 10 in Speech and Language Therapy. The Department of Health is separately funding 140 nursing students in both Queens University Belfast and Ulster University.My priority is to ensure that we build capacity in a sustainable way which will allow for steady growth and forward planning by both the health and higher education sectors for a graduate pipeline to meet the needs of the health system and society as a whole.My Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Health to progress this work.
1829. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to increase the number of places in third-level courses in planning in line with 55 of the Final Report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism. [57104/23]
View answerIreland has an advanced system of skills provision, which is agile and responsive to skills shortages as they emerge to address evolving societal and economic needs. Through its work in apprenticeship, construction and green skills and informed by research commissioned, this Department is cognisant of the challenges presented with regard to qualified planner availability. These include issues associated with attracting and retaining planners in the profession and the related issue of student demand for places on planning-related courses. The Public Service Apprenticeship Plan, launched in August 2023, recognises the skills need for planning officials in the public service. Since then, a number of interested organisations, including DHLGH, the Office of the Planning Regulator, and the Office of Public Works have approached DFHERIS for guidance and support for their ambitions to leverage the apprenticeship model to address this shortage as well as to enhance accessibility for a more diverse cohort of candidates to the planning profession. As employees, apprentices are paid for the duration of their training, and it is typical that they are offered continued employment by their employer upon completion of the programme. This is a clear advantage of this qualification route and it would broaden the profession as an option for those who may experience access barriers to reskilling or upskilling in higher education. An apprenticeship programme typically takes 2-years to develop and launch. As such, the work to develop a new programme in planning would be targeting a Q4 2025 first-intake at its earliest. The Department remains available to facilitate the consortia with accessing available supports and provide appropriate advice to enable this work.In higher education, the Department provides targeted funding via the National Training Fund, to support upskilling and reskilling in areas of critical skills need to the economy. Through the Human Capital Initiative Pillar 1 and Springboard+ initiatives, courses in Marine Spatial Planning and Corporate Environmental Planning are being offered in 2023/24 with 16 places being made available on each course. With regard to the potential development of other new programmes to support the pipeline of planning professionals and with specialist knowledge of neurodiversity issues and urban design, it is important to note that higher education institutions are autonomous within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997, the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. Under this legislation the institutions are academically independent and are entitled to regulate their own academic affairs including admissions, programmes of study and awarding degrees and other qualifications. Higher education institutions receive funding from a variety of sources which contribute to the expenditure associated with the full range of institutional activities. Funding includes recurrent funding allocated by this Department to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA funded higher education institutions, allocated as a block grant. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of funding , including how much is allocated to individual areas including Planning-related education, is the responsibility of each individual institution. My Department remains open to engaging with relevant stakeholders on the above matters.
1830. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in line with Action 57 of the Final Report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee, if his Department has plans to liaise with the Department of Education and the Central Applications Office to provide prospective students with information regarding Leaving Certificate results and third level placements in sufficient time to allow for higher education institutions to engage with students who may have need for additional supports. [57105/23]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission (SEC) has responsibility for the operation, delivery and development of the State examinations. The SEC has not confirmed a date on which the Leaving Certificate 2024 results will be issued. However, it continues to work intensively to prepare for the examinations process.The date for the issue of the results for 2023 was the 25th August, which was a full week earlier than the 2022 results, which issued on the 2nd of September 2022. It was a significant and very welcome step towards pre-pandemic norms in relation to the timing for issue of results.My Department will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including the Department of Education, regarding transitions from Post Primary to third level education, including those who require additional support.Funding of €12m is being made available to third level institutions between 2022 and 2025 to improve services for students on the autism spectrum. This initiative forms part of PATH 4 of the National Access Plan (NAP), which highlighted the need to improve and increase representation in higher education for students with a disability including students with autism and students with intellectual disabilities.
