Parliamentary questions

Apprenticeship Programmes

Mairéad Farrell

351. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of electrical, plumbing and carpentry apprentices who completed their course in 2023, broken down by the year in which they first registered for their course, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18500/24]

Youth Work Supports

Marian Harkin

352. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on whether alignment of the Youthreach calendar year with the second level schools' calendar would be a cost-saving measure to public expenditure as well as a contribution to the educational delivery of the service, going forward; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18531/24]

Youth Work Supports

Gino Kenny

353. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science how the Youthreach programme functions above the 166 days for students, given the reduction in staff who are employed as pro-rata teachers/resource persons; the percentage breakdown, by centre to indicate the way staffing levels change during this time (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18532/24]

Youth Work Supports

Gino Kenny

354. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if principal officers and deputy principal officers who work within the Youthreach education service read the Youthreach Employee Wellbeing Report 2022: A review of employees’ experience of working in the Youthreach Sector, published in January 2023; if he has concerns which may have been raised by the Youthreach Employee Wellbeing Report 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18533/24]

Research and Development

Neasa Hourigan

355. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total expenditure in the form of grants or relief given to social enterprises for research and innovation in each of the years 2020 to 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18570/24]

Student Accommodation

Mairéad Farrell

356. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 754 of 16 April 2024, the specific legislation that his officials and those from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are looking to amend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18575/24]

Student Accommodation

Michael Healy-Rae

193. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will address a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18181/24]

Apprenticeship Programmes

Imelda Munster

194. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide a list of apprenticeships that are available in the Louth and Meath region; the number of apprenticeships available in counties Louth and Meath in each of the years 2022 to 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18138/24]

Apprenticeship Programmes

Imelda Munster

195. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide a list of the number of apprenticeships available in each of the years 2022 to 2024, in tabular form. [18139/24]

Youth Work Supports

Matt Carthy

196. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he intends to align Youthreach centres for education with second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18301/24]

Youth Work Supports

Matt Carthy

197. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his response to the Youthreach Employee Wellbeing Report 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18302/24]

Question Heading for question(s) 198

Mairéad Farrell

198. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 581 of 7 February 2024, given that is has been three months, if he can please give an indication of when Solas will be in a position to provide a breakdown, by county, in tabular form, of the number of craft apprentices currently waiting for off the job training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18369/24]

Departmental Advertising

Ged Nash

199. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for figures on the total spend for all forms of advertising in the years 2022 and 2023 in his Department; if figures can be provided on each Department’s spend on local media advertising (print and broadcast respectively, and broken down on that basis) for those years; if the Department used/uses an agency to place advertising; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18393/24]

Departmental Contracts

Carol Nolan

200. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department has at any time engaged the services of a company (details supplied) or allocated the company funding or support in any capacity; if he or his officials have engaged with personnel from the company; if so, the details of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18445/24]

Period Poverty

Duncan Smith

694. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will increase the €200 thousand share of funding for Naughton + Smyth framework for the provision of period products to higher-education institutions (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18090/24]

Third Level Education

Patrick Costello

695. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on Trinity College’s policy (details supplied) which prevents any external tour guides from using the campus and/or Book of Kells for guiding purposes. [17314/24]

Third Level Education

Patrick Costello

696. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on Trinity College’s policy (details supplied) which prevents any external tour guides from using the campus and/or Book of Kells for guiding purposes. [17315/24]

Third Level Education

Mairéad Farrell

697. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when the international education mark will be rolled out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17391/24]

Third Level Education

Mairéad Farrell

698. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the additional resources that will be allocated to ensure that education providers are compliant with the international education mark. [17392/24]

Departmental Expenditure

Sorca Clarke

699. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his Department's capital underspend, if any, in 2023; and his Department's projected spend in 2024. [17422/24]

Research Funding

Ivana Bacik

700. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to allocate increased funding across all career stages for researchers; and his views on the importance of basic or frontier research and the need for parity of esteem across disciplines. [17530/24]

Grant Payments

Louise O'Reilly

701. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the SUSI grant will be rolled out for part-time courses from September 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17562/24]

Third Level Education

Louise O'Reilly

702. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the closure of a college (details supplied) and the impact it is having on students and their families; and if he will engage with students on the Bachelor of Education in Montessori (early years) Education course to find alternative options to complete their degrees. [17581/24]

Grant Payments

Patrick Costello

703. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the grants or scholarships available to Irish students studying for masters degrees in UK institutions. [17591/24]

Period Poverty

Francis Noel Duffy

704. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if, following the success of his pilot scheme of free period products in further education/training centres, his Department has engaged with the Minister for Health on the rollout of free period products in universities and the wider third level sector. [17628/24]

Research and Development

Brian Leddin

705. Deputy Brian Leddin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to list the members of the Steering Group, Implementation Forum and Advisory Forum of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy; and whether minutes of the meeting of each body are published online. [17636/24]

Medical Research and Training

Mairéad Farrell

706. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the plans or actions he has taken to attain membership of the European Infrastructure for Translational Medicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17664/24]

Third Level Education

Mark Ward

707. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what options are available to an Irish student (details supplied) whose studies were impacted by Covid lockdowns; what avenues are available to her to complete her course; if the Department will intervene on her behalf to allow her to continue her studies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17673/24]

Third Level Education

Mairéad Farrell

708. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide a list of all universities identifying whether each has run a surplus or deficit for the financial year 2023, the value of this surplus or deficit and the change from the financial year 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17676/24]

Further and Higher Education

Peadar Tóibín

709. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the action he is taking to retain current and future personnel in the construction sector, and from being recruited internationally; the number of graduates and those employed in the construction sector who have emigrated in each of the past five years, by general trade and specialist category in the industry; the number of the same cohort who returned to Ireland in that time period, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17868/24]

Third Level Education

Neasa Hourigan

710. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide an update on the work of his Department to secure places for students from this jurisdiction in medical schools in Northern Ireland; whether he has ensured that these students would then be eligible to apply to work in the HSE on graduation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17898/24]

Third Level Admissions

James Lawless

711. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to examine an issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17944/24]

Education and Training Provision

John Brady

314. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of staff employed in the delivery of English language classes to IPAS and BOTPs in Ireland, by area, and on a monthly basis, for the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17107/24]

Education and Training Provision

John Brady

315. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of IPAS and BOTPs who are receiving English language classes, on an area-by-area and monthly basis, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17108/24]

Qualifications Recognition

Paul Kehoe

316. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the process by which a person can have their professional qualification (details supplied) recognised by the NFQ in line with recognition of similar awards from 17 September 2007 to 6 November 2012, which are recognised by HETAC as equivalent to an award at level 9 on the framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17151/24]

Grant Payments

Pauline Tully

317. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will consider changing the eligibility criteria for the student grant scheme to enable students whose family was granted legal residency in Ireland through the regularisation of long-term undocumented migrants scheme to apply using the total number of years they lived in Ireland, including when they were undocumented. [17239/24]

Departmental Reports

Thomas Pringle

171. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will extend the deadline for sectoral input responses to a report (details supplied), as the request to ETBI on 22 March, with a deadline of 25 March, is a timeline that appears wholly inadequate to facilitate valid sectoral feedback and input; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16764/24]

Departmental Reports

Jennifer Whitmore

172. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide an update on the timeline for completion of a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16798/24]

Departmental Reviews

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

173. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when the review of the status of PhD researchers, that is, their classification as either students or employees, will be published. [16843/24]

Period Poverty

Neasa Hourigan

174. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to ensure all third-level educational institutions provide free period products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16892/24]

Period Poverty

Patrick Costello

175. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will ensure that higher education institutions are sufficiently resourced to be able to provide free on-campus sanitary products to their students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16948/24]

Further and Higher Education

John Brady

753. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what current English language support classes are in place for IPAs and BOTPs; how are they being delivered; the cost of same, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16180/24]

Student Accommodation

Mairéad Farrell

754. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the crisis that has now arisen in Ireland's study abroad sector where visiting international students are not able to source accommodation as the investment fund-owned providers of purpose-built student accommodation has brought in 51-week leases, and the students' home universities are not in a position to pay the cost of the additional ten-to-12-week leases; if his Department has conducted any analysis of the impact these 51-week leases could have on the study abroad sector, which is worth €220 million per annum to the economy and employs 350 staff members; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16040/24]

Apprenticeship Programmes

Rose Conway-Walsh

755. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total number of new registrations for apprenticeships, broken down by consortia and craft; the total number of consortia and craft apprentices currently registered; the number of apprentices currently waiting to access off-site training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16159/24]

Further and Higher Education

Kathleen Funchion

756. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if a SUSI application by person (details enclosed) will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16236/24]

Student Unions

Bríd Smith

757. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware that a students’ union (details supplied) recently launched a petition calling for the Government to provide free period products in all higher education institutions, which has now almost 3,000 signatures; if he will commit to increasing funding in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16323/24]

Further and Higher Education

Niamh Smyth

758. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if funding is available for Irish citizens studying in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16330/24]

Further and Higher Education

Alan Kelly

759. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of approved PLC places in County Tipperary in the years of 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [16414/24]

Further and Higher Education

Carol Nolan

760. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what arrangements or pathways are in place to assist beneficiaries of temporary protection or international protection applicants in accessing the CAO application system; the number of persons in each category that have been assisted from 2019 to date; what grants are available to enable participation of persons in both categories in further and higher education; if such grants or financial supports are means tested; the total value of the grants or financial assistance provided during this time period to both BoPT CAO applicants and IPAS CAO applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16425/24]

Further and Higher Education

Seán Haughey

761. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the recent announcement concerning the closure of a college (details supplied); if he will intervene to assist these students to continue their courses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16448/24]