Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 October 2017
140. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the concerns of the fourth level education sector in view of the increasing importance of achieving the highest level of qualification and an ability to compete effectively internationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45259/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe quality of our doctoral education is vital to the development of Ireland’s human and knowledge capital. The National Framework for Doctoral Education provides for the highest standards in the provision of doctoral education and research through the endorsement of a number of key principles. These principles include facilitating consistent excellence in the quality of postgraduate education and training, including research undertaken at Master’s and doctoral levels; enabling and encouraging higher education institutions to work more closely in the delivery of an improved learner-experience and outcome; maximising the employability of doctoral graduates across a broad range of employment sectors by ensuring that the acquisition of discipline-specific knowledge is complemented by the development of transferable skills, and will underpin the international standing of our doctoral awards. A key aim of the National Framework is to underpin excellence in all forms of doctoral education.
The Government is committed to providing a more sustainable funding model for higher education. The report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education has been referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Education and Skills as part of the process for formulating a plan for the future of the sector. I look forward to receiving the Committee’s recommendations which will assist in facilitating informed decision-making for the future direction of funding for higher education.
I am cognisant of the immediate challenges facing the higher education sector and so while the Committee has been undertaking this important work, I have been working in the interim to secure additional funding for the sector. In that context, I secured additional recurrent funding for the sector in Budgets 2017 and 2018 of some €133m that will be invested in higher education.
Following the recent Capital Review, I secured an increase in the Exchequer envelope for higher education which will now see €367 million invested over the period 2018-2021. A significant increase from the €110 million planned previously. In addition €21 million is also being provided to support the development of our pipeline of researchers. These investments will take place alongside the roll-out of a major €200m Public-Private Partnership Programme for the higher education sector, which I recently announced.
All of these investments are in addition to the funding provided by other bodies to the higher education sector, including the recent announcements from SFI and the funding for a new PhD and Research Masters Programme to meet enterprise skills needs announced by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
It should also be noted that an independent Expert Panel appointed by the Higher Education Authority have reviewed the Recurrent Grant Allocation Model (RGAM) with a view to making recommendations on the most appropriate model for the future. A Report on the review has been finalised by the Expert Panel and has been submitted to my Department for consideration.
