Written Answers Nos. 1009-1026
1009. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to implement blended learning for English language schools; if there are plans to offer further advice to English language schools in relation to blended learning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32863/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has no plans at present for the implementation of blended learning in the English language education sector.
The Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021 Plan for Living with COVID-19 sets out the Framework for Restrictive Measures in Response to COVID-19 for adult education which includes English Language Education (ELE) as open with protective measures at Level 2 and requiring all appropriate protective measures to be escalated at Level 3. At Level 4 and above, ELE provision moves primarily online with appropriate protective measures in place for essential attendance on site.
ELE providers have been advised that they should only reopen their classroom settings where they are satisfied that they have put appropriate arrangements in place consistent with appropriate national guidelines to ensure it is safe to do so in terms of their responsibilities to staff and their duty of care to students. The Department has continued to highlight the requirement for the sector and individual providers to put in place and drive the implementation in each setting of a cohesive plan detailing appropriate arrangements for the re-opening of ELE meeting where owners assess that it is safe to so and in line with public health advice. The Department is continuing to engage with sectoral representative bodies and staff representatives on this basis.
1014. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the breakdown of all research funding that has been made available for research on Covid-19 in tabular form; the amount that has been allocated; the research that has been initiated; the amount of funding for Covid-19 research fund that was mobilised from existing research funding; the amount that was from new funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32916/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish Research Council (IRC) is supporting 8 COVID-19 related research projects through its rapid response partnership with the Health Research Board (HRB). The 8 projects funded by the IRC are within the social and policy countermeasures strand, and were funded from the IRC’s existing budget. Details of these projects are attached.
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) redirected existing budgets from those programmes that could not be run due to the pandemic to fund research to address the immediate and pressing needs of society arising from the pandemic, and to develop novel solutions that have the potential to impact society. This research has been funded through two programmes. Firstly, the COVID-19 Rapid Response Call which was run in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council. Those awards that have been funded by Science Foundation Ireland are attached.
Secondly, SFI has also made an investment of €4.8m into the immunology of COVID-19 to researchers at the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and Trinity Translational Medicine Institute at Trinity College Dublin. The research will seek to understand why some people are more susceptible to COVID-19 than others. This substantial investment which is being funded through the SFI Strategic Partnerships Programme, and is co-funded by additional investment by Allied Irish Bank (AIB) through the Trinity Foundation, brings together national and international partners to address key research questions designed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is also worth noting that the academic community also galvanised into action, making hugely valuable contributions to the national and global emergency effort.
1015. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the financial reserves of each university, technological university and institute of technology in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32921/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have provided the information requested by the Deputy in the attached document. The details provided are for the 2017/18 financial year, which represents the most recent audited position for all Universities, Technological Universities and Institutes of Technology.
1017. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will address a matter in relation to possible issues arising from being in receipt of PUP and applications for SUSI grants (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32961/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is available to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the terms and conditions of funding, including those relating to residency, means, nationality and previous academic attainment.
The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine. For the 2020/21 academic year, student grant applications will be assessed based on gross income from all sources for the period 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019.
The Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020 establishes the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment as a social insurance benefit scheme separate from other social protection statutory schemes including the Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Jobseeker Allowance and Jobseeker Benefit schemes.
For student grant purposes the Covid-19 payment has been treated as reckonable income for the SUSI means assessment process since it was introduced in March. This means that the Covid-19 payment is treated in a similar fashion to other Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection payments such as Jobseekers Benefit/Allowance, thus ensuring a consistency of approach and an equitable treatment of students and their families in the SUSI means assessment process.
All applications are assessed nationally with reference to the terms and conditions of the relevant student grant scheme. The terms and conditions of funding are applied impartially to all applicants.
However, if a student or party to their application experiences a change in circumstances that is not a temporary change and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, they can apply to have their application assessed under the change in circumstances provision of the relevant Student Grant Scheme. The income of all parties to the application will be assessed or reassessed on the current year (2020) and they may also be asked to provide evidence of the current year’s (2020) income.
Apart from the Student Grant Scheme, the Deputy will be aware of the recently announced €168m funding package for the return to education. This package includes a €10m access support package for higher education students. I have approved the allocation of €8.1m of this funding to top up the Student Assistance Fund (SAF). The SAF assists students in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Institutions have the autonomy to maximise the flexibility in the Student Assistance Fund to enable HEIs to support students during the COVID-19 situation. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in the third level institution attended.
In addition, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from a student's local Tax office or from the Revenue Commissioners website www.revenue.ie
1018. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his attention has been drawn to a report in relation to recruitment processes at the University of Limerick produced by a person (details supplied) and which was presented at a recent special sitting of the governing body of the University; his views on the report; when the report will be published; the steps he is taking on foot of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33007/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, under the current statutory framework, Universities such as the University of Limerick (UL) are independent and autonomous bodies and on that basis are responsible for the conduct of their own day-to-day operations.
In that context, my Department understand UL initiated the report referred to by the Deputy and therefore its publication and any recommendations arising are matters for the university to manage.
1019. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the CDETB has plans to repair the clock on the Rathmines College building. [33028/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department have contacted City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) in relation to this matter. CDETB have stated that they have repaired the clock on a number of occasions in recent years. These repairs are expensive as some of the work needs to be undertaken abroad on the malfunctioning parts.
CDETB have been advised that a more substantial overhaul is required to ensure the clock operates over a sustained period. It is understood that CDETB are currently investigating suppliers with the expertise to quote for and deliver this work.
1020. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views regarding grading errors and college places (details supplied). [33029/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraUniversities and Institutes of Technology are autonomous and determine their own procedures for admission. The CAO process applications for undergraduate, and some postgraduate, courses on their behalf.
Decisions on admissions are made by the higher education institutions who then instruct the CAO to make offers to successful candidates. Therefore neither I nor my Department have a function in relation to such matters and it is not within my remit to intervene in individual cases.
An outline of how the random selection process works is outlined on the CAO website at the following link: https://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=randomnumbers
The randomly generated number used as part of the selection process is assigned to each applicant prior to any offers being issued. I understand, based on the information available to me, that in the case of an appeal or amendment which leads someone to obtaining an upgraded result, their random number remains the same. If they are now in a position where they would have received an offer in a previous round - i.e. if their randomly selected number is higher than that of the last person offered- they are offered a place, if it is lower than the last person offered, they are not offered. As such, applicants who have points upgraded as a result of a corrected grade are not disadvantaged.
If an applicant has an issue with their CAO application that is not resolved to the applicant’s satisfaction, the option to appeal is available. The CAO has an Independent Appeals Commission, to which recourse may be had by applicants who believe that they have been treated unfairly by CAO, and whose complaints have not been resolved by CAO. The function of the Appeals Commission is to ensure that the rules are applied fairly.
Appeals should be addressed to: The Secretary, CAO Independent Appeals Commission, c/o Tower House, Eglinton Street, Galway, Ireland.
1023. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 130 of 17 September 2020, if the briefing document provided to him on his appointment as Minister has been published on his Department's website; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33118/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department provided a comprehensive briefing document to me on my appointmentas Minister. The briefing document provided to me will be published on theDepartment's website shortly.
1024. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if HEIs and SUSI will extend the deadline by which a student must withdraw from a course before losing eligibility to receive a SUSI grant to at least 31 December 2020 in view of the impact of Covid-19 on students and the commencement of their studies in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33179/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraHigher Education Institutions are autonomous bodies and are responsible for their own day-to-day management and operational affairs, including the management of academic affairs. They retain the right to determine their own policies and procedures. Deadlines and procedures for students to withdraw from chosen courses is a matter for individual institutions and my Department does not have a role in this matter.
Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, progression, previous academic attainment and means.
To satisfy the terms and conditions of the student grant scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course, having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course.
Under the progression/previous academic attainment criteria of the scheme, a grant will not be paid to a student for a repeat period of study on the same course, or for a different course at the same level, irrespective of whether or not a grant was paid previously. The objective of this policy is to help as many students as possible to obtain one qualification at each level of study.
However, I can confirm that students who opt to sit the Leaving Certificate examinations later in the year and who receive an improved CAO offer on foot of these results will also receive a deferred college offer to start their course in the 2021/22 academic year. If a candidate who has started first year of a course becomes entitled to a higher CAO offer and chooses to accept same in the following academic year, attendance for the first year on the new course would remain eligible for free fees and SUSI funding as appropriate.
Students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in the college attended. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.
Also, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education, including approved postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from the Revenue Commissioners on www.revenue.ie.
1026. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of contracts approved in his Department in 2019 and to date in 2020 without competitive tender; the details of the contract; the company awarded the contract; and the full value of the contract in tabular form. [33273/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was established in July 2020. There is a nil return for 2019 and a complete record is not available in respect of 2020 as the full report of the award of contracts on a non-competitive basis will be compiled after the end of the accounting period.
