Written Answers Nos. 851-870
851. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the supports in place for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42817/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn order to be eligible for a grant under the Student Grant Scheme 2021, a student must be progressing i.e. she 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 (Article 17 (3) (b) of the Student Grant Scheme 2021 refers. A student is ineligible if they already hold a higher education and training award at or above Level 6 of the framework of qualifications, or equivalent.
The Student Assistance fund provides financial support to full- or part-time students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher education. The Student Assistance Fund can be claimed for expenses such as books, rent, food, medical costs, class materials, light and heat bills, essential travel and childcare.
Students on full- or part-time courses leading to a higher education award (National Framework of Qualifications level 6-10) in Irish universities, institutes of technology and other approved colleges are eligible to apply for the Student Assistance Fund.
852. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of students in Ireland applying for the SUSI grant scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42888/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe principal support provided by my Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the 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, previous academic attainment and means.
The scheme is demand led and as such the numbers applying each year can change for reasons such as demographics, employment rates etc. For the current academic year the application process for 2021-22 is still open. However, I can confirm that the number of students in Ireland with an Irish Home address who have applied to SUSI for 2021/22 as of 03/09/2021 is as follows.
|
Total number of applications received to 03/09/2021 |
89,096 |
|
Number of applications with an Irish Home address within the state( Republic Of Ireland) |
88,220 |
|
Number of applications with an Irish Home address within Northern Ireland |
115 |
853. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of students in Ireland in student accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42889/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is not held by my Department. My Department's main source of statistics on students is the Student Records System administered by the HEA, which does not record whether students are residing in student accommodation.
854. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the SUSI grant scheme review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42890/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme.
My Department is overseeing the implementation of the review. A Steering Committee has been established to provide direction for the external consultants undertaking the review. Its membership includes: the Union of Students of Ireland; Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), SOLAS, the HEA; Irish University Association (IUA); Technological Higher Education Association (THEA); Technological University Dublin (TUD), the Department of Social Protection and officials from my Department.
A public consultation process closed in April with over 280 submissions received. The views of students were sought via an online survey process in May and over 9,000 survey responses were received. The consultants appointed to conduct the review, are carrying out their analysis of the data captured in the surveys. It is anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future priorities regarding the development of student grant policy, including in the context of forthcoming Estimates process for 2022.
855. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his attention has been drawn to the financial impact and stress that the later payment dates of SUSI for 2021 will have on students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42913/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe SUSI payment schedule is updated each year in line with college start dates, as to receive payment, a student must be registered with their college and the college must confirm their registration with SUSI.
SUSI consulted with colleges and found that for academic year 2021-22, many colleges will open from mid to end September. Following careful consideration, the first scheduled maintenance grant payment for higher education students is 8th October to allow students to register with their college and for colleges to then confirm their registration with SUSI.
To ensure students receive their first payment as soon as possible, SUSI will be making weekly payments from 8th October.
The maintenance grant is paid in nine instalments and in line with previous years, there are four scheduled payments before the end of December. In academic year 2020/21 the first payment was made on 9th October 2020.
856. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the SUSI review. [42914/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments I gave approval to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme.
My Department is overseeing the implementation of the review. A Steering Committee has been established to provide direction for the external consultants undertaking the review. Its membership includes: the Union of Students of Ireland; Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), SOLAS, the HEA; Irish University Association (IUA); Technological Higher Education Association (THEA); Technological University Dublin (TUD), the Department of Social Protection and officials from my Department.
A public consultation process closed in April with over 280 submissions received. The views of students were sought via an online survey process in May and over 9,000 survey responses were received. The consultants appointed to conduct the review, are carrying out their analysis of the data captured in the surveys. It is anticipated that the review will be completed later this year and will inform future priorities regarding the development of student grant policy, including in the context of forthcoming Estimates process for 2022.
857. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his ministerial phones have been hacked or attempted to be hacked during the term of office. [42926/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department uses industry standard mobile device management software to manage corporate mobile phones. There are no records indicating that my Ministerial mobile phone nor the Ministerial mobile phone of my colleague Niall Collins TD was hacked.
858. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has ever used his personal phones for Government business; and if so, if the personal phones have been hacked during his term of office. [42944/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that I do not use a personal phone for government business.
I am not aware of any hacking of the devices I use.
859. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of freedom of information requests responded to by his Department in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021; the number of responses that included documents related to text messages and other phone message communications such as messages sent through an application (details supplied), in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42966/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was established on 02 August 2020. The following table outlines FOI requests received and processed since establishment:
|
Year |
Total Responded |
|
2021 ytd |
43 |
|
2020 (DFHERIS est 08/2020) |
27 |
My Department reports annually to both the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of the Information Commissioner on Freedom of Information activity. The Office of the Information Commissioner publish this data in its annual report and the annual report for 2020 contains statistical information on DFHERIS.
As to the number of responses that include documents related to phone message communications, the eFOI system in operation in my Department does not allow for the bulk examination of records released under the FOI Act.
My Department routinely publishes FOI Disclosure Logs containing summary information on non-personal FOI requests processed and these logs can be accessed via our website.
860. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps he is taking to address the difficulty prospective trade apprentices experience in finding an apprenticeship employer in view of the skills shortage in construction; if a system to match prospective trade apprentices with apprenticeship employers exists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42978/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Apprenticeship Jobs Portal (www.apprenticeshipjobs.ie) was launched in April 2019 to enhance the visibility and accessibility of apprentice job vacancies, and to assist small companies to advertise apprentice vacancies to a wide audience. Although not a matching system the platform is building traction month-on-month, with over 1,200 employers now registered on the site and over 250 job vacancies posted since its launch. Work is continuing to bring all apprentice employers on-board the system.
Under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2012-2025, all apprentice vacancies will be advertised on or linked from the site by the end of 2021. Additional financial and non-financial supports including sector or programme specific recruitment supports for employers and in particular SMEs, will be rolled out during the lifetime of the plan to increase employer engagement and visibility of apprenticeship to applicants. Further enhancements will be considered by the new National Apprenticeship Office over the lifetime of the plan.
Learners of all ages can currently access information and link through to relevant study and education options from www.gov.ie/therightcourse. Work has also commenced towards simplifying student application procedures across the tertiary education sector (further and higher education) with initial engagement underway between this Department, the CAO and SOLAS on how application processes could be presented to learners in an easily accessible manner.
861. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the cost of each commission of investigation under the remit of his Department over the preceding decade. [42993/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Commissions of Investigations Act 2004, in the preceding decade, there have been no commissions of investigation that come under the remit of my Department.
862. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when the next higher education research and development survey will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43025/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey is undertaken every two years among Ireland’s publicly-funded higher education institutions. The last iteration, covering the 2018-2019 academic year, was conducted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Following a Government decision to transfer certain research and innovation functions, the HERD Survey is the responsibility of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science from 2021 onwards.
The next survey, covering the 2020-2021 academic year, will be undertaken in 2022 and its publication is expected in Q4 2022.
863. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when the next higher education system performance framework will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43026/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the publication of the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, the strategic policy context for the System Performance Framework has continued to evolve, including recent significant changes in the higher education landscape. The publication of the Statement of Strategy by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science earlier this year sets out the priorities of the new department for the period 2021-2023 and includes a commitment to deliver a revised system performance framework for Higher Education, which reflects national goals and priorities.
Work is underway to progress this, with a view to having a new system performance framework in place in advance of the academic year 2022-2023.
864. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when the successor strategy to Innovation 2020 will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43027/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe development of a new national strategy for research and innovation (R&I) is a key commitment in the Government’s Economic Recovery Plan 2021, which sets out the “dual ambition of placing research, development and innovation at the heart of addressing Ireland’s economic and societal challenges, and building capacity and capability across the research and innovation system to move R&I up the value chain.”
The strategy will be a whole-of-Government strategy, as was the case for Innovation 2020, with my Department leading the development of the strategy.
A public consultation on the strategy was held in June & July earlier this year. In total, we received over 110 submissions in the public consultation from a range of stakeholders. In late June, the Department held an online stakeholder event where a wide range of stakeholders from across Ireland’s R&I system came together to discuss the issues raised in the consultation paper and inform the strategy. A number of further meetings with key stakeholders have begun and will continue to run into autumn of this year.
Development is ongoing, but it is the intention that the next strategy will set a vision and ambition for Ireland’s R&I system that all relevant actors will identify with and contribute to, with ambitious national strategic goals and objectives out to 2027. Successive action-led Work Programmes will map out specific deliverables over shorter timescales. This will enable agility and responsiveness over the full period of the strategy and a strong focus on delivery and reform.
I intend on bringing the strategy to Government for approval and subsequent publication later this year.
865. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of formal and informal roles held by a person (details supplied) in the name of his Department or associated agency in the lifetime of this Government; when they were appointed to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43038/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that the person referenced has not held any formal or informal roles in my Department or in its agencies during the lifetime of this Government.
866. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he and or his special advisers and-or officials use or have used services (details supplied) to communicate in the past 18 months. [43073/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraNeither I nor my advisors or senior management team use the services referenced by the Deputy. The use of these services is not authorised for official business on devices provided by my department.
867. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice the body that regulates the boundary regulations regarding privately owned homes (details supplied). [43032/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra870. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Justice if there is an avenue to pursue for a private home owner whose neighbour's trees are growing out of control in circumstances in which the neighbours refuse to maintain the trees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41482/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra891. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice if she will introduce legislation to regulate the height of boundary hedges and trees growing on boundaries between private gardens and adjoining properties. [41922/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 867, 870 and 891 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, the difficulties experienced by property owners arising from trees and high hedges on neighbouring land were raised in both the Dáil and the Seanad during the passage of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009.
My Department consulted on the matter with the Law Reform Commission, which had been involved in drafting the 2009 Act. The Commission took the view that unreasonable interference caused by high trees or hedges was a matter in any particular case for tort law or more generally for planning or environmental law.
Under our existing law, a person may be in a position to seek damages or an injunction requiring the cutting of boundary hedges or trees under the tort of nuisance. In order for the nuisance to be actionable, the person concerned would have to show that an easement existed, i.e., whether an easement of light or otherwise, and that there had been a substantial interference with that right.
Mediation on such issues should be considered in the first instance. While the Mediation Act 2017 does not deal directly with the issue of overhanging trees, it does seek to promote mediation as a viable, effective and efficient alternative to court proceedings. This Act contributes to the resolution of disputes by means of mediation, thereby reducing legal costs associated with such disputes and avoiding the stress involved in adversarial court proceedings.
868. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice the monetary value of crack cocaine seized by An Garda Síochána in the R District in 2021. [41462/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Garda authorities that there have been a total of 258 drug-related incidents recorded on the Garda PULSE system in the R District in 2021, as of 01:30 on 19 August 2021. This District comprises of Coolock, Malahide and Swords Garda Stations.
I am further informed that information on the types of drugs and associated weights/volume and purity are only available following an analysis by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) and therefore it is not yet possible, on the basis of data recorded on the Garda PULSE system, to determine the monetary value of crack cocaine seized in R District in 2021.
869. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide more funding to An Garda Síochána to conduct traffic management; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41470/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of the Garda organisation under the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This includes decisions on the deployment of members of An Garda Síochána throughout the State. Furthermore, under the Section 43(1) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is the Accounting Officer of An Garda Síochána and is responsible the administration of the Garda budget. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.
I am assured, however, that Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of policing priorities and crime trends, to ensure their optimum use. I am further advised that it is a matter for the Divisional Chief Superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her, having regard to the profile of each area within the Division and its specific needs.
Government investment into An Garda Síochána has reached unprecedented levels with Budget 2021 providing for €1.952 billion. This level of funding is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, Garda numbers are now approximately 14,500 Garda members and over 3,000 Garda staff nationwide.
This investment in personnel is complemented by substantial investment in resources across the board for An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will be aware of the significant capital investment is being made in An Garda Síochána, including a total of €46 million for the Garda fleet between 2016 and 2021. This will ensure that An Garda Síochána has a modern, effective and fit-for-purpose fleet.
I can inform the Deputy that as at 31 July 2021, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 732 Garda members assigned to Roads Policing Duty nationwide. This represents an increase of over 17% since 2017.
Extensive information is available on my Department’s website in relation to the numbers of Garda members and their assignment nationwide, including by rank and station, at the following link: http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures.
This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána.
In relation to the Garda fleet, there were 3,228 vehicles assigned to the Garda fleet at 31 August 2021, which represents an increase of over 15% since 31 December 2019.
