Written Answers Nos. 253-260
253. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1924 of 11 September 2023, the date at which an implementation plan for the 16 recommendations from the report of the strategic workforce advisory group on home carers and nursing home healthcare assistants will be published; the reason for the delay; the status of all 16 recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50516/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group was established by the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, in March 2022. The Group was charged with examining strategic workforce challenges in publicly and privately provided front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes and with making recommendations to address these.
The Group was chaired by the Department of Health and comprised representatives from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Department of Health; Department of Higher and Further Education, Research, Innovation and Science; Department of Justice; Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; Department of Social Protection; the Health Service Executive (HSE); the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), and SOLAS.
Providing an overview of the work of the Group and its key findings, the Report of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Health Care Assistants presented a suite of 16 recommendations spanning the areas of areas of recruitment, pay and conditions of employment, barriers to employment, training and professional development, sectoral reform, and monitoring and implementation.
Implementation of the 16 recommendations is being overseen by a cross departmental Implementation Group, chaired by the Department of Health which meets quarterly. Membership of the group includes Department of Health; the Health Service Executive; Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Department of Social Protection; and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Implementation is underway with Recommendation 9 fully implemented (which resulted in 1,000 employment permits for non-EEA homecare workers), and 3, 5, 6 and 16 are at an advanced stage. My Department is engaging with recommendation owners to progress the implementation of all the recommendations.
To date two meetings have been held by the Implementation Group on 29th June 2023 and 12th October 2023. Implementation details including the Terms of Reference, the minutes of these meetings, a schedule of future meetings, and a progress report on the 16 recommendations have been published and are available at the link below:
gov.ie - Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Healthcare Assistants - Implementation (www.gov.ie)
254. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide further information on the number of science courses within technological universities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50307/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraTUs are important providers, regionally and nationally, of STEM programmes and of other higher vocational, technical, technological and professional skills programmes. They are legislatively required in so far as possible in the performance of their functions to contribute to the promotion of the scientific and technological development of the State.
All five TUs provide a comprehensive range of science and science related programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The Qualifax website - www.qualifax.ie/courses - identifies all current available courses in Ireland's higher education institutions, as do the official websites of the individual TUs.
Under the Science or Applied Science categories, Qualifax identifies:
• 60 programmes in TU Dublin
• 51 programmes in Munster Technological University
• 31 programmes in Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
• 91 programmes in Atlantic Technological University
• 57 programmes in South East Technological University
Further STEM related programmes can be found under "Computer/Information Technology", "Engineering / Technology", and "Green Technology" categories.
More broadly, there are a number of key strategies and initiatives in place to ensure that we meet existing and future skills demands, with a particular focus on STEM areas. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified science and technical graduates, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills and capacity to meet these demands. These strategies and initiatives include the National Skills Strategy 2025, Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative.
255. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science what his Department is doing to attract and promote women to the area of science and science courses in technological universities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50308/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraInclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department, and my ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. The Government’s STEM Education Policy Statement was published in 2017 and targets a 40% increase in the number of females taking STEM subjects for Leaving Certificate, which is critical for driving better participation at third level. On 18 May 2021, Minister Foley and I announced details of a new partnership between Science Foundation Ireland and the Department of Education to support education and public engagement projects in STEM across the country. The Department of Education will contribute up to €500,000 towards successful projects under the SFI Discover Programme, with the aim of supporting effective interventions in the early-years STEM education continuum. This was a welcome partnership between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Department of Education.
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is committed to increasing the number of SFI grants held by woman researchers, as described in its Gender Strategy. In 2021 the Frontiers for Partnership was launched to support highly excellent, impactful research. As a result 15 projects led by TUs and IOTs in Ireland have received €16.2m in funding, three of which were led by woman researchers in the TUs and four of which had woman co-leads in the Universities.
In order to support enhanced focus on research activities within the TU/IoT sector, all applicants to the Frontiers for the Future Programmes can apply for teaching replacement of up to 50% of their teaching load for the full duration of the grant. In the last round of funding, 33% of projects were led by women. The SFI-IRC Pathway programme has a key objective to increase the representation of women in the higher education sector. The programme runs on a quota system where each research body, including the TU/IoT sector may nominate a maximum of 16 STEM-led and 8 AHSS-led applications. No more than eight of the 16 STEM-led, and four of the 8 AHSS-led, nominated applicants may be men. The last round of funding resulted in a 50% is a strong endorsement of the programme as a key part of the SFI Gender strategy success rate for women researchers. STEM education is critical to our future growth in talent and for economic development. Young people are our scientists and researchers of the future. This will benefit many young learners across the country and encourage them to engage with science subjects, and hopefully consider a career in STEM in the future.
Existing programmes to support, encourage and attract women to STEM in Higher Education include Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative. Springboard+ and Human Capital Initiative Pillar 1 continues to complement the core State-funded education and training system and provides free and subsidised upskilling and reskilling higher education opportunities in areas of identified skills need. Springboard+ 2023 has a strong STEM focus, 62.35% of courses are in STEM areas. Under HCI Pillar 1 2023 62% of HCI Pillar 1 course places in academic year 2023 are in STEM-related areas.
256. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the cost per year on the expansion of science courses within technological universities; how much funding was allocated in total for this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50309/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn considering the matters raised it is important to note that Technological Universities, as autonomous institutions, are responsible for their own academic affairs including the curriculum and student numbers on individual courses. The costs incurred by a Technological University in increasing student places on a particular course, or range of courses, can vary depending on a variety factors including the type of course and the individual circumstances of the relevant provider. Meeting the costs of provision is a matter for the respective institution within the context of its overall budget.
In terms of recurrent sectoral funding supports my Department allocates recurrent grant funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA), for direct disbursement to HEA funded institutions, towards the operating costs of public HEIs, including Technological Universities. The overall 2023 REV recurrent allocation for higher education is circa €1.4 billion, this includes both Exchequer and National Training Fund monies.
The annual core recurrent grant is allocated, by the HEA, to each institution using an allocation model known as the Recurrent Grant Allocation Model (RGAM). The annual core grant is allocated by the HEA to the HEIs as a block grant towards teaching, research and supporting activities. The allocation of the core grant is determined on a formula basis, based on a per-capita amount in respect of weighted eligible EU student numbers (and non-EU research) in four broad subject price groups. There are additional weightings for postgraduate and research students. Elements of the core grant are informed by access metrics and research metrics.
The internal allocation of funds between teaching, research and supporting activities is a matter for each institution. There is full institutional autonomy to deploy this block grant in the most effective manner across teaching, research and supporting activities. In this regard, it is not possible to attribute recurrent funding as provided for the purpose of expansion in science courses within technological universities specifically.
257. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide a further response on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50315/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are some 2,800 adult education tutors employed across the 16 Education and Training Boards, who are currently employed under a variety of terms and conditions. Tutors are paid on an hourly rate basis, generally at the unqualified teacher rate. A small number of tutors are paid at the self-financing hourly rate.
Following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, an offer was made to the unions based on a joint proposal from my Department and the Department of Education, which retains regulatory responsibility for the ETB sector. There has been ongoing engagement between the Departments, ETB management and the Unions since. The Unions have been seeking further revisions to the offer and have raised a number of issues. One of these relates to the application of Building Momentum increases to tutors in some ETBs who were paid on the self-financing rate, which unlike the unqualified teacher rate has not been increased.
My Department and the Department of Education, are considering approaches to the issues raised, including those tutors paid on the self-financing rate, with a view to reverting to the unions as soon as possible.
258. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the current status of negotiations with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with regard to progressing a new veterinary school, located at UL, to service the needs of the mid-west, both urban and rural; if there will be an indication in the imminent review of the National Development Plan and statement of strategy of his Department as to a timetable and road map for a new vet school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50346/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnsuring a supply of qualified vets to meet the demands of Ireland's agri-food sector is an important issue for my Department.
As you are aware, a number of institutions put forward proposals following the recent HEA Expression of Interest process outlining options for the expansion of existing veterinary medicine provision.
There is a substantial capital cost associated with the provision of any new school in veterinary. It is important that the scale of the costs is fully understood and planned for and the options identified have the potential to transform the numbers of students who can take up places in these programmes. This would represent a significant investment of public funding in our higher education institutions.
Detailed discussions are continuing to take place about the ways and means to address capital costs for the provision of any new school, including in the context of an expected upcoming review of Departmental National Development Plan allocations.
Given the nature of the discussions and the significant costs associated with expansion and the provision of any new schools, it will naturally take some time for these discussions to reach a conclusion.
I am continuing to work with the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the next steps
259. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development what funding has been applied for specifically for a derelict building (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50366/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) provides funding for the development and construction of capital projects in towns and villages and rural areas across Ireland. To date, 215 projects have been approved for funding of €410 million for projects costing €561 million.
Calls for applications to the Fund are sought under two categories – Category 1 and Category 2. Category 1 relates to large scale ambitious capital projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place, and which are ready to proceed. Category 2 provides smaller grant funding to enable the development of project proposals suitable for future calls for Category 1 applications.
I was delighted to officially open the new Castleblayney Library on the 10th November. This project was funded by my Department under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and has seen the complete transformation of the previously derelict Hope Castle Gate Lodge Building. I also announced a new call for applications under the RRDF on the day and the closing date for applications is 12pm on the 8th February 2024.
My Department has not received an application for funding in respect of Hope Castle itself under previous rounds of the RRDF.
The application process under the RRDF is competitive in nature and applications can be made by State-funded bodies i.e. Local Authorities, Local Development Companies, State agencies, other Government Departments etc. Lead parties to applications are encouraged to partner with other organisations, including communities, to put forward proposals. An application form and guidance document are available on my Department’s website for those seeking further information.
260. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding that her Department can provide for the development and up-keep of public allotment spaces, and the way in which that funding can be accessed; if she plays any role in assisting groups in obtaining suitable plots for allotments and, if not, if she can indicate persons or public bodies that can provide assistance. [50459/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that the provision and allocation of allotments is a matter for each individual local authority and interested individuals should contact their local authority in the first instance. In addition, my Department provides a number of funding streams which may be used to support the development of allotments.
The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population over a defined period. I launched the 2023 programme in March this year. Funding of almost €8 million has been allocated for the 2023 CLÁR programme which is an increase of €0.5m on 2022.
Measure 1 of the programme will support the development of community facilities and amenities, including community gardens and allotments. The assessment process is well advanced in relation to measure 1 of the programme. I expect to be in a position to make a decision on the successful measure 1 projects in the coming weeks.
The 2023 Town and Village Renewal Scheme was launched on 21 July 2023 with an overall fund of €15 million. Projects to develop town or village centre plazas, public outdoor dining spaces, parks, green spaces (including allotments and community gardens) and recreational spaces or amenities in town centres will be supported under the 2023 scheme. Successful projects will be announced in Quarter 1 of 2024.
Support under the LEADER programme is provided under a broad range of themes, including the Rural Infrastructure & Social Inclusion theme in the 2023-2027 programme. Funding for public allotments may be available under these themes. In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy in the sub-regional area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.
Prospective applicants should, in the first instance, contact their relevant LAG or Implementing Partner to discuss the eligibility of the project and the funding that may be available.
The 2023-2027 LEADER Programme is due to commence shortly and the list of all Local Action Groups, their Implementing Partners and their contact details will be available on my Department’s website.
