I am delighted to be here to open this debate to mark Science Week 2025. As Minister for science - in fact, I have a long title and science is a key part of it - it is so important we mark this event and occasion. The Irish physicist John Tyndall once observed, “Knowledge once gained casts a light beyond its own immediate boundaries.” Ireland’s future lies in its people. Through supporting our innate curiosity and by encouraging our latent talent, Ireland can play a leading role in addressing key challenges and dri…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chathaoirleach agus na Seanadóirí. It is good to be here with them today. I see the same familiar faces of the spokespersons I know in the area. It is good to engage with them all both formally today and informally as we all work together in the course of the term. I thank them for their interest in the topic. I am grateful for the chance to speak about the priorities that reflect our commitment to inclusion, affordability and excellence within the further and higher education system. The s…

I will of course.

I thank all of the Senators very much. I had a prepared speech but I am going to set it aside because it would be far more useful to reply to the contributions made in the course of the debate and to engage with the different points that were made. There was a lot of commonality in the contributions, which makes that easier. I thank Senator Dee Ryan for the reminder that Donogh O'Malley was from Limerick. I have no doubt that the Senator will also go on to great things in the fields of education and politics. Donog…

That is fantastic. I would have loved to have met him. He is sort of an icon. What was really fascinating about him was his battle on the council in Sheffield in the seventies and eighties. When he got to be Home Secretary he had a certain level of support. It was even more remarkable that he was able to cut through the feuding and challenges we all have coming through local government. He is a remarkable man and has a remarkable story. I always think of people like him when I am making these assessments. I was ver…

I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in the further and higher education sectors. The Deputy is right there is a need to revisit some of the operational parameters of the LTIs. LTIs are community-based training programmes designed to support individuals who face economic, social or educational disadvantage. This is incredibly important work. The training programmes offered are tailored to meet specific local needs, ensuring relevance and impact within their communities which they serve. They are also indepen…

I will share some of the processes that are under way under the ETBI's direction. The new operational guidelines should encompass at least but not limited to the following objectives. They should simplify the grant management relationship between ETB and third-party providers. It is complex. One thing I have learned in this role is that particularly the further education landscape is complex and labyrinthine at times. There are many different organisations, including voluntary, community and statutory, interworking…

There is always a degree of autonomy within the educational landscape, be it further or higher education. The Minister of State did correspond with the Department and the relevant bodies in terms of pay scales and around community training centres and youth reach centres, but the Department is not the employer. There is a remove. There can be several stages in that remove. It is not direct reporting lines. I would liken it to more of a dotted reporting line in some cases. These are all things that would benefit fro…

Is the Deputy subbing for Deputy Kenny?

No, I know the difference between Wexford and Kilkenny very well and all too well from suffering at their hands for many years in Leinster finals.

I am a strong supporter of this project as I think and hope the Deputy and other Wexford stakeholder know. I share ambition of the region and Wexford town, in particular, to develop a customised significant third level campus in Wexford town. The educational needs, level of educational attainment, industrial base and the demographics all support that strongly. I am very much on board with that. The proposal to develop that Wexford campus is being progressed under the technological sector strategic projects fund. It…

SETU, in terms of technological universities, has received significant support from my Department. Most recently both Waterford and Carlow were included in bundle two of the PPP projects delivering significant additional learning spaces and physical buildings. The Deputy and I want Wexford to benefit from the same. The next stage of the process is for the notice of entry to enter onto the lands, which would give Wexford County Council the right to take possession of the site. Ordinarily that takes place after the c…

I absolutely support the project and have made that very clear to the executive and all stakeholders. In terms of funding from my Department, we have a confirmed budget to purchase our part of the site. There is a masterplan for other things as well but certainly the funding is there for the educational piece. The business case is progressing. However, the decision on when to serve the notice of entry, which is what is causing the frustration and possibly the delays, is for Wexford County Council to make.

The Deputy has good offices in Wexford town himself. He has agency, a relationship with the county manager and so forth. I do not know how usual it would be for a Minister to engage with a local authority to ask it to accelerate a CPO process. It is probably better that I continue to work on the educational piece and local representatives like Deputy Lawlor can engage with the council. I agree that it needs to happen but I also understand that public money is at stake and the council needs to be satisfied with the …

The strategy to which the Deputy refers is the National Student Accommodation Strategy 2017-2024, which was the first national strategy of its kind. The aims of that strategy were to meet rising student housing demand, ease pressure on the private rental market and, ultimately, increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodation, PBSA. Two key goals were set out, the first of which was to deliver 7,000 new PBSA beds by 2019. That goal was met. In fact, it was exceeded, with over 8,000 beds completed by the e…

On the short-term activation programme, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, did indeed reference it, as have I several times. We have 116 new beds delivered in Maynooth, which are now open at Teach Ui Buachalla or Buckley House. I approved funding of €67 million just last month and turned the sod at UCD for its new accommodation project, which will deliver 493 new beds. As I already mentioned, I also significantly increased all four bands of the maintenance grant for non-adjacent students to reflect the extra pressures.…

The overall figure of €100 million was indeed announced but individual projects required ministerial approval. I sanctioned UCD very recently and was glad to do so. DCU has a project that is currently under evaluation with the HEA. Trinity College also has a project that has undergone due diligence and is progressing through the system. There are some other projects which are at different stages. In terms of the technological university sector, funding was given to that sector to accelerate its student accommodatio…

I thank the Deputy. I welcome the opportunity to make a few remarks on this issue. I hope it is well understood, but I will restate it, that the starting point for this year's budget was that no provision was made for a continual reduction of student fees. There was a once-off measure in last year's budget, which did not carry over to the following year. It was once-off funding that was there during the cost-of-living crisis. It was understandable at times of extreme pressure that this was advanced but I was determ…

To summarise, grants have increased, thresholds have increased, student supports have increased and student fees have come permanently down. That is progress. This is the first budget of a term. I repeat that low-income families and households at risk of poverty should not be paying fees at all. While I absolutely understand that fees are an issue for the squeezed middle, those households at risk of poverty to which the Deputy refers should not be paying fees at all. That is another reason we have continued to rais…

For clarity, I am absolutely not talking about bringing in extra fees. Fees will only go down on my watch. To be crystal clear, fees will go in one direction, and that is down, as long as I am in office. However, it is important to discuss the academic work and the research that has been done. That is what the Deputy asked about in her question. She asked what assessments had been carried out. I put an assessment before her. She does not like it. That is fine but she cannot ask the question and then not like the an…