Freagróidh mé an cheist i nGaeilge, ach ós rud é nach bhfuil mo chuid Gaeilge chomh láidir is atá Gaeilge an Teachta Connolly, freagróidh mé aon cheist bhreise i mBéarla. Is prionsabal bunúsach inár gcóras oideachais é go bhfuil leibhéal ard neamhspleáchais ag institiúidí ardoideachais. Ní féidir leis an Rialtas a rá leo cad é atá le teagasc ná an chaoi le dul i mbun teagaisc. Ina áit sin, oibríonn an córas ar bhonn freagrúlachta do riachtanais agus éilimh i gcomhthéacs an chreata maidir le córas feidhmíochta an Úd…

Yes. The Welsh example is interesting. I attended the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly on Monday outside London in Surrey, and engaged with members of the Welsh Parliament and we discussed apprenticeships as Gaeilge and apprenticeships in the Welsh language. It was one of the topics we engaged on. The Deputy is right that the Welsh have made a success of it. Ach tuigim an fhadhb sa tír sin and I am aware of the issues the Deputy raises. One of the points he made is the percentage of students in Irish universiti…

I do not disagree at all. The Deputy mentioned University of Galway and a seminar that was there over the summer. It has some work under way with the Higher Education Authority and my Department on demand for Irish courses. The HEA is engaged in using the university as the lead on it to research the demand for Irish-language courses in third level institutions to inform the planning, development and offering of such courses. There have been some initiatives such as "mo thráchtas i mbeagán focal", the three-minute t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 25 together Gabhaim buíochas le Teachta Daly. Deputy Timmins is on this question as well. The question refers to the collaboration between innovation hubs, industry and third level institutions. My Department has, I believe a strong economic focus; it should have and does have. I am committed to making sure this is an economic Ministry that drives the needs of industry and engages with industry, labour force planning and skills development and the critical role of research and…

Yes.

I thank both Deputies. I will respond to Deputy Daly on the urology project. It is a project I am very keen to explore further and there are already a number of projects like that we are developing in the regions. The New Frontiers programme in Castlebar and Galway has a start-up ecosystem working with ATU, and perhaps the urology project could be done along the same lines. On the supercomputer, I was very keen when I came into this Department that Ireland should remain at the leading edge of digital, quantum and a…

I absolutely agree this is part of the response to the challenges posed by the changing trade and tariff situation. We are entering an age of deglobalisation. We also have many other factors to contend with. It is important we maintain that industrial base and that knowledge economy we fought so hard to develop over the past 30 or 40 years. The key to that is the knowledge economy and investment in research, innovation and education. In terms of stickiness, it is easier to move a factory offshore than it is to move…

The 16 ETBs are the backbone of further education and training, FET, context in local communities. They were established under the Education and Training Board Act 2013 and are funded and overseen by SOLAS, the further education and training authority, which is funded by my Department. The ETBs play a critical role in supporting inclusion, community involvement, outreach, developing critical skills, and underpinning the workforce development and lifelong learning agenda as part of the wider tertiary system. Provisi…

I fully agree with Deputy Timmins. There are a couple of ways to look at this. The promotion of further education options and apprenticeships is really important. We have a job of work to do as a country and a society in persuading people of that and advocating for it. I make the argument every day that apprenticeships and further education in general should never be seen as second best or some kind of rung below. They are absolutely equal, exciting, tangible and can be a very rewarding pathway into a career as a f…

There is a lot there. If I do not get to it all in 60 seconds, I will come back to Deputy Timmins. ETBs provide a very valuable role across a number of areas and a number of goals. I never regard an educational course as a tick box. The pursuit of knowledge is a public good. Whether someone is in the labour force, is unemployed or has disabilities, it is always a benefit to the individual and to society if they progress their education to whatever extent, short or long. There are many different paths through it. We…

That is not quite the question the Deputy asked but I will answer. The question she asked concerned the cost of third level fees. My Department provides significant funding for tuition fee supports for students every year, including funding under the free fees initiative, which are sometimes referred to as tuition fees. Every undergraduate student in the State, bar certain exceptions such as those studying a second time or international students, has their tuition fees paid in full by my Department. There are also …

Everything comes out of people's pockets because State resources are taxpayers' money and we all have to have respect for and be judicious in how we spend them. I am always very careful how I spend taxpayers' money which comes out of their hard-earned pay packets. It is important that we do this in a way that is socially just, progressive and targeted, and gets the most support to those who need it the most. I hope the Deputy agrees with me on that because it is a fundamental principle. If she does not, I would be …

Again, it is about choices. It is about managing with limited resources to provide the most support in a targeted and progressive way. I am confident that I have achieved that as best as I can this year with the resources available to me through a universal cut to the student contribution fee. I appreciate that it is more than students paid last year. I get that because they had a voucher last year which expired on 31 December and was not there this year. The budgetary situation meant that there was less money ther…

This is something I am very aware of and very keen to make progress on. It is multi-faceted; it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. My immediate and short-term focus has been on enabling stalled projects to proceed by tackling the viability issues. The €100 million in the short-term activation programme has been put aside for this purpose. Under that programme, some beds are reserved for priority students under the national access plan at reduced rents on a 30% basis. Therefore, 30% of beds are ring-fenced for SUS…

That is very much the plan and what will be contained in the new strategy when we put all the bits of the jigsaw together and launch it. That will then guide everybody from local authorities to people in construction to the different higher education institutions to progress. The actions in the last plan have progressed. That is why the €100 million in the short-term activation fund is there. That is why I was able to turn the sod at UCD recently and why we were able to bring on stream the new beds in Maynooth. The…

I thank the Deputy. The first phase of the previous strategy set a target of 7,000 units and 8,000 were delivered, 1,000 above target. Of the second much more ambitious figure of 54,000 units, 49,000 were achieved, which is 91% of the target, at a time of Ukraine, Covid, Brexit and the supply chain crisis. That is a reasonably good foundation on which to build. I am not happy with service charges being levied on students and I have made that clear. I have written to some of the higher education institutions that we…

I thank the Deputy. I am conscious of the cost pressures on students who must pay for student accommodation or those who commute. Some may decide to commute instead and that is equally arduous because of the costs and time associated with that. The grant scheme recognised this by increasing the amounts available this year for non-adjacent students. In recent times, the non-adjacency distance has also been reduced from 45 km to 30 km. That is a progressive move that will bring more people into the non-adjacent net a…

The Deputy makes an interesting point. The income thresholds have increased this year to €120,000 so Members of the Oireachtas would qualify for SUSI support, which I think may be a first. It is at a significant level and it has certainly gone beyond those who may be at risk of poverty or are on lower incomes. They rightly receive more support but up to €120,000, families are now in receipt of SUSI supports, which is very progressive and is the highest it has ever been. Regarding regional balance, which I think the…

The Deputy is right; the cost will increase. The non-adjacent grant is greater for that reason. A student will receive more significant support if they live farther away from the college and it begins to taper down the closer they live to the college to reflect the fact they may not require accommodation or that their transport costs may be less if they live adjacent to the college. All the non-adjacent bands increased this year for that reason, to reflect the reality that it is going to be more expensive if a stud…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House and present the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill. This Bill, as is evident from its Title, amends the National Training Fund Act 2000. The National Training Fund, NTF, was established by the National Training Fund Act 2000 as a dedicated fund to raise the skills of those in employment and to facilitate lifelong learning, provide training to those who wish to acquire skills to take up employment and pr…