I thank the Minister for outlining the important work being undertaken by the Department. I will speak briefly on the topics of literacy, numeracy and digital literacy, for which a strategy is currently being developed, apprenticeships, skills and eCollege. Work is well under way by SOLAS on the development of a ten-year adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy. This new strategy will provide a framework to build on and streamline the substantial work that is already being done across a range of Depar…

I thank Deputy Duncan Smith. With regard to apprenticeships, there are no boundaries or limits to what we can look into in terms of the feasibility of running and developing an apprenticeship programme. That is to follow on from what the Minister, Deputy Harris, said about that. What the Deputy outlined is absolutely the case. These are critical skills that are required in a modern environment. The whole area of apprenticeships is a key commitment in the programme for Government. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I,…

In regard to the apprenticeship backlog and the return to on-the-job training, a small number of critical and time-sensitive phase 2 apprenticeship classes returned to training on 1 March, with strict Covid-19 measures in place that were agreed through the stakeholders forum. If all goes well with that cohort, another group will return on 15 March. As I said in my opening statement, we recently announced capital funding of €10 million for SOLAS and the HEA to alleviate the backlog in off-the-job training for appren…

I will revert to the Deputy on the matter.

I have not seen the correspondence to which the Deputy referred. I will review it. I assure the Deputy that there is no agenda on my part or that of the Minister to privatise anything.

I thank Senators Dolan and Keogan for raising this important issue on International Women's Day. While we have made significant progress in recent years, we have a lot more to do. Higher education legislation requires institutions to promote gender balance among students and staff and the Higher Education Authority, HEA, to promote the attainment of equality of opportunity. The 2016 report of the expert group on gender equality and the 2018 gender equality task force report encompass a suite of initiatives to bring…

In 2016, Science Foundation Ireland launched the SFI gender strategy which provided a comprehensive framework to streamline gender initiatives across all SFIs funding programmes, with the overarching aim of improving the gender balance among its award holders. SFI sets a target for gender representation in its portfolio. The original target was 25% female award holders. This target was revised upwards to 30% in 2017 after the original target was reached. As a result, SFI has seen an increase in female award holders…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for giving me, on behalf of the Minister for Health, the opportunity to clarify the position on the availability of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel, known as Duodopa, for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. As the Senator may know, the HSE has been given statutory responsibility for medicine pricing and reimbursement decisions under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. The Act specifies certain criteria for decisions on whether the State…

I will ask the Department and the HSE to follow up on the Senator's requests. We appreciate that Parkinson's disease is a debilitating condition and fully acknowledge that it is a worrying time for patients, families and carers, as Senator O'Reilly outlined in his remarks. I hope for all concerned that a final decision on this reimbursement application is reached shortly. It is important to note, however, that the HSE is the decision-making body for the reimbursement of the costs of medicines under the Health (Supp…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to outline to the House the position regarding the new emergency department at University Hospital Galway. University Hospital Galway provides regional services for a wide range of specialties that serve a catchment area of approximately 1 million people along the west from Donegal to north Tipperary. University Hospital Galway is a model 4 hospital that provides 24-7 acute surgery, acute medicine and critical care. This project for a new emer…

I hear the Senator's frustration and anger on behalf of his constituents and the people of Galway and the west of Ireland with this ongoing issue and the lack of a coherent timeline. I will communicate his frustration on behalf of the people he represents to the Minister, the Department and the HSE. I also echo the Senator's words of thanks and appreciation to the front-line workers in Galway and, indeed, throughout the country. All of us must continue to express our thanks for, and appreciation of, the hard and de…

I thank Senator Warfield for raising this matter. The fee payable by students can vary depending on a variety factors, including, of course, the type of course and the student's access route, including previous education. Higher education institutions are autonomous bodies, and the total level of tuition fees payable is a matter for the institutions to determine, including during the period when their delivery methods are adjusted in response to Covid. I am of course very conscious of the impacts of the Covid-19 pa…

I thank the Senator. When the Minister, Deputy Harris, and I engage with the heads of our universities and institutes of technology they tell us that the fact that the vast majority of tuition is now taking place online does not mean that the provision of it is cheaper for them. I am relaying to the Senator what they have said to us. We are very aware of the difficulties facing students during the pandemic. In general, there is a requirement in these exceptional times to have a responsible approach to the needs of …

I am grateful for the opportunity to provide Deputies with an update on further education and training during this level 5 phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and I look forward to taking any questions colleagues may have. As the Minister, Deputy Harris, said, further education and training providers are responding to the recent deterioration in the Covid-19 situation. They are adapting and using their discretion to restrict on-site attendance further, only allowing the most essential work to take place on-site. I am pl…

The Deputy asked about the numbers who took up the various apprenticeships. I do not have that detail to hand at the moment. Suffice to say, during 2020 there was naturally a drop-off due to Covid-19 and the impact of the pandemic in terms of the number of people who took up apprenticeships and applied for apprenticeships. That was part of the reason we introduced the incentivisation scheme to which I alluded in my earlier remarks. I will respond to the Deputy and we will get him an exact breakdown on the numbers w…

I thank Deputies Devlin and Matthews for their queries on the subject of apprenticeships, which is a major part of our programme for Government. We are very keen, as a new Department, to destigmatise the apprenticeships area and put these centre stage in our further education and training sphere. We hope to make this a very viable, attractive and rewarding career path and way of finding job options for people. The new apprenticeship action plan is in gestation and the consultation period has closed. There was a hig…

Deputy Mattie McGrath correctly queried the range of apprenticeships. I will furnish all Deputies with the full range of approved apprenticeship schemes that are in place and available. We are anxious to create new apprenticeships in a range of new areas, and that will be a central tenet of the apprenticeship action plan, which we referred to a number of times in this session. It will be published shortly.

I thank Senator Hoey for raising this important matter. Under the Department's free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate higher education students with students paying the student contribution. The student contribution applies to all students on an annual basis who are eligible under the free fees scheme. The current rate is €3,000 per annum. Currently, 60,000 students had all or part of their student contribution paid on their behalf by the State via t…

We are aware of the difficulties students have been facing during the pandemic. We encourage any students who are struggling to cope with studying at home to contact their educational institutions or access officers in order that they can be informed of the wide range of services that are available to support them on their journey prior to making any decisions regarding a cessation of their studies. In recognition of the challenges facing full-time third level students, the Government approved once-off funding of u…

When the restrictions at county boundaries are lifted.