The full eligibility for the scheme will be worked out and published early in the new year. The €56,000 limit is for a household. It is linked to the income ceiling to qualify for the SUSI contribution. We are trying to align part-time and full-time education. Clearly that number could move up in future budgets if that is the wish of Government and the Oireachtas. When the Taoiseach asked us to focus on child well-being and child poverty, it made sense to start at lower income levels, where we are most likely to ca…

I really want to work with the Deputy and other Members of the Oireachtas on student mobility on the island of Ireland. The Deputy probably saw the ESRI report. We can do so much more on this. Perhaps we can return to it another day. We can all do good work together on this. Following a Government decision in June, my Department is responsible for management of the implementation of this very exciting project relating to the Magee campus of Ulster University. It will see the construction of a new teaching block in …

The Deputy is entirely right. I really welcome the fact that Universities Ireland has now set up a group specifically to look at what I call CAO reform. It is chaired by the excellent Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh from the Deputy's parish, Galway. It is due to report by the end of the year. It is a matter for the group, but I stand full ready to support it with funding or whatever else. There are now ring-fenced places in Northern Ireland for students from this jurisdiction. Why can there not be the same in reverse? …

Me too, and I really look forward to meeting the secondary schools group from Northern Ireland, which reached out to me today. I am very happy to meet the students in the coming weeks and will keep in touch with the Deputy in that regard. This just needs to be fixed. The two systems do not seem to understand each other, but that is not a reason not to find a workaround and a way to fix this. Huge progress has been made, and I thank the universities, UU and Queen's in particular, for that, with the ring-fenced place…

I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for this question, which is about an issue we have discussed on many occasions. First, the fact that relatively newly formed universities, including South East Technological University, had the ability and the capacity themselves to put in such strong bids, as the Deputy said, that were deemed to be viable by an independent assessments panel speaks to the real credibility and heft of South East Technological University. That is the first thing I wish to acknowledge. I had a chance to con…

Without prejudicing processes or next steps in any way, it is interesting and encouraging that, on a regional basis, such strong ideas came forward. I mention not just strong ideas or hopes, because everyone is ambitious for their area, but when these bids were analysed by independent experts on an assessment panel that included, for example, the chief veterinary officer, they were deemed to be viable proposals for further consideration. The SETU proposed that veterinary would be provided through a three-partner mo…

I welcome all support and allies in making the case for increased capital for the higher education sector given the difference the Deputy and I know it would make to the regions. I am not satisfied that so many young people are leaving the country to study veterinary medicine abroad. It is a disproportionately high number. We see in the number of people registering on the Veterinary Council of Ireland register every year how many of them have been educated abroad. The overwhelming majority of new entrants to the re…

I acknowledge that Deputy Ó Murchú raises this issue with me on a regular basis and we have had good meetings and engagement on it, including with a group of personal assistants we met, who were largely, though not exclusively, from the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board. I am pleased that we received an extra €2 million in funding for students with disabilities in the budget. This will allow us to do more to support students with disabilities. That core part of supporting students with disabilities is th…

The National Maritime College of Ireland comprises part of Munster Technological University, which is an autonomous body. The application of funding to specific programmes or for particular purposes provided by the HEA is a matter for the technological university. The Deputy may wish to note that core funding allocated to the higher education sector increased in 2023 and, following last week's budget day announcements, is set to increase further by €60 million in 2024. The NMCI, through the delivery of courses in a…

I thank Senator Currie for raising this issue. I would not not be here to take this because I know how sincere she is in her work on this, how sincere her dad, the great Austin Currie, was in relation to this work and to building peace on this island, and I know how incredibly important he and his colleagues in the SDLP, especially John Hume, identified education to be. We have to go back to well before my time in public life, decades back to the peace marches, which highlighted education as key to embedding peace.…

That is why the Senator and I are determined to ensure it is not all talk. This year, we have seen the all-island apprenticeships and the ring-fenced places in nursing and therapy. From next year, we will see an all-island approach to medicine. As the Senator stated, the Atlantic Technological University, working with Magee and the bigger campus in Derry, which the Government is part-funding to the tune of tens of millions of euro, makes a difference. As regards all-island research projects, I was with the Cancer I…

Condemn Hamas. It is not that hard.

He will not condemn Hamas.

I am very pleased to have an opportunity to confirm details of the budget for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for the coming year. Cost should never be a barrier when it comes to education. It should never be a barrier to someone reaching their full potential or pursuing their goals and getting to where they want to in life. What we are trying to do in this budget is, yet again, to remove barriers, break down barriers and make further and higher education more access…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis na Seanadóirí. I thank the Members for the opportunity to be here with them today. I know the Seanad has raised a number of issues including student accommodation, access to third level and access to apprenticeships. I am very happy to discuss all of them today but I want to start by being very clear that this Government and my Department are absolutely focused on addressing the challenges facing students and their families. We have tried to do this through a variet…

No, it certainly is not. SETU is already making a hugely positive impact in Waterford. Much to the contrary of some of the Deputy's own public commentary, the Waterford Crystal site will be purchased - that will go to the governing authority very shortly - and the PPP process is very much in hand.

I move: That leave be given by the Dáil to introduce the following Supplementary Estimate for the service of the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2023: Vote 40 — Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth ( Supplementary Estimate ).

I join Deputy Farrell in recognising the major milestone that starting third level education is for so many young people, and indeed not-so-young people. The Deputy and I have not met in the House since the results came out. This year, we saw three out of five students getting their top choice of course, and I acknowledge that achievement. However, the Deputy is right that the housing challenge is real and places stress and difficulty on students, particularly those who find they need to move to a different part of…

On the issue of cost, there are a number of ways the Government can help with the cost of rent, specifically for students. Last year, the Deputy will be aware that we got the finance Bill changed to make sure students could avail of the rent tax credit, including if they were renting a room or digs, and that their parents could avail of it if they were renting college-owned accommodation or purpose-built student accommodation. I heard the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, …

I appreciate the Deputy's sincerity on this, and I will work with her on it. I have talked to the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, the UCD students' union and many students about this. As I said in our previous exchange, this is about getting this right. We need to make sure that every student and homeowner goes into this with their eyes wide open. If someone rents a room in a house, the homeowner does not have the right to open the door and check that the room is tidy. They are not the student's mother and the s…