I read that UCD Students Union survey. It is a very good piece of work. One practical thing we did for students and their parents with the cost of accommodation, which the survey also focused on, was extending the rent tax-credit. A student renting this year was eligible for the €500 for 2022 and for 2023. That is per student in the accommodation. That will have made a real difference and I have met students and their parents for whom it has done so. Anything we do to help any renter with the cost of rent must also…

Yes, I do. I have had many conversations with university presidents where I have pointed out that student accommodation needs to be a core part of their offering because it affects their ability to attract or retain students, students’ mental health and well-being and their overall education experience. I am not saying it is widespread, but there is an idea that “we are a university; we do education and you do housing”. No, student accommodation is a core part of the university experience and the students' well-bei…

There were 3,011 apprentices enrolled in Cork Education and Training Board, ETB, across a large range, including plumbing and electrical, wind-turbine maintenance and insurance practitioner. A key strength of the apprenticeship model is that it is a demand-led approach to meeting workforce and skill requirements in our economy and country. As apprentices are employees, the demand for and number of apprentices is primarily dictated by employers in any area or sector. Having 3,011 enrolled in Cork is very significant…

I fully agree with the Deputy on his passionate contribution around apprenticeships. While "snobby" may or may not be the right word, we have had too narrow or elitist a view towards educational opportunities. It is this idea that if people go directly from school to university, they are a success, and another pathway is somewhat lesser. That is, of course, not true at all. Apprenticeships are third level. They are just another way of getting there. People can get paid as they learn; they can earn and learn. They c…

I do not have that breakdown off the top of my head but from memory, approximately 6,000 of the current apprentices are in the craft area. That is roughly speaking where I would imagine we will land. There is a big push on developing craft apprenticeships and working with the construction and retrofitting sectors and the green economy because there are really key and acute issues there. I will definitely take up the Deputy's invitation to visit schools. I visited 80 secondary schools in the last 12 months. I feel r…

I thank Deputy Brendan Smith for raising this issue. He is absolutely right. The whole area of cybersecurity is a major issue of growing concern to both the public and private sectors and to modern life. We are seeing more and more crime now move from physically happening in a business place or in terms of a burglary in a home to online cybersecurity issues and cybercrime. The cybersecurity sector is absolutely vital in both underpinning and securing much of our modern society. I very much recognise the importance …

Let it certainly go out from here because LMETB and Mr. O'Brien are doing absolutely brilliant work. We are really fortunate because that ETB just busts on through any challenges or bureaucratic blockages it might encounter from time to time in getting the job done. I am very complimentary of the work of LMETB and of Senator Craughwell. I had the chance to meet him on this issue and he continues to engage with me on it. He is right about the need for that focus on cybersecurity from the education sector. He specifi…

I have just finished my apprenticeship in the Department of Justice and I am very aware of the issues the Deputy has raised about cybercrime, cybersecurity, how much crime is now moving online and the need for vigilance. The education sector needs to respond by providing opportunities for people in the public sector and in industry to develop the skills to respond. We also need to use the agency Skillnet Ireland, which can go into employers, including small and medium enterprises, and provide them with the training…

I am delighted to have the opportunity to reply and I will gently push back against the Deputy's assertion. Where did this new idea for an agency and research and innovation Bill come from? It very much came from Impact 2030, Ireland's research and innovation strategy, a key objective of which is this Bill and the new research agency. That innovation strategy was developed through an extensive programme of stakeholder consultation. In addition, the Creating our Future campaign received over 18,000 responses. We hav…

I absolutely agree with the Deputy. The IRC has done amazing work but, of course, it does not exist in statute. It was effectively established by ministerial letter. It is a sub-office, if you like, of the HEA. As I have said to the research community, I see this as an opportunity to fundamentally put on a statutory footing all that has been good about the IRC. This is not a merger or takeover. A new entity will be created. Fundamental research is absolutely vital and I am happy to ensure we make that clear in the …

I was smiling to myself because I am aware of that issue but even if I was not so aware, I would be by now because Deputy Ó Snodaigh raises the issue with me any time I bring any legislation through the House. Deputy Farrell is, of course, correct that there is such a requirement. It has not yet technically commenced but the spirit of the requirement is clearly in place in the legislation passed by this House.

We should lead. Being honest, the name of the new agency has yet to be decided. We will, of course, fulfil our obligations. We need to consider what we call the agency in the context of promoting it internationally but I am very conscious of the Irish language piece. I am happy to engage on that point as we take the legislation through the House. I am sure the issue will also come out at pre-legislative scrutiny. I am also happy to engage with the Deputy on the Conradh na Gaeilge submission. I have found its repres…

I thank Deputy Durkan for this question. Of course, the Deputy is correct. Obviously, we need to look at what can be done quickly but we also need to look at how we can break what I believe now is a cycle in terms of this annual situation that students and their families encounter in trying to identify student accommodation. That is why I have changed student accommodation policy in Ireland. It was the situation that it was left entirely to the market to decide whether to build student accommodation or not, or enti…

I certainly will do that. I agree that the student accommodation piece on campus is, of course, about student accommodation, but it is about mental health, well-being, development, the college experience and reassurance, perhaps for the parent, to know that the student has safe accommodation on campus near where he or she is going about his or her business and education. It is my intention to make sure that all college projects for student accommodation that have planning permission have received sanction to move f…

Student accommodation is key. What we need to do here is change the mindset. Colleges need to see the provision of student accommodation as a core part of their work. That is not the Government lecturing them. It is the Government saying we will work with them on it. If they come forward with the plans, we will try and get some of the funding. Let us work in partnership to get that student accommodation moving. Of course, students all have different scenarios. Some students are part-time. Some students are holding …

I thank Deputy Colm Burke for this important question. I assure the Deputy at the outset that significant engagement is ongoing between my Department, the Department of Health, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the higher education sector to develop a joined-up approach to address system-level demand in health care disciplines, including radiation therapy. We are trying to move beyond the scramble in response to the request to provide them with a few extra places in September to determine how many, in each t…

I find myself in agreement with Deputy Colm Burke. We need to be training more people to work in the health service. We need to be specifically training more people to work in areas including the one the Deputy has mentioned around radiation therapy, but we need to do it in a manner that works. We need to do it in a way that is not ad hoc . We need to do it in a way that is grounded in the overall work of the health service, the issue around clinical placements and the issue around workforce planning projections. I…

The short answer to Deputy Farrell's question is "Yes, absolutely". We need to move beyond the year to year and look at how we can systemically create a better structure that works for the health service, the higher education institutions and students. If we get this right, the prize can be significant, with a large expansion of third level education in health and social care services. That is a prize worth getting right and I hope to update the Government with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on that this mo…

I thank the Deputy for this question, a version of which he quite regularly puts down. It is important that we make sure the third level education system and our skills infrastructure are prepared for the future requirements of our economy and society. We are undergoing a dual transition, with the greening of the economy and the digital transformation, and we have to make sure the third level education sector is able to respond to that. My Department continues to prioritise strengthening our skills ecosystem to ens…

SOLAS has a unit that specifically monitors labour market needs. I do not think it will come as a huge surprise to the Deputy that we are seeing significant requirements for people in construction, ICT and digital skills and a range of other sectors. Bulletins published monthly in that regard are useful and informative. The question as to how we should respond is the especially interesting one. As I was trying to say in response to an earlier question, we have to recognise that responding does not just mean setting…