I do not think that is right.

We can certainly agree that retaining and recruiting the best talent into our country is key. It is key to our future economic and social well-being. That is why in Impact 2030, Ireland's national research and innovation strategy, we quite rightly place a real focus on the researchers themselves. This review stems from that and from listening directly to researchers and postgraduate students. As recently as yesterday, I met with PhD researchers and postgraduate students with disabilities, who are working across our…

I thank the Deputy for highlighting this important issue. By any objective measure, there has been an unprecedented level of focus on apprenticeships by my Department since its creation. In fact, I would argue that one of the big benefits of the establishment of my Department two and a half years ago was a policy focus on the area of apprenticeship, whether through the apprenticeship action plan, a new national apprenticeship office, the highest ever number of new registered apprentices last year at 8,607, employer…

The answers the Deputy gets are not changing. There were more than 11,000 people waiting at the peak in August 2021. We engaged very intensively with SOLAS to find out how long somebody would generally wait, forgetting Covid-19. If Covid-19 had never happened, the normal time somebody would generally wait between one phase and the other is six months. That is the standard time people wait between moving from one phase to the other as part of what they call the standard based apprenticeship, SBA, model. I think it i…

I agree with the last point but the Deputy knows when quoting those figures that obviously Covid-19 had an impact on the pace at which people were able to fully qualify as an apprentice. I do not think that is news; that is a reality of the Covid-19 pandemic when our training centres had to shut down for sustained periods of time to keep people safe. The more important figure is that more people than ever before are putting up their hands and saying they want to be apprentices. Those figures are there too and are v…

Objectively, this was a really great week for education in Galway. We saw approximately €100 million announced in projects for further education and higher education in the city and county of Galway. We saw a multimillion euro development in the Deputy's own bailiwick where I know he lectured, in the Atlantic Technological University - some €19 million from memory - that will see a new learner facility developed for science and computing students among others. We also saw Galway chosen as a location for a major fur…

I agree with the Deputy's sentiments. I am aware this bundle has been on the run for a while and I hear his frustration on that point. I want to assure him and his constituents, and the staff and students in ATU Galway in particular, that things have not been standing still. There is a very live process under way in relation to bundle 2 which includes this STEM project for Galway. I have confirmed to the Deputy in the Dáil this morning that we are hopeful of being able to bring that to a financial close. I just do …

Not that it is needed, but I offer my encouragement to the Deputy in continuing his work. There is a major vehicle for the west and the north west in the form of the ATU. There is a brilliant leadership team in place, including the president, Dr. Orla Flynn, and the chair of the governing authority, Maura McNally. I was in that beautiful library on Monday last. To use the hotel as an example, some of the changes we made this week will ensure that ATU and other facilities can benefit in the future. For example, the …

I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for the question. We initially discussed this at the Committee on Autism and I thank him for following it up further. In June, I announced €12 million in funding for a new four-year strand of PATH funding. This is funding that is directed as under-represented groups in higher education. This is known as PATH 4. Phase 1 supports the embedding of universal design approaches and inclusive practices in HEIs. Universal design is based on the principles of flexibility and choice for all studen…

I should have said that we have brought in the National Disability Authority, NDA, to evaluate these projects. I wish to thank it for doing so. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the NDA are evaluating these projects. Before I launched the call for funding, I met with representatives from the NDA to discuss this matter. I also met them briefly again at a conference I attended yesterday and had the opportunity to thank them for their work. Project plans come in and are evaluated by the HEA and the NDA and mone…

I agree with Deputy Ó Murchú. That is a very good summary of what we are trying to do. As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said, having the evaluation is key to this. As we discussed in some detail at the Joint Committee on Autism, the cliff edge has moved for far too many students from getting from primary to secondary school or from getting from secondary school to third level. That is what we are trying to fix. It can be fixed in a couple of ways. I am a great believer in universal design. I have seen many good examples of i…

I thank the Deputy for the question. He is aware of the short-term benefits, introduced in the budget in terms of one-off payments or increases to the stipend baseline, so I will not waste time on that. I accept we need to do more. We need to retain talent in Ireland and we need to attract talent to Ireland. I have engaged with many PhD students and postgraduate students, and as recently as yesterday I met a group of researchers with disabilities led by Dr. Vivian Rath. The key thing we need to do is to have a prop…

The status issue that the Deputy has outlined will be considered. It is an explicit term of the terms of reference. What I would also flag to the Deputy, as I flagged earlier, is that in this House we will have an opportunity in 2023 to pass a research Bill. The Government has committed to bringing forward a stand-alone national research Bill in 2023. This will be the Bill to give effect to many of the provisions of Impact 2030, including the creation of one new agency for funding research in Ireland, but will also…

I always welcome others working with me. This legislation will have to go through pre-legislative scrutiny. It is the Government’s intention to publish legislation early in 2023 and then, to be truthful, we will be in the hands of the joint committee in terms of pre-legislative scrutiny. That pre-legislative scrutiny will be very important. Ministers often ask for it to be waived for good reasons but, on this occasion, I think pre-legislative scrutiny will be important to give voice and an opportunity for a number …

I thank the Deputy for raising this question and we had some engagement on it previously. When I look at the whole area of health and social care, there are 26 professions that I have come across so far in terms of the breadth of courses and professions that need to be addressed. We have to ensure there is an appropriate pipeline of suitably qualified professionals in disciplines required for disability teams and the therapy professions operating across the health, children and education sectors. This is a key prio…

The short answer to the Deputy's final question is, "Yes". It is up to the autonomous institutions to determine their own programmes. We want to create a unified tertiary education system, however, so I would very much welcome proposals that involve further and higher education working together. As regards workforce planning, there is a level of engagement now that was not present in the past, frankly. We need to do a much better job of planning to meet the public service needs. Although training is only part of th…

I will keep in touch with the Deputy in respect of PA hours, I wrote to him on the matter yesterday. Deputy O'Dowd is in an awkward position.

I agree with the Deputy's position in respect of workforce planning. There is good work going on. I have outlined my position. In March, we will ask the higher education sector what it can do, innovatively and otherwise. This is important. We have just had a mapping exercise in respect of veterinary medicine and a number of other professions. There is now a significant level of ambition to create at least one more veterinary school. I am excited about that. It shows that when those in the system are asked what they…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It has been a significant week in terms of changing the Government's policy on student accommodation. This week, I went to Government with a proposal that, for the first time, the State will use taxpayers' money to help to build publicly owned college accommodation. I have stated in the House previously that we have been too reliant on the private market in this regard. We are now changing that policy. Three projects, at Maynooth, Galway and Limerick universities, have now…

There are two parts to this, as the Deputy may have heard me say earlier. There is a supply issue. To take Maynooth University as an example, based on the figures I have in my head, for every one student who got a student accommodation bed on campus, there were six others who sought one. There was a demand this year for student accommodation, at current rates, that could not be met. We have to ramp up supply. I take the point on affordability, however. I have no interest in student accommodation being opened with g…