The Government gave a clear commitment, as did the previous Government, to ensuring that Northern Ireland is never left behind and we are going to honour that commitment in every way we can. I am not in any way disputing the valid points the Deputy made, but I welcome the fact that under the current agreement it is envisaged that the UK, and therefore Northern Ireland, will have access to Horizon 2020 as associate members. That would be a good outcome. I hope that the Deputy can see from my answer today, but more i…

As part of our development of a new national research and innovation strategy, which I expect to have concluded by the end of the year, we will set a new national target for Horizon Europe. I share the Deputy's wish and desire for us to do more, do even better, draw down as much funding as possible and collaborate as much as we possibly can. Our top countries for collaborations are currently Germany, Spain, the UK, Italy and France. I share the Deputy's view in that regard. We will set that new ambitious national t…

Of course the Deputy can put that to me but he will not be surprised when I utterly reject it. I have already given my view on Mr. Keegan's comments and I will not take up time on that. We have taken a number of measures, including in recent days, to assist with student welfare, student mental health and student incomes. I refer to the pandemic unemployment payment and the significant income support we provided to students over a sustained period of time. That was the right and proper policy decision but the Deputy…

No single budget solves all of the challenges people face but the Deputy's critical analysis of the budget would have more validity if he acknowledged some of the positive steps we have taken in recent weeks, days and months. Those steps include the significant investment in the student assistance fund that has been widely welcomed by students, the significant increase in mental health funding, and the more than 17,000 free laptops that have been provided to recognise that the cost of a laptop was a barrier to part…

I will do that and I thank Deputy Griffin for bringing me around Tralee. Deputy Boyd Barrett suggested I should talk to students and I do so all the time. They are not the preserve or ownership of any single side of this House. We need to do more in student supports and we took significant actions yesterday. We could not rectify everything in one budget but it is a statement of intent by this Government, and before the end of the year we will bring forward proposals on a sustainable funding model for higher educati…

I thank the Deputy for the question and for her passionate advocacy, to put it mildly, on Carlow College, St. Patrick's and all things Carlow. I always welcome working with her on these projects and I look forward to us delivering a technological university for the south east in 2022. As the Deputy knows, Carlow College, St. Patrick's is a privately run education institution operating outside the publicly funded higher education system. At the Deputy's request, I have met the leadership there, including the preside…

The Deputy is upping the pressure on me. The Taoiseach regularly passes on the Deputy's strong advocacy and we are determined to work with her to rectify this matter. I need to point out the technological university will be autonomous in its functions. The decision we are taking to provide expert advice to Carlow College, St. Patrick's is the best way to go about this and I look forward to visiting Carlow in November and to talking to the Deputy about it then.

I hope to respond to several of the issues raised by my colleague, Deputy Howlin, but it would require more time to respond substantively to his points on climate, housing and health. I look forward to debating that and would very much contend that the Government has robust strategies in those three areas. A fair comment would be that it will be on the implementation of those strategies that we will be judged in the weeks, months and years ahead. I am pleased to have a brief opportunity to introduce a series of mea…

I assure the Deputy that the campus in Wexford is under way.

The SUSI changes will be introduced in the next academic year.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for inviting me in to be part of the inaugural debate under these new structures. As a Minister who gets invited into Seanad Éireann to speak in debates, it is better to speak after hearing everybody's contribution. It is not for me to advise Seanad Éireann on its business, but it is a more informative way of approaching these matters. It has been an honour for me to sit through this debate. We all attend debates in the Oireachtas from time to time that are a little bit flat - tonight was …

I do not wish to be in any way disorderly, but yesterday I was named in this House in my unavoidable absence. What was said, in my view, was a misuse of Dáil privilege and I want the record of this House to show that it is untrue.

I thank the Deputy for the question. The student support scheme is a critical financial support for students participating in higher education. As of earlier this week, SUSI had received almost 74,000 applications from students. To date, almost 53,500 applications have been assessed, with more than 47,000 deemed as eligible for support for the next academic year. As in any statutory scheme, a core principle is that there is a consistency of approach and equitable treatment for applicants as part of the means assess…

There are crossed lines of communication here, so let me be clearer. Full-time students will not be in a position to receive the PUP from September. Therefore, they will be entitled to have their SUSI application assessed as though they have not received the payment. That is the purpose of the change of circumstances. I met my officials as recently as yesterday on this. I acknowledge that the Deputy has pursued this matter on a number of occasions and it is important. If students were going to receive the PUP beyon…

Not to surprise the Deputy, but I am doing more for students than she has asked me to do. We are going to put in a disregard of €4,500, because full-time students are no longer entitled to the PUP from September. If they apply for the change of circumstances, that will mean their application will be reassessed without their PUP payment being calculated as part of it. SUSI has kept on additional staff. The Deputy probably knows that SUSI takes on staff for certain periods. It has extended that period to deal with mo…

I thank the Deputy for the question and for consistently raising with me the need for a Wexford campus as part of the technological university for the south east. It has been a long-term objective of what is currently the Institute of Technology Carlow, IT Carlow, to secure and develop a suitable, permanent campus site in Wexford. In the broader context of higher education progression and integration, this is an objective that I strongly support. I do not see this as an option or something nice to do; I see it as e…

That is an excellent suggestion. I would be very happy to take the Deputy up on it and arrange for a meeting with Oireachtas Members from Wexford, perhaps the chief executive of Wexford County Council, the president of IT Carlow and their like to meet me. I would be very happy to try to do that this month, at least online. I will take the Deputy up on her offer to visit the existing campus. She makes an important point because there is an existing campus. We want to get it much better facilities but there are stude…

I thank the Deputy. She does not need me to tell her about the success of the Wexford campus because she herself has been a beneficiary. I very much believe this technological university for the south east will be transformational, not just regarding access to education, although that will be the case, but also regarding the foreign direct investment potential the Deputy referred to. I have met IDA Ireland in respect of this matter. It, too, has signalled to me that a university for the south east could be very imp…

I thank the Deputy. I would not agree that the underfunding started when my party came into government. Unfortunately, the underfunding of higher education is an intergenerational issue that needs to be rectified. I accept, however, the point on the need for a sustainable model of funding for higher education. My Department's statement of strategy, which I published on 8 March, contains a commitment to put in place that sustainable funding model for higher education. This is essential in ensuring our higher educati…

The Deputy knows that every time she says we have the highest fees in the European Union, I am going to point out this is only because Northern Ireland left the European Union, sadly, as part of Brexit. The fees for students in the North, where the Deputy's party is in government, are a hell of a lot higher. The timeline is a matter for the European Commission. In fairness to it, I believe it would say Covid has had an impact. The report is now with my Department. There are several parts to it. What I will not do i…