I thank the Deputy for her contribution. I agree with much of it. With regard to the SUSI review, she made a fair point about the extra costs that people, particularly from rural communities, have to face. There will be a chance to make submissions and have public consultation on that. I hope to have the review completed in advance of the budget so the House can make the necessary decisions. I will check the specific point the Deputy made about social care students. One generally must be a full-time registered stud…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. We were due to have an engagement this week, but I had to cancel for personal reasons. I am looking forward to having that engagement next week. While I would not necessarily agree with all the language he used to set out his position, I take the points he made about the need for better governance structures. To take his second question first, we must overhaul governance and if he wants my Department to be able to do that, he must give us the legislative teeth we require. In Ma…

I thank Deputy Matthews. I could not agree more with his comments on first-year college students. These are leaving certificate students from last year, who last sat in a classroom in March 2020. Against all the odds and all the challenges, they got themselves into college and now, as he rightly said, they are finding courses being done from the bedroom, the box room or the kitchen table. It is extremely difficult for them. Subject to the behaviour of the virus, I have not given up hope of trying to at least arrive…

Deputy Mattie McGrath is right to end on a positive note. As tough as this time is, we and the next generation will bounce back from this and we must all support them in that regard. Deputies Michael Collins and Mattie McGrath raised the very important matter of student accommodation and I will make a couple of points on it. With college-owned accommodation, I expect universities and colleges to be flexible and give refunds where students have not been able to use the accommodation through no fault of their own. I …

I thank Deputy Harkin for her questions. My information regarding the Connacht-Ulster alliance and the application for technological university status is the same as the Deputy's. We are expecting that application imminently. My Department, I, as Minister, and the Government are very supportive of it. The north west needs this university which offers really exciting opportunities in terms of regional development, with students being able to access the full range of university education at all levels within their ow…

The answer to the Deputy's final question is "Yes", but I do not hold all of the levers relating to this matter. I could give the Deputy a long answer about how all higher education institutions are autonomous and academically independent. There are, as the Deputy points out, also the professional regulators, including CORU but common sense is needed here. We cannot have a situation where we miss out on graduates in a given year, particularly in an area like social care where we need so many graduates to address a …

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for raising this matter. I acknowledge it is an issue she has rightly pursued for some time. The short answer is that I have been informed that all universities are now offering refunds for university-owned accommodation. If the Deputy has individual instances where that is not the case, I ask that she bring them to the attention of my office and I will bring those to the attention of the individual institutions. I am conscious of the challenges faced by students regarding student accomm…

I thank the Deputy and will pursue the two specific issues she has raised and any individual cases that she wishes to bring to my attention. My view on this is the same as hers, namely, that in the case of college-owned accommodation, refunds should be issued. In fairness to our universities, I understand it has been a very challenging year for them but it has been an extremely challenging year for their students and they need to be as flexible as they possibly can in that regard. The Higher Education Authority is …

I have tried to provide a variety of ways to assist students and their families financially within the resources and levers available to me. I agree that any student accommodation provider that is not acting reasonably will not be forgotten by students and their families. People should reflect on that. Figures show that in Ireland, unlike other countries, approximately 38% of students remain living at home during their time in college. Approximately 19% are in purpose-built student accommodation and the remainder a…

I thank Deputy Shanahan for his question. I acknowledge that we had a good meeting recently in regard to the south east and are due another one. I have not forgotten that. It is a priority for my Department to support higher education institutions in their critical role as drivers of social and economic development in their regions. Within this overall context, the creation of technological universities represents a radical reconfiguration of the higher education landscape that will deliver significant benefits for…

Certainly not from me. I think Deputy Shanahan would be in favour of political patronage if it were to do with the south east, so there is a slight irony in that remark. My Department is working with both WIT and IT Carlow on a number of projects, including, as I said, the engineering, computing and general teaching building in WIT. It is the largest project in the entire country within the PPP bundle for the higher education sector and it will increase the capacity of the Waterford campus by 1,037 students. Howeve…

I am absolutely determined to deliver a technological university for the south east. It is key from an access to education point of view for Waterford and the south-east region. It is also a key driver of regional development and balanced regional development. It will be a game changer for the south east. As the Deputy knows, I have made a number of appointments and decisions in regard to a project board for the technological university for the south east, TUSE. I have met the presidents of WIT and IT Carlow and I …

I thank the Deputy for her question. In recognition of the challenges facing full-time third level students, the Government has approved once-off funding of €50 million to provide additional financial assistance in this academic year. The funding was provided in budget 2021 in recognition of the exceptional situation students have experienced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Financial assistance will be provided to all EU full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students attending publicly funded higher education inst…

On the financial question, I will get the Deputy a note on that. A €50 million scheme was approved by Government. I have dealt with how SUSI students will receive their funding and I will not dwell on that. In regard to non-SUSI students, if we may call them that, higher education institutions will contact eligible students as soon as is practicable. I have made clear that I would like this contact to happen in advance of Christmas. Students do not need to contact their college or apply for the credit as it will au…

I share the Deputy's passion for making sure that everybody on the island of Ireland has access to higher education and that we co-operate and collaborate. I really believe in this. I had a very good meeting with Universities Ireland, which represents all the universities on the island of Ireland. I have asked their representatives to come up with a list of areas where they believe we can collaborate. I would love to see a situation where students from the North could do a module or two in the Republic and vice ver…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for what is genuinely a very important and timely question. Many students are asking me, as they are probably asking the Deputy, what the college year will look like. I have to be very honest with people for the sake of clarity and certainty, even if it is an answer we may not like to give. At level 3, level 4 and level 5 of the plan for living with Covid-19 the bulk of college activity will remain online. I have engaged with students, unions and university leaders and I am conscious of the…

I know the Deputy is trying to provide certainty for people and I agree with it. I am not telling anybody not to take accommodation. Some students will decide to take accommodation to use the library or because they want to live away from home. People have a variety of reasons to do different things. I am telling people what college life will look like at level 3, level 4 and level 5, which is where we are going to be in the new year while we roll out vaccines. It is likely that the bulk of lectures will take place…

I know what the Deputy is saying. I do not mean to be pedantic but in the interests of clarity, I note that colleges will be open but the lectures will take place online. I say that because they were not open in March. The libraries and sports facilities are now open. Students can go into the campuses in small groups to meet a lecturer, attend a tutorial or debate a point. I want to see those things happen in the new year. Practical classes are taking place. This is different from the situation earlier in the pande…

This is an important question on an issue that has perhaps been overlooked or messed around with politically for far too long. The previous Oireachtas decided on another review, so an all-party committee got together, looked at the Cassells report and asked for an economic evaluation. That is the process the Deputy is asking me about. The development of a sustainable funding model is essential in light of the centrality of further and higher education to our progress as a country, which applies now more than ever. …

Not to pre-empt the outcome of the report, but it is absolutely my intention to publish it, to engage with the Oireachtas on it and, ultimately, to bring proposals to the Government. I want to settle this question. I agree with the Deputy that this has been going on for a very long time. The Taoiseach had a very clear view on the need to attach a centrality of focus to further and higher education. This is why he established this Department, and I am determined we do just that. We have not been standing still since…