We always engage but we do not make commitments I cannot stand over. The legal position with regard to the autonomy of our universities and the setting of postgraduate fees is a statement of fact. I always welcome the opportunity to engage, hear views and see how we can support people, and this is important. We have put in place a number of supports this year for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level. In fairness to the higher education sector staff and students, they have kept the system going in what m…

I thank Deputy Burke, again not just for the question but for his very significant and sustained support for this project and his interest in the developments in higher education in the Cork area. We have had many conversations on this and I look forward to continuing to work with him on this and visiting Cork Institute of Technology, which will then be Munster technological university after an official commencement in January. The creation of technological universities is an important part of the Government’s high…

The Deputy has mentioned the work done to bring these institutions together and I was thinking that my political epitaph might be that I brought Cork and Kerry together. It is significant and this is a very important step. I thank the people who have been working at this for years in Cork and Kerry. I thank my predecessor, former Deputy and Minister of State, Ms Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and the outgoing presidents of Cork Institute of Technology and the Institute of Technology, Tralee. I also thank Mr. Savage, who i…

I echo Deputy Burke's comment that the establishment of MTU is the beginning of the journey. There will be expansion and additionality as the university grows. Deputy Ó Murchú is entirely right. When one goes to the dance but does not pick a partner and everyone is partnered off, one is left alone. We have two institutes of technology, both of which are excellent, namely DkIT and IADT in Dún Laoghaire, that are currently not aligned with technological university development consortiums. I want to be very clear that…

During the course of 2020, SUSI has experienced, not unexpectedly, an increase in the number of applications for grant assistance as well as the number of students seeking a review, understandably, based on the change of circumstances provision in the scheme. This is primarily due to the negative impact that Covid-19 has had on the tenure of employment and income levels. For this reason I sought and secured additional funding of €20 million for 2021 to meet the existing and expected demands on the SUSI grant scheme…

Since taking up office I have made three changes to SUSI. The first was the €250 payment. The second was the change to postgraduate supports, both to the level of grant and the level of income allowed. The third, and perhaps most important, was the change to the student support scheme for people in asylum. Only five people in asylum were able to access financial support last year but this year there are 25 such people accessing support, with 29 more potentially valid applications being assessed as we speak. I agree…

I agree that not everybody can pack their bags and head off to college for four years, for a variety of reasons. That is not the way people learn in Ireland now and that is not the way we live in many ways and the system needs to be more flexible. I accept the Deputy's point that part-time rather than full-time learning is a much more viable option for some people and part-time students are included in the terms of reference of the review. The terms of reference are quite broad and have been welcomed by the USI. We…

I will make sure that this is considered as a core component. I note that some universities are now making a real effort to become autism friendly. We have some very bright students and very bright people in our country but they are not the challenge. Sometimes it is the institutions that are the challenge; they need to be more flexible and understanding of how people with autism learn because we all learn differently. While I am not yet sure of the composition of the steering group, I will make sure there is an op…

The Deputy will appreciate the sensitivity of this time. Obviously, we will need to see the final outcome of negotiations on an arrangement between the UK and the European Union. I have met the UK universities minister and the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy, who has responsibility for higher education. I will also be virtually attending a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council with Government colleagues on Friday. I have made it very clear that I hope there will be an arrangement in place whereby…

I am grateful for the opportunity for me and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, who will also contribute to the debate, to update the House on the progression of the technological university agenda nationally. I am delighted to see such interest in this in Seanad Éireann. It warms my heart that the time for these statements was extended. I am encouraged that there is great interest across the country about the transformation that these technological universities can bring to the regions. The opportunity t…

I very much welcome the opportunity to update the House on some of the work of the new Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science just under five months on from its creation and the formation of the Government. I very much appreciate the support and interest from all sides of the Oireachtas for a new stand-alone Department to place a renewed focus on the further and higher education sectors and enhance and develop research and innovation. The new Department has an annual budget of …

I am delighted to express confidence in the Tánaiste. I am genuinely worried about the direction of political discourse in our country. I am worried that we now live in a world and in a country where some strive to see those with political differences as enemies rather than decent people with opposing views. I am worried that there is a real effort under way to have us live in a country where one cannot make a mistake without the off-with-their-heads brigade seeking a political execution. This is not who we are or …

Deputy Doherty made two specific references to me during the debate and out of respect to him, and to the fact that the record of this House stands for evermore, I want to respond briefly to both. There is nothing wrong with having lunch or a coffee with anyone, but for the record I did not. On the date he referenced, 12 April, I was at an East Coast FM charity event right throughout my constituency and many hundreds of my constituents would have seen exactly where I was that day. I want to clarify that for the rec…

I am happy to clarify this matter if it saves time later. The only inquiries I ever made were about when we would be ready to publish the contract on the Department of Health's website and I do not believe I ever had coffee with that person.

I am conscious of the challenges faced by students regarding student accommodation this year due to both financial pressures and the blended learning format of the 2020-21 academic year, which Deputy Conway-Walsh rightly mentioned. Responding to these issues is a significant matter of concern for me and my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and we are examining how accommodation providers can be encouraged to show greater flexibility to students during this challenging time. The Dep…

I want university-owned accommodation fees to be refunded where students cannot use the accommodation, or at least fair solutions to be found. I have said that in crystal clear language to representative bodies on a number of occasions. I have also said it in the presence of Union of Students in Ireland, USI, representatives. It is my position and that of the Government and I expect it to happen swiftly. I welcome the progress that has been made and I accept there is more that needs to be done. I will take the Depu…

I agree with the Deputy that, in particular when it comes to things like mental health and well-being, we need to be really aware of these things. We need to support them and invest more in them and that is what we are doing. I also hope she will agree with me that we need to learn from the mistakes other jurisdictions have made where large numbers of students returned to campus and we saw what happened in terms of outbreaks of the virus. We need to be very careful and put the health and safety of staff, students a…

I thank Deputy Barry for this question. This is an area I have taken an interest in since taking up office. The fee payable by a student varies depending on a variety of factors, including the type of course and the student's access route, including previous education. The Department of Justice and Equality adjudicates on a person's entitlements to remain in the State and on the stamp that is awarded where permission to remain is sanctioned, the granting of certain permissions to reside in the State conveys certain…

I will comment on it very clearly. I do not think it is fair or right and I want to fix it. My views on this are clear. I know one of the students the Deputy speaks of. It is the well-known case of Eric, the boy from Bray who some Department official thought it was a good idea to send him back of China. Eric had never been to China. He is as Irish as the rest of us but he was caught in this legal limbo situation. I agree with the Deputy that we need to address that as a country. What I did almost immediately on tak…

I am the Minister with responsibility for higher education and believe that providing everybody with an opportunity to access higher education is a good thing. I believe there is a societal and economic good and that is where we should be trying to get to. Obviously, I have to fit my Department's work into a broader piece of work that needs to be done and was being done previously by the Department of Justice and Equality and is now to be done by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, led by the relevant Min…