Paul Lawless
Question:6. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of applicants from Mayo who had their SUSI application refused in the 2024 academic year. [25803/25]
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Grant Payments
Paul Lawless
Question:11. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of SUSI applicants from Mayo who had their SUSI revoked in the middle of the academic year. [25802/25]
Paul Lawless
Question:33. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of applicants from Mayo who had their SUSI application approved in the 2024 academic year. [25804/25]
I thank the Minister and Minister of State for attending to discuss these important matters. The questions concern SUSI applications for County Mayo, in particular the number and the percentage of the refusal rate, the revoked applications and the successful applications, and how this compares with the national situation.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 11 and 33 together.
As the House will be aware, the main support available to assist students with the cost of attending higher education is the student grant scheme. Under the scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. In other words, there is a set of rules around the scheme, those rules govern the eligibility for it and, in turn, the students progress. That continues to be applied.
There is also a part-time scheme for specified undergraduate courses that is now available. It commenced for the first time in September 2024 and I recently expanded it to more courses. It provides fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. This includes specified in-person courses and blended or hybrid courses, and its aim is to provide additional flexibility in respect of course provision to students who may be socioeconomically disadvantaged. Many students find the part-time option far more possible because they are able to continue to work and look after other commitments. The part-time course is a very attractive option for many people for that reason and it is only right that it should be supported through this fees scheme. That was not previously the case but it is now. As I said, I have recently expanded the provision and I will continue to examine the scheme because there may be other courses that fall outside it. I intend to continue to review it to see whether we can expand it to the maximum possible number of students.
I turn now to the specific questions on the Mayo cohort. As of 15 May 2025, for the academic year 2024-25, some 2,655 applicants from Mayo were awarded a grant by SUSI for either a full-time or part-time course; 415 applicants from Mayo were refused a grant by SUSI for either a full-time or part-time course; and 58 applicants from Mayo had their grant revoked for either a full-time or part-time course. Those are the figures as of 15 May, a couple of days ago, and they may change as we come to the end of the academic year because, over the course of an academic year, there can be changes with individual students for different reasons. I do not expect that they will be consequential in terms of the numbers but there may be updates before the end of the academic year.
It is fair to say that the vast majority of students who applied did receive funding. A small number were refused because they were ineligible and were not able to progress their applications, and a much smaller number again, 58, had those grants revoked. I hope that is of interest and assistance to the Deputy. Those are the figures for County Mayo.
I would like to raise some concerns, in particular regarding the revoked applications. In some instances, the money is never actually seen by the applicant and is directly linked to the university. I am aware of one case where the university failed to notify SUSI that the student had left the course and, as a result, the student was penalised the following year – essentially, the student was abandoned in that situation. Of course, we need to have a rules-based system and that is very important. However, this is particularly relevant in the post-Covid landscape, given students lost so much time in their second level education, and that window of opportunity was lost. As a result, students who may not have had the opportunity for career guidance during this time have pursued courses that perhaps they would not have pursued in the normal circumstance of having had career guidance. As a result of choosing a course, they find themselves potentially changing course or changing pathway, and they are penalised for doing so. In many ways, we should be encouraging people to pursue their dreams. Changing a course is not in itself a problem and, in fact, it should sometimes be encouraged. I know people who get to second or third year in college, realise that this career path is not for them and find themselves in a situation where they continue along the pathway because of the financial penalties they would incur if they were to change. That needs to be looked at. Of course, we need a rules-based system, but we need flexibility and perhaps an extension of the timeframe that SUSI currently stipulates.
Another point concerns the distance from college in the context of the adjacent or non-adjacent grant rate. I am aware of one case where SUSI failed an applicant for being 29.65 km away from ATU in Castlebar when Google Maps suggests the person is 31 km away. It is very unfortunate. The system should recognise this, particularly in light of how expensive it is to run a car and the fact that public transport in many parts of Mayo is not a viable option for students. Apart from the cost of running a car, the Government is increasing carbon tax and the cost of insurance is rising.
This should be recognised.
There were a couple of options raised and I will try to come back to the Deputy on each of them.
Career guidance and counselling is something I tend to very much support and I am keen to increase the provision of it. As we know, it is extremely difficult for students, typically at a young age, to make choices that may have implications for their entire life journey after that. There is a bit of a pressure point around how to make that decision at the right time very quickly. However, I intend to support that area in terms of further support for career guidance and for counselling for the burgeoning schools.
Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and I attended the Mount Lucas national construction skills hub. We saw the launching of a new platform, Skillnet MMC Accelerate, which is a website that allows those with an interest in construction careers to consider a breathtaking range of options and follow through on that interest by clicking through different courses, different study options and different apprenticeships to see how they might play out. I credit the organisers and those involved in that platform. I would like to see those type of platforms applied to many other sectors across the board. This is an example of what can be done and what is being done already.
The Deputy spoke about students who may take on a course and find halfway through that it is not the right course for them. In the programme for Government, we have committed to examining second-chance applications. As with all these things, there is a balance because unlimited funding for continuing to change courses might be desirable from a societal point of view but economically unsustainable. There has to be some tipping point. I have some sympathy in this regard because I changed course. I studied maths originally, but I ended up studying law. I did it part-time, by night, while I was working in town. I came across to lectures every evening after work. Therefore, I have sympathy for people who end up pursuing second careers and different course options. It is a good thing to do. The day of the job for life is gone and people now end up pursuing many different paths through life and, indeed, change and retrain. Reskilling, upskilling and lifelong learning is a core objective of my Department to support. We are keen to continue to allow people have those opportunities at any stage in life to find their new path forward.
In terms of the individual cases, the Deputy mentioned two that I noted. The first was around a student who left - maybe dropped out - halfway through the year. Then he mentioned what sounds like a very unfortunate individual who checked Google Maps and found that the other calculations did not seem to accord. If the Deputy wants to bring those cases to my attention after the session or if he wants to write to me on them - I will not get into individual cases on the floor of the House and I do not have the details - I would be quite happy to look into them and see if we can progress anything in the background.
I welcome the Minister's assistance on those cases. As the Minister quite rightly pointed out, people who make second-chance applications and move courses should be supported in a bigger way than is currently the case. The extension of the timeline should be looked at and the acceleration of more online courses, which will reduce the cost to the person, would be of assistance as well.
I also want to raise another case. A constituent of mine, who has two students in college, received a very modest gift as a result of losing their parent. It was a grandparent of the third level students. This was a very small will that was left. The parents used the gift, which was very modest, to part-pay off the mortgage on their property. This family was no better off in terms of their income and day-to-day spending and yet, because of this will, their children were completely struck off from a SUSI grant. The family had to take one of their children out of college. As the inheritance was so small, they will be less well-off than if they never got it in the first place. I know we need a rules-based system but we should look at the anomaly that arises when a modest inheritance is used, as in this case, to pay off the mortgage. This family was no better off. In fact, they are actually less well-off in terms of that. It needs to be looked at. I would greatly appreciate it if the Minister could consider this in his role in the months ahead.
I have listened to what the Deputy has said and I have taken note. He might want to follow up with me on that case as well. The first thing I would say, before I and my Department get involved, is that the student should consider appealing if they have not done so already. Indeed, I would advise any student who feels they have been wrongly denied a grant, or not had their correct level of grant funding applied, to access the appeals mechanism. I would refer any student who is dissatisfied to the relevant website, studentgrantappeals.ie, because there is a whole framework in place there. There is a 30-day window for such cases. I am not sure how far on this particular case is, but it might be of interest to the House in general to be aware of that facility. There is also a support webline, support@susi.ie. They have a phone number which can be accessed as well. There are a number of different ways in which SUSI will respond to individual cases. It may be appropriate for the Deputy's constituent who wishes to make a case with regard to mileage to consider an appeal as well. It is up to the individual student and family, but that is something that could be looked at.
In terms of the inheritance, the Deputy stated that the amount was modest. I do not know what the figure is - we can look into it in due course - but there are several different disregards in the system, such as holiday income, bursaries and grants from other sources. A number of different disregards are included. It is quite a complex system in terms of how the grants are considered, whether a student is eligible, what other income is there and what other payments they may be in receipt of. I do not know whether the particular case the Deputy mentions would satisfy one of those disregards. It may do; it may not. Certainly, it would with luck. However, every effort is made to ensure that when a student receives financial support towards their educational journey from other sources with the intention of helping them to achieve an educational goal, it is not punitive in terms of their subsequent support. We would not want to have one robbing Peter to pay Paul; they should be combined.
If the Deputy wants to advise his constituent in the first instance to consider appealing if they have not already, he should look at the details of it. Then if the Deputy wants to engage with me on that particular case as well, I would be happy to look into it.
We will move on to Question No. 8.
Question No. 7 taken with Written Answers.
Third Level Education
Emer Currie
Question:8. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will consider expanding third level course places relating to therapies in the disability sector, as part of workforce planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26303/25]
I am asking for an update on the expansion of third level course places for therapies in the disability sector and the Minister's role in the workforce planning of therapists needed in children's disability network teams, CDNTs, primary care teams and schools. There has been much focus this week on assessments of need. The programme for Government and the report of the Joint Committee on Autism are clear in their recommendations.
On the disability framework and the challenge posed, this Government wants to support people with disabilities in the fullest possible way to allow them to live the most meaningful and impactful lives as possible, and with as much support from the State as possible. This fundamental goal is writ large in the programme for Government and the entire Government is committed to delivering on it. Indeed, the Taoiseach has convened a Cabinet subcommittee, which is meeting regularly and of which I am a member, to address this societal and State goal. I put on record my commitment, as have all my colleagues in government, to supporting this important issue.
My officials and I are working closely with other Departments to support workforce planning responses by creating additional places in areas of acute skills need, ensuring a pipeline of qualified graduates for our health and social care workforce.
More generally, my Department has a skills matrix and looks to the future to assess what skills are needed at particular times for different economic and societal goals and challenges. We have that skills framework and skills planning ongoing anyway, but we certainly have a renewed focus on the health and social care workforce at present. That work has been ongoing. A recent joint memorandum committed both Departments - the Department of Health and my Department - to funding the expansion of key healthcare disciplines, including therapies.
Last week I announced a new pharmacy course in the University of Galway, which will start this September. There is a new dentistry programme in the Royal College of Surgeons that is also available for this September. Further expansion across medicine, pharmacy and veterinary will come on stream in 2026. We are expanding the number of professional healthcare courses that are out there, and across the country as well. That builds on existing progress, with nearly 1,000 additional places created in health and social care programmes in recent years.
Further additional places were provided for this September. These include 15 additional places on the speech and language therapy BSc programme at the University of Galway, 40 additional places for occupational therapy at the same university and 15 additional paediatric medicine places through the Galway BSc programme. I have to acknowledge that Galway is playing its part. There are also ten additional physiotherapy places at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. It is a work in progress. We continue to examine ways to increase the throughput and output of therapists of all types in the system.
While there are issues with how our public services are designed, the greatest barrier disabled people face in accessing appropriate services is resourcing and understaffing across assessment of needs, therapeutic and clinical services, medical services and education services, all of which are necessary if our disabled community are to lead full lives with the experiences and opportunities they deserve. We need a pipeline of therapists for the future based on shared projections across health, disability and education. The programme for Government commits to doubling the number of college places in this area and delivering a workforce plan to meet both immediate and long-term needs. What engagement is taking place with the Department of Health to increase the number of places across OT, SLT, physio, psychology, social work and nursing to ensure these numbers match the numbers of clinical placements? Is engagement taking place with the Department of disability to ensure the number of clinical placements will meet current and future needs? What consultation is there with professional bodies about a long-term workforce planning strategy?
I mentioned some of the places we have provided and we intend to provide further places in these areas. There are also agreements regarding healthcare provision with Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast resulting in a further 389 places over the last two years. I visited Queen's University Belfast over the Easter break and met the president, Ian Greer. I also met some of the students from the Republic who are attending courses there. I am told they are excelling in their fields. They were certainly great ambassadors for the scheme. That provision from the Northern universities is welcome.
We are also engaging with stakeholders across the sector to determine the number of additional places for 2025. We have provided multiple additional places already - numbering 1,000 last year - but I want to keep on providing further options. I recently asked the HEA to run an expressions-of-interest programme. The Higher Education Authority put out a call to the universities to see which universities were placed to offer further provision, increasing the output of therapists across all of the different healthcare disciplines. That is going extremely well. We have had very positive responses to it. I intend to update the Cabinet subcommittee on that. I may return to that in my next supplementary response.
I acknowledge the additional places and the work of the Tánaiste and of the former Minister in the Department, Deputy O'Donovan, in this area. However, I am really talking about long-term workforce planning and how it needs to be linked with collaboration and shared data. For instance, the Disability Capacity Review to 2032, published by the HSE, states that 3.5% of the child population require special input from CDNTs. The Joint Committee on Autism's report speaks about the overall need to tackle unmet need. The Department of Education is using figures such as 5%. Does the Minister agree that collaboration across these Departments is essential? Are we using levers used in other models to incentivise people to take up places in this area? I refer to Springboard and the model we use for clinical psychologists, who get 60% of their studies funded and get paid for their placements. Other countries provide forgiveness on student loans.
My question, Question No. 17, is remarkably similar to Deputy Currie's. I was somewhat surprised that they were not grouped together. The Minister has already answered my question, which was to ask the number of additional places in the area of life sciences provided for next year. I am delighted with the Minister's response and that the number of places in a number of these areas has increased in the school of life sciences at my local institution, the National University of Ireland Galway. Like Deputy Currie, I encourage the Minister to look at the many ways in which we can ensure we are producing more occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and physiotherapists, particularly given what we have heard about the need in this area throughout the week.
Is the Deputy happy enough that his question has now been dealt with?
I am.
I thank Deputy Connolly for his support in my visit to Galway last week. He is a great advocate for the college and works closely with the team. I believe he is a former student. That was a very good engagement.
I agree with both Deputies on the real need to examine all options and all levers at our disposal to increase the number of disability workers. These include Springboard. I believe it could include apprenticeships and I have asked my further education teams to look at options to address this demand within that system along with more traditional higher education provision. A great deal of work is being done. Just this week, my officials had another official-level group engagement with different Departments. Deputy Currie asked what engagement is happening with other Departments. I have met the Minister for Health on the matter and we have had bilateral meetings on it. I have also met with the Minister for disability, Deputy Foley, and others. We have a Cabinet subcommittee that meets very regularly to progress the matter. It is an all-of-government priority. It is essential. As Deputy Currie has mentioned, placements are a challenge. My Department and my team can provide the courses and the education but the HSE and the different workplace settings need to offer placements to match. One cannot work without the other. That is an ongoing challenge.
Grant Payments
Joe Neville
Question:9. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he plans to further increase the SUSI grant application threshold in budget 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26323/25]
I thank the Deputy for the question. I am committed to increasing the supports available to students and to addressing the costs of education for students and their families progressively over this year and the coming years for as long as I am privileged to serve in this office.
It is important to say that all proposals made regarding education expenditure, including student grants, thresholds, limits, awards and so on, are considered annually in the context of the budget. It is in October that these discussions will take place for real. They are already under way and well advanced but that is the time at which decisions will ultimately be made and communicated.
I have already been engaged very intensively on this and I intend to publish an options paper in the near future that will identify the costs and potential impacts of various policy options. There are multiple different levers within the grants system. There are thresholds, monetary amounts and different types of support that can be made available. There are also different types of grants, including fee grants and maintenance grants, and, as Deputy Paul Lawless mentioned earlier, there are also adjacent and non-adjacent rates. There are a number of moving parts and I have tasked my team with coming up with a matrix of all of those parts so that we can see the impact of moving one lever on another lever. Ultimately, we do not want one cohort of students to be deprived of services and support because we have changed something to benefit another cohort. We need to make sure the approach is consistent, coherent, fair and progressive.
The paper I intend to publish will be based on engagement with the sector and with stakeholders. I held an event in Croke Park earlier this year at which I met with multiple different stakeholders from the educational sphere. I met access officers, students' union representatives, people taking up various courses, people from disadvantaged sectors and spokespersons for people who traditionally have struggled to attain the education they wished to attain. All of those voices will be heard in the discussion.
On the Deputy's specific question regarding the threshold, the special rate of maintenance threshold will increase from €26,200 to €27,400 this September. All other maintenance and student contribution grant thresholds will increase by 15% so there is already quite a significant increase coming this September. The postgraduate fee threshold will also increase to match the new 100% student contribution threshold, which will now be €64,315. That means a household with a net income of up to €115,000 will still benefit from grant support.
I thank the Minister for his reply. As someone who grew up just after third level education was made free, I benefited, as did many of my peers and our parents and families. That opened up third level education, which might not have been a possibility before. We have seen those benefits. Obviously, that has evolved and changed over the last number of years. It is incumbent on this Government to reduce the cost of third level education. There are various ways in which that policy might be achieved. Some might be of the view that there should be free third level education. There are also other ways, such as through grants. That seems to be the route the Department is going down. If we can increase the rates and the thresholds, it will improve the opportunities for different families. Like the Minister, I know that many people in north Kildare attend Maynooth University. It is really important. With all of the economic difficulties we face, education is at the core of what we do and how we can grow the country in the future.
I know the Deputy's commitment to north Kildare and to our shared constituency. I agree that education is absolutely a core part of that. Education, talent, skills and investment in people are the core of our success economically as well. That is why we, as a nation, have achieved everything we have. It is because of our investment in education from the early days of the State. It is something I continue to commit to and continue to advance.
As I mentioned, the threshold now for some level of support is up to €115,000 for a household. That is significant progress. It is the largest increase since the creation of SUSI and it underlines the commitment to inclusion. This will ensure students in need of financial assistance are not disadvantaged with the rise in incomes. That is significant and will kick in from September.
There are other supports. There is the new part-time scheme for part-time students that was not previously available. This is now in place and I extended it to other courses recently. I am examining many other levers as well to ensure no student is priced out of education and no student is unable to access education because of financial barriers. The vast majority of students who need support should be getting it and if they are not, I want to hear about it, and change the system so they can get assistance.
I thank the Minister for his feedback and his commitment. The two of us have benefited from the amazing education system we have had in this country. We have both utilised it to the best possible degree in various forms. What we want, and the opportunity we have here, is to ensure that all the young people growing up in this new and growing constituency can access it, and I see Deputy Ó Cearúil is here. Obviously, there is a multitude of other issues around accessing education, maybe transport and housing and places to stay, but often the initial core barrier can be cost. The focus of this Government needs to be on ensuring that everyone has access to education. Third level education is key to driving possibilities. We can talk about AI all we want, and we can talk about all those things, but if we do not have the people in the system to make the best of it, our economy will not grow and develop in the way it should and our people will not develop the way they should.
I totally agree. I refer to some of the progress we have made in recent years, which will be continuing again from this September. On the cost of education, the threshold is one part of it, and an important one. The SUSI grant system is one part also. There are other factors such as student accommodation, which I am working on. I hope to publish a strategy on student accommodation this summer. This will address student accommodation in a consistent way with a uniform template, or a set of templates, available for student accommodation builds. That has not been there in the past or it has been somewhat ad hoc. It is something I have asked the Department to focus on and produce that template, which will then assist with further student accommodation being made available.
The Deputy referred to the cost of transport and travel for students who are commuting, often because student accommodation may not be available to them. On those costs, we have the student Leap card and fare discounts have continued this year. They were part of the budget negotiations in which I was involved last year in my previous role. That is very important for students.
There are other issues such as materials, the cost of laptops, books and so on. There are other types of support, whether it is support through fee subsidies, maintenance grants, support for accommodation or the provision of those services directly. It is multifaceted but I am certainly very aware of those challenges.
Further and Higher Education
Brendan Smith
Question:10. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will outline the capital projects in the further education sector that will be progressed in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26306/25]
I very much welcome the emphasis placed on the development of the further education sector since the previous Government took office in June 2020. I spoke to the Minister's predecessors on many occasions about the opportunities that exist to develop the further education sector on an all-island basis, and particularly that there be a substantial capital programme. One of the projects of particular interest to me is the proposed development of a state-of-the-art campus in Cavan to provide additional permanent accommodation at Cavan Institute. I would be grateful if the Minister would give me an outline of the progress he expects to make with his capital funding this year.
I thank the Deputy for his continuing interest in the Cavan project as well as others. More generally, on the Department's capital ceiling over the last period there is a dedicated capital envelope, which the Deputy referred to, that amounted to €300 million for the further education and training sector, FET. Available funding has increased again from a low base of €6 million in 2018 to €107 million in the current year. That is a very significant multiplier of the available funding for the FET colleges and the FET system.
Funding for the FET capital projects is distributed through SOLAS under a number of different funding streams. There are 70 small- to medium-scale projects being progressed at the moment. This includes everything from minor capital works, emergency health and safety works and the strategic infrastructure upgrade fund, as well as devolved funding directly from my Department for minor capital works.
I am aware the Cavan-Monaghan project is of interest to the Deputy. The proposal there is to build centralised accommodation on land owned and currently occupied by the Cavan Institute on Cathedral Road in the town. That building will have modern learning spaces, specialised areas, and social and recreation spaces, surrounded by open spaces to create a vibrant campus community. It will have a complete range of supports, including guidance counselling. We heard earlier how important counselling is to make sure students make the right choices at the right times. The campus will also include quiet spaces and informal learning spaces. The project received approval in October 2024, it passed through approval gate No. 1, AG-1, of the infrastructure guidelines and is progressing to the next stage, which is pre-tender, project design, planning, and procurement strategy stage. SOLAS is currently working with the Cavan and Monaghan ETB to progress this through the next stage.
As the Deputy has flagged this as an area of interest, I will certainly keep a close eye on it and will update him as it progresses along. It is going well. It is past the first stage and is now at the next stage, which is the pre-tender stage. SOLAS, the Department and I are working to progress it. We will certainly make sure it moves quickly along.
I very warmly welcome the Minister's confirmation that progress is being made with this very important project for our constituency, as the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy David Maxwell, will know. I hope the Minister will be in a position to visit Cavan Institute at an early date, and to visit Monaghan Institute. Cavan Institute has been a very successful institute since its establishment. I was very much involved with the Cavan Institute in its early days. I was the first chair of the board of management of the college. I was also very much involved in getting the original building on Cathedral Road, which is no longer adequate due to increased enrolments over the years. Cavan Institute was the first dedicated post-leaving certificate college in the country. It has developed collaborations with colleges north of the Border too, which is very important.
As the Minister outlined in his reply, the institute needs additional permanent accommodation. I am very glad that there will be such a range of classroom and other ancillary accommodation, plus sports facilities. I hope SOLAS will be able to drive this capital programme forward as urgently as possible. I am delighted the Minister has secured from the Department of public expenditure additional funding to bolster the capital budget. I know the work of the Cavan and Monaghan ETB, which the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will know also, and this funding would be put to very good use.
I absolutely know it will be put to very good use. It is a fantastic and very exciting project and it is great to hear the history of that building, and indeed of the project and further education in the Cavan-Monaghan area. I thank the Deputy for the invitation to visit. I will certainly put that in my diary and will get there in due course. I would like to see it for myself. You cannot beat seeing it for real and meeting the teams on the ground to understand how projects are coming on. I thank the Deputy for his interest. He was involved in the original site. I will certainly keep a close eye on that and will get to it in due course.
I thank the Minister. It is very important that we record the importance of the further education sector. It was originally established to respond to the needs of the local community and the local economy. It has been an extremely important gateway for students and pathway to higher education. It has given so many people who traditionally would not have had the opportunity the opportunity to get an education beyond post-primary. It has been extremely important in ensuring that more people who may have come from homes where there was not a particularly heavy emphasis on education see that pathway to forward their education to successful careers. I very much welcome the emphasis the previous Government and this one have placed on this sector. I have no doubt the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, will lead the sector very well. I again emphasise that the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and I represent two Border counties. We are always very conscious of our neighbours in Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh and the potential there for further and more intense collaboration on a cross-Border basis.
I agree with the Deputy and I thank him for those points on access to the system for those who maybe would not have had that given they were coming from backgrounds where traditionally education or higher education was not a feature. The further education sector has been so progressive and has led so much in making education accessible to so many more families in a community setting and closer to home. It has made it easier to access education, despite economic reasons, family reasons or caring reasons, and has provided a welcome to, and has embraced, people.
There is a very exciting new development relating to tertiary degrees, of which the Deputy is probably aware. I recently met many tertiary degree students from around the country at an event in Grangegorman. The option is there for students to start their training or educational journey in a college of further education in a local area closer to home, which makes it easier on many fronts. After one or two years in a college of further education they can then progress to a more traditional higher education institution and go on to degree-level accreditation. That is a wonderful journey.
There are many more opportunities. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and I visited the National Construction Training Centre in Mount Lucas, County Offaly, yesterday. The careers that are opening up in construction are huge. Very exciting new journeys are opening there as well.
Question No. 11 taken with Question No. 6.
Research and Development
Malcolm Byrne
Question:12. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way in which he plans to modernise basic research equipment in universities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26166/25]
Deputy Ó Cearúil is taking Question No. 12 on behalf of Deputy Byrne.
I congratulate the Minister on his elevation to Cabinet. As a constituency colleague, it is great to see him in that brief. He has hit the ground running, and I have no doubt that the rest of his term will be a success. I wish him well.
We know from the Irish Universities Association, IUA, that half of the equipment in third level institutions is more than ten years old and that a third is more than 15 years old. How does the Minister plan to modernise basic research equipment in universities?
I thank the Deputy for his question and his kind words. I look forward to working with him to deliver for Kildare North and the country as we work together in this House and elsewhere. I know he is spokesperson for a related area as well. I want to acknowledge that and support him in his work.
The plan to modernise research equipment is a topic close to my heart. It is something that I immediately addressed when I came into this role. I tasked a team within the Department and established a working group comprising academics, people from the industry with experience in the sector, and my own officials to consider how we might embark on a renewal exercise for fundamental research equipment across the sector. That is well under way. It is critical that we have that equipment available because that is the building block on which our experiments and research journeys take place. It is critical for training students as well. In addition to research equipment, it is also teaching equipment. Students need to be able to access the best in class in that form. The working group is making good progress.
I addressed an Irish Universities Association event last week, where I reiterated my commitment to bringing a significant new funding stream to the sector to examine options as regards supporting the renewal and replacement of equipment and talent. One can have all the equipment in the world, but if there are no people to operate it, learn from it and use it, it is futile. I have, along the lines of the previous programme for research in third level institutions, PRTLI, a new undertaking that perhaps has not taken place for a decade prior to now. It was a very successful programme in the early part of the century. That is something on which I am engaging with the national development plan in terms of securing significant funding for it. The sector has warmly welcomed my indications in this regard. I am engaging with it intensively, and that progress is significant and substantial. I look forward to seeing the fruit of that when I bring it through the budgetary process later this year, all going well.
In March 2025, the IUA stated, "increased public investment in research is the best way to protect the Irish economy from external threats such as US tariffs," and what is happening in an international context. I welcome the Minister's commitment to not just funding third level institutions but also modernising those institutions.
As a follow-up question, when does the Minister envisage that funding will be available to third level institutions? I appreciate that this will be part of the national development plan. Will it be this year or further down the line?
I entirely agree with the Deputy regarding the economic headwinds he referred to in his supplementary question. Part of our competitive offering is that we have such a strong talent base, we invest in education and we invest in research and innovation.
Later today, I will travel to Brussels to attend a research council with European Council colleagues and ministers in related briefs across the European Union. We are very keen to support a successor programme in terms of Horizon funding. The Draghi report, which the Deputy will be familiar with, identified that research and innovation must be central to Europe's competitive advantage because it is a key part of our economic offering. It is the reason we have been so successful in attracting foreign direct investment, as well as in our own indigenous enterprises over many years. I intend to not just continue, but to double down and increase, widen and accelerate support for all of that activity.
The Deputy asked about timing. This is a significant programme. This is not a one-off grant; I intend this to be a significant body of work which will span my term of office over the coming five years. It is envisaged as a multi-annual programme. I will make my case on the national development plan. I will, perhaps, return to the issue in my supplementary answer.
I will give some time back to the Minister in order to allow him to finish his point. I acknowledge the President of Maynooth University, Eeva Leinonen, for her work there and as chair of the IUA. I am keen to hear from the Minister in terms of what his timeline is. I appreciate that any scheme like this cannot be just a once-off; it needs to be continuous because of the rate of change and development in all areas of research. I completely understand that it will take time. It is not just a case of being here once and it being done. It will take a number of years.
The Deputy mentioned the IUA paper published in March. I appointed the IUA to my working group, and it is actually actively involved in it already. It is an excellent organisation and it is worthwhile to have it in the room for these discussions. The other thing I will say about the programme as I currently envisage it and through my work with the expert group is that it is intended to be a competitive funding call. It will not necessarily be a case of something for everybody but, rather, will be based upon excellence and submissions being made as part of a competitive process. An independent panel will assess applications. That is how the PRTLI was done before and it is how best-in-class funding applications in the research sector are done. It will not be automatic or immediate. Funding is the first step. The next step is the framework around the funds, such as what type of projects, equipment and research is being supported. I intend to cast a wide net because we should not be excluding any particular areas, although naturally there are Government strategic priorities.
The IDA Ireland strategy was published recently. Things such as digitalisation, healthcare resilience and climate change are all core to its goals. I would put the semiconductor strategy into that mix as well. It is important. Cabinet recently adopted the national semiconductor strategy. The Deputy will be as aware as I am of the importance of Intel in our constituency in Kildare North and of organisations such as AMD and others throughout the country. They are all areas in which we have real global competitiveness. We are experts in those areas, have made significant progress in them and will continue to support them.
Question No. 13 taken with Written Answers.
Further and Higher Education
Maeve O'Connell
Question:14. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to report on the work of officials within his Department on the new further education and training strategy in collaboration with SOLAS following the conclusion of its public consultation earlier this year. [25568/25]
This morning I wish to ask the Minister about the work of the officials in his Department on the new further education and training strategy in collaboration with SOLAS, particularly following the completion of its public consultation earlier this year.
The further education and training system is central to the delivery of skills across the country to boost national competitiveness and support inclusion. The Further Education and Training Act 2013 requires SOLAS to prepare a strategy for the provision of further education and training and submit it to the Minister for approval. SOLAS, in partnership with the Department, is progressing the development of the next strategy under these provisions, ensuring that it fully aligns with departmental and Government priorities.
The process for developing the next strategy, the third national strategy for the sector, began last year. SOLAS held several consultation workshops and meetings with more than 800 individuals and stakeholder representatives across the country to identify emerging themes. Officials from the Department worked closely with SOLAS, attending the sectoral consultation workshops. In addition, SOLAS launched a public consultation in January 2025, which resulted in more than 70 submissions from a diverse group of stakeholders. At the moment, SOLAS is considering the feedback and emerging themes from its stakeholder engagements to inform a draft strategy. That will be submitted for consideration to the Department in the coming weeks. Once agreed, the strategy will be launched, subject to the Minister's approval in line with the legislation.
I welcome the clarity that the Minister of State provided regarding the 800 individual meetings and 70 submissions to the public consultation. I look forward to hearing more details about that over the coming weeks as that is progressed.
One reason I am raising this issue is the importance of the apprenticeship sector, which this public consultation is dealing with. We have done quite well in raising the numbers from 7,000 registrations to 30,000 registrations. I want to see this momentum continued and hence I am looking forward to the feedback in this consultation.
As background to the strategy, its implementation resulted in significant progress between 2014 and 2019 in the development of the FET sector within the overall education landscape. Of course, we are now looking to the future. The second strategy, which covered the perios 2020 to 2024, set out the role of FET in a more collaborative and cohesive tertiary education system for Ireland. We are now looking at the 2025-29 strategy, the third strategy. In developing this strategy, there is an acknowledgement that the FET sector has undergone a significant transformation in the past five years. It is important that we continue with the trajectory in order that FET can be a pivotal driver of sustainable economic growth, workforce development and, in particular, lifelong learning.
I welcome the approach of a collaborative strategy. It is worthwhile. All the actors and relevant stakeholders in our third level and further education sector are critical to make this work and create consistencies across the sector. I especially appreciate and welcome the focus on lifelong learning. I also welcome the focus on workforce transformation because we are operating in a transformative world. We have had debates concerning AI and the resources focused on it. This aspect will impact all sectors of our society, even the apprenticeship sector, where something will have to be included in this regard.
I echo my colleague's sentiments. I look forward to the publication of the new strategy. I compliment the Minister of State and the Department on the work done on the strategy to this point. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, and I last week visited the college of further education in Galway city. We saw the range of skills taught in that institution. Following that, it is very welcome that the college has been given approval to progress to the next stage of the design for its new campus. A high level of tuition is ongoing there and the facilities are of a high standard. It is wonderful to think this would be enhanced for the students attending the institution. The Minister and I met them last week and they come from a wide geographical area. I compliment the Minister of State for her work in this area and I look forward to the progression of this project.
It is very good news that Galway was one of two colleges given approval to proceed to the next step under the FET college of the future major projects fund. A total of 12 colleges have been earmarked and eight of them are progressing now. The Minister announced earlier this week that Galway was one of those eight colleges. Of course, the other four are on stream.
Returning to the Deputy's contribution, it is important to say when we talk about this new FET strategy that it will endeavour to respond to the OECD skills strategy review. This highlights the need for a more balanced educational and skills system. The Deputy mentioned apprenticeships. The 16 ETBs are uniquely positioned within the tertiary education landscape to address those core immediate skills. As the Minister said, we were down yesterday at the Mount Lucas construction training centre with the modern methods of construction, MMC, accelerator platform. It was really good to see some of the positive things happening.
Questions Nos. 15 to 18, inclusive, taken with Written Answers.
Further and Higher Education
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:19. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the work being carried out to examine how best a person-centred support model for learners with disabilities can be developed across further and higher education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25306/25]
What work is being carried out to examine how best a person-centred support model for learners with disabilities can be developed across further and higher education? I do not think the Minister will be particularly shocked at me asking this question. An element of this question relates to personal assistants, a topic I have spoken about many times. I refer particularly to personal assistants working in further education colleges like Drogheda Institute of Further Education, DIFE, and the Ó Fiaich Institute of Further Education and the need for contracts for them. There is also a need to ensure the review of this work is carried out from the perspective of delivering for the students with disabilities.
I thank the Deputy and acknowledge his continuing interest in this area and in the matter he referred to at the end of his question. More generally, at the outset, supporting the participation and success of learners with disabilities is a critical national priority. It is something I have been very much engaged in since I took up my role, as were my predecessors. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is also very much engaged. We are very keen to make an impact and progress in this area. This progress is being made as part of the national access plan. This aims to increase the number of new entrants with disabilities to higher education institutions and to have more people with disabilities accessing further and higher education across the board.
The latest figures available show participation has increased to 14.7% from 12.4% over the past three years. It is on target to reach 16% over the lifetime of the national access plan. In further education, 14,825 learners enrolled in FET programmes in 2023 reported having at least one type of disability. This figure constitutes 6.8% of all learners enrolled in that year. A range of existing supports and programmes are in place for learners with disabilities. The fund for students with a disability is provided across higher education and post-leaving certificate programmes, with an annual allocation of over €15 million. Many other supports fall within the scope of the fund, including assistive technology, non-medical helpers, ISL interpreters, transport supports, examination supports and many other types of supports made available to students where they need them.
The programme for access to higher education, PATH, 4 funding stream under the national access plan supports my Department's goals of enabling all learners with disabilities to avail of higher education. Just this week, I was very pleased to bring to Cabinet increased funding for PATH 4 that is particularly targeted at learners with intellectual disabilities. We have had some very successful courses. The Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities has some outstanding learners. I visited An Garraí Beag, a Down Syndrome Ireland centre, in my area of Sallins last week. I also visited other centres around the country, including Field of Dreams in Cork recently. There is good progress. It is heartening to see people with intellectual disabilities who may never have considered that university or higher education was an option for them actually making that journey now, being part of that system and making a valuable contribution to it.
Obviously, we all welcome the likes of PATH 4 funding. I suppose this is the whole idea in relation to course creation. From a capital perspective, too, there is the idea of making those reasonable accommodations that facilitate more people to be able to access further and higher education. Much work needs to be done. I visited several times the likes of some of the courses being funded. We have a specific course in DkIT that does a great deal of work with people with intellectual disabilities. This is about ensuring there are pathways for all our citizens.
I spoke before about Fórsa having a pay claim in now but the WRC was unable to deal with some of the issues. Reference was made to an interdepartmental review that is required in respect of the work personal assistants do with those who need facilitation relating to a training course. We are talking about people who do a great deal of work and we must do whatever we can to facilitate them.
As acknowledged regarding PATH 4, I did commit almost €3 million in additional funding just this week towards that funding. I also intend to initiate a disability demonstration project, which will inform the development of the new policy framework for more flexible and responsive tailored supports for those students and their educational journey. A great deal of work is being done.
Regarding the Fórsa claim, I know this is of particular interest to the Deputy. To give some brief background, personal assistants are employed in ETBs usually on fixed-term contracts. They are not paid outside term time, and there are different rules that apply. They are not public servants or covered by section 19 of the Education and Training Boards Act 2013 and they are not members of public sector pension schemes. They stand outside some of those provisions. Last year, the Department reviewed the hourly rate of personal assistants in response to discussions with a representative group of personal assistants. The Deputy may very well have been involved in that discussion. This led to a 42% increase in the hourly rate, which was a significant increase. The rate went from an average of €15 per hour to €21 per hour, with 8% holiday pay on top. Fórsa submitted a claim to the WRC subsequently.
Several aspects were resolved through the WRC conciliation process, including confirmation that qualified personal assistants should be awarded contracts of indefinite duration and their entitlements to sick leave and holiday pay were raised. There was another meeting in March. Further requests have been referred to the Labour Court. It is important that we respect the industrial relations machinery. I know the Deputy has a very strong interest in this area. That work is ongoing in the WRC and Labour Court.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. We all did considerable lobbying on the hourly rate and welcome its increase, which was not before time. The only way this can become sustainable to allow these people to offer the absolutely necessary services to those with disabilities is by putting a proper 52-week contract in place. Work needs to be done by the Department along with other Departments. We all fear when we hear about interdepartmental reviews but we need to ensure the part that needs to be done here is done to facilitate this while accepting that a review is an absolute necessity to offer the necessary service to those with disabilities. Following our conversation last week, and not for the first time, I have requested a meeting with the PAs. If Fórsa and everybody else could be there, we could get those workers doing really brilliant work. We could settle that and face in the right direction of providing sustainable employment and delivering for those with disabilities.
I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy for this group and we have talked about it on a number of occasions already. I know he may be a little sceptical of interdepartmental reviews and the rest of it, but the last one made significant progress. Anyone would acknowledge that a 42% pay increase is a pretty substantial one. Certainly progress has been made but I acknowledge that elements of it are still in dispute. That conciliation process is ongoing and the State has engaged the industrial relations machinery with the various referrals. I am keen to engage on it and keen to facilitate that meeting. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, may also engage with me, along with the Deputy. I just need to make sure it is appropriate in the context of the industrial relations process that is live. I will take advice on that but if I can do it, I will.
Construction Industry
I will allow Deputy McCormack to ask his question but there will only be one reply because we are out of time.
Tony McCormack
Question:20. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps his Department is taking to increase training capacity in modern methods of construction nationwide to meet housing and infrastructure targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25972/25]
I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. My Department is actively progressing measures to expand training capacity in modern methods of construction, MMC, nationwide. We have quantified that using MMC could lead to a reduction of almost 10,000 in the number of additional workers required to meet domestic building and retrofitting targets to 2030, which is highly significant.
Existing training capacity is being expanded through partners including SOLAS, Laois-Offaly Education and Training Board and Skillnet Ireland. New traineeships and micro-credentials are being developed and offsite manufacturing diplomas, short courses in sustainability and digital skills, and an MMC-specific portfolio of programmes are available. Along with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, I was delighted yesterday to launch a new digital platform, Skillnet MMC Accelerate, at Mount Lucas to support career progression and training navigation in this important area. A national demonstration park is under development at Mount Lucas. It will open later this year as a flagship destination for demonstration, specialist training and innovation.
In parallel, the Department is finalising an MMC action plan. Responding to the expert group on future skills needs recommendations, this sets out 58 targeted actions across areas such as digital construction, certification, early learning engagement and new training provision. It has been developed with Government, industry and education partners. All of this work is supported by funding of €3.5 million in 2025.