Written Answers Nos. 265-274
265. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total capital investment by the Government in each of the technological universities in each of the past five years, per capita and by number of registered students in each year, in tabular form. [3612/25]
View answerMy Department has disbursed circa €216.27m in capital funding to the Technological University Sector since its inception under a number of capital programmes including the Higher Education Strategic and Infrastructural Fund (HESIF), the Infrastructure and Refurbishment Fund (IURF), the Energy Efficiency Decarbonisation Pathway Programme (EEDPP), the Devolved Capital Grant, the Apprenticeship Programme Grant, the Higher Education Research and Equipment Grant (HEREG) etc.
Details of amounts disbursed to each Technological University since their creation, per capita and by number of registered students in each year is provided in the table at the following link. It should be noted that the creation of some of the TU were mid year and investment is only provided from that date.
In addition, significant capital investment is ongoing in relation to operational Public Private Partnership projects delivered for Technological University Dublin at Grangeorman and the National Maritime College of Ireland and Cork School of Music at Munster Technological University.
Total capital investment by Government in each of the technological universities
266. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total allocations made by the Higher Education Authority to each of the technological universities, with a per-capita funding figure by number of registered students in each institution in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [3613/25]
View answerHigher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies as set out in legislation and are funded in a variety of ways including state grants, competitive funding, tuition fees, and commercial/private income streams.
The provision of Higher Education funding on an annual basis is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy for Government. Investment in Higher Education is not specifically determined on the basis of a ‘per student’ or a ‘per capita’ metric.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) provides onward capital funding and current funding to funded bodies including Technological Universities under a range of different schemes and programmes on an annual basis. In allocating the available allocations, the HEA have processes in place to disburse the overall funding. For example, recurrent grant funding is allocated through the HEA Recurrent Grant Allocation Model. It is important to note that these processes are utilised to appropriately disburse rather than determine the overall available allocation. Details of the HEA administered annual allocations to funded bodies, across the different schemes and programmes, are available in the HEA's Annual Reports.
In terms of student numbers, the Higher Education Authority gathers data on registered students through its annual Student Records System (SRS) returns. Student number data can be accessed on the HEA website at: hea.ie/statistics/data-for-download-and-visualisations/access-our-data/access-our-data-students/
For the Deputy’s convenience, I have set out at the following link details of the funding allocations made by the HEA to Technological Universities and separately, their student numbers.
Details of the funding allocations made by the HEA to Technological Universities
267. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide a detailed breakdown of all funding allocated for the year ahead or spent in the past fiscal year by his Department on artificial intelligence systems or artificial intelligence research; what programs or Department operations, if any, are conducted using artificial intelligence tools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3709/25]
View answerMy Department does not provide any funding on artificial intelligence (AI) systems or research and does not conduct any programs or operations using AI tools.
As part of a Memorandum of Understanding, my Department is provided with shared services by the Department of Education’s IT Unit, who provide all support, infrastructure and direction on technology usage directly to my officials. The Department of Education has provided my officials with the following response with respect to the upcoming fiscal year in response to the Deputy's question :
In the fiscal year ahead, there is €500,000 allocated for artificial intelligence systems and artificial intelligence research. The breakdown of this is as follows:
(i) the implementation and operational use of optical character recognition (OCR) and processing of suitable invoices for payment into a bespoke system used by the Education Shared Business Services (ESBS) for €250,000.
(ii) Several proof of concepts and limited pilots of AI systems, that may include Generative AI and Document Understanding, have been allocated a budget of €250,000.
A limited trial is underway by my Communications Department to assess the opportunity for productivity gains of AI services which includes the transcription of public audio recordings to text, grammar and spelling assistance, translation of public information, and editing text in plain English to make it more understandable. All text is reviewed and verified by a human.
My Department has no AI systems in place that processes citizens information.
My Department recognises the potential offered by AI and is aware of the Interim Guidelines for Use of AI published. My Department will continue to assess the suitability of AI on a solution by solution basis.
268. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when a new national student accommodation strategy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3732/25]
View answerA new Student Accommodation Strategy is in development following approval of the long-term policy in January 2024. The Strategy aims to increase supply of state supported student accommodation, reduce the cost of delivery through development of standardised design guidance, promote efficient use of existing building stock through refurbishment and an examination of vacancy, while supporting balanced regional development through the technological university (TU) student accommodation programme. The Strategy will be completed in Q2 2025.
To inform the strategy, the TU student accommodation programme is progressing in tandem with the Standardised Design Study.
An expert multi-disciplinary design team has been appointed to research and develop new design standards for State supported purpose-built student accommodation. The study will be key to establishing best practice and value for money for the State.
In tandem the TU student accommodation programme is progressing. The next phase of this programme will produce a shortlist of suitable projects which will provide a pipeline of supply for the sector.
The Short-Term Activation Programme has been progressing and is currently supporting development of c.1,000 student beds with €100 million in funding approved by Government in 2024. This short-term approach has been necessary in the context of the housing challenges faced and the inability of higher education institutions to progress developments with planning permission due to cost viability issues.
Since 2017 to end December 2024, 15,779 purpose-built student beds have been built, bringing the total stock of student beds to over 48,000 beds. In January, approximately 4,500 digs beds were being advertised by our universities and colleges.
269. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to provide additional capacity for the study of occupational therapy; and if he has engaged with the Minister for Health on the matter. [3734/25]
View answerThe provision of qualified graduates in Therapy disciplines is a priority for my Department. The delivery of healthcare programmes is complex and requires multiple parts of the health and education systems working together. .Practice education placements are essential to support clinical skills development and the application of theory to patient care and attainment of regulatory required standards of proficiency where applicable.
In July 2024, Government approved the prioritisation of funding to support the expansion of training places in priority healthcare areas including Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy, as well as Physiotherapy.
This funding will contribute to delivering expansion in the region of 35% in these vital disciplines over the next two academic years. Additional places commenced in September 2024 include expanded intakes on Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Podiatric Medicine programmes in University of Galway, Physiotherapy in RCSI and the introduction of an undergraduate Occupational Therapy programme in University of Limerick.
In addition, 83 additional allied health places for were made available in Ulster University in September 2024. These places included 25 Physiotherapy places, 27 Occupational Therapy and 8 Speech and language therapy places. These students are undertaking their practice education placements in healthcare settings in Northern Ireland.
Extensive engagement is ongoing between officials in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and officials in the Department of Health, as well as the HSE and higher education sector. Work is underway on the oversight and infrastructure for clinical placements to enable further expansion.
270. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of additional teachers required to reduce pupil to teacher ratio in Irish universities to 1:20. [3754/25]
View answer272. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of additional teachers required to reduce the pupil to teacher ratio in Irish Universities to 1:20. [3852/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 272 together.
The information requested by the Deputy is not currently available. The latest figure on the ratio of students to teaching staff in higher education published by the OECD indicates a ratio of 23:1. However this data is from 2021, and staffing levels in the higher education sector have been increased significantly in the intervening years.
Funding the Future, published in May 2022 identified €307m as the increase needed in core higher education funding. Since then, the Government has secured an additional €164.4m in Exchequer and employer funding with a commitment to deliver a further €100m by 2030 from the National Training Fund. This additional core funding is to be directed towards priorities that have been communicated to the sector, which include the recruitment of additional staff to enhance academic tutoring, engagement and support services for students. As well as contributing to an enhanced student experience, this will lower the staff to student ratio and help to bring Ireland closer to international norms in this area.
A significant uplift in the ceiling of core staff has been approved for the sector aligned with the additional funding provided under recent Budgets. Since 2020, the ceiling has increased by over 4,300 posts, bringing the total approved ceiling for core-funded posts in higher education to over 23,800 for 2025. This includes an uplift of 715 posts in respect of the Budget 2025 investment.
271. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the details of each time his Department, or public bodies under the aegis of his Department, enlisted the services of consultants in 2023 and 2024; the purpose, value, and duration of each contract in relation to public bodies under the aegis of his Department, including where consulting contracts are classified under ‘business-as-usual outsourcing’ for annual reporting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3784/25]
View answerThe information in relation to this question is being collated and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.
273. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development to provide a detailed breakdown of all funding allocated for the year ahead or spent in the past fiscal year by his Department on artificial intelligence systems or artificial intelligence research; what programmes or Department operations are conducted using artificial intelligence tools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3714/25]
View answerMy Department follows the current advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as set out in “Cyber Security Guidance on Generative AI for Public Sector Bodies” published on 1 June 2023.
Artificial Intelligence tools are not currently used in my Department. I can therefore confirm that no funding was allocated or expended in 2024 on artificial intelligence systems or artificial intelligence research. In addition, no programs or operations were conducted using artificial intelligence tools in 2024. It is not anticipated this position will change this year.
274. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the details of each time his Department, or public bodies under the aegis of his Department, enlisted the services of consultants in 2023 and 2024; the purpose, value, and duration of each contract in relation to public bodies under the aegis of his Department, including where consulting contracts are classified under ‘business-as-usual outsourcing’ for annual reporting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3789/25]
View answerThe details the Deputy has requested for my Department, on consultant services utilised in 2023 and 2024, are set out at the link below.
In the interest of openness and transparency my Department publishes detailed financial information on a regular basis, including details of all consultancy payments made by the Department in a given year and what services the payments related to. This information is available on the Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/294dc7-financial-information/
All consultancy contracts are procured in line with the processes and procedures laid out by the Office of Government Procurement. There are no consultants classified by the Department as 'business-as-usual outsourcing'. Consultant services are generally contracted for a particular project or programme for independent advice, opinion or research where that expertise is not available internally.
With regard to the agencies under my Department’s remit, there are four; the Western Development Commission, Pobal, Irish Water Safety, and the Charities Regulator. They are all independent legal entities governed by independent boards and executives and therefore are independent in their own financial, operational and governance matters, including managing their own consultancy arrangements.
