Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 July 2025
894. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for detailed information regarding the decrease in total grants paid to Griffith College from the estimated €1,801,000 in 2022 to the estimated €1,336,000 in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36015/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that the Deputy is referring to the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2025 and the allocations under my Department’s B4 subhead.
As the Deputy will be aware Griffith College is a private higher education institution.
Private institutions play an important role in the overall higher education landscape. These institutions may be in receipt of some limited funding from the State for certain courses that are approved for funding under specific initiatives. These tend to relate to competitive calls for proposals to meet identified stills needs in the economy. Under the respective arrangements, the State has agreed to provide funding for specific courses in line with specific agreements made between the relevant funding body and the private institution.
The variances between 2022 and 2023 were due to a number of factors. There were fewer registrations on Springboard courses and temporary Covid related increases that applied in the 2020-2022 period, did not carry through into 2023. These two factors accounted for €397,000 of the variance. Separately, apprenticeship funding was €59,000 lower in 2023 due to the provision of once off funding in 2022 to assist with the roll out of new programmes in that year. The remaining variance is due to differences in registrations from year to year.
