James Lawless

The Government's commitment is set out in the programme for Government. It is no more and no less. The programme for Government commitment is to reduce the student contribution fee in a financially sustainable manner over the lifetime of the Government. Budget 2026 was my first opportunity since taking up office to begin delivering on that programme for Government commitment. I did so with an imme…

I was also one of those parents, not this year but in recent years, and I will say I did not need that support. I will be honest about it. Those on an upper income, such as Members of the House for example, are in a privileged enough position. Having said this, I have extended the threshold and Deputy Ward will now benefit from the €500 cut. Presuming his income is the TD's income we all have, he …

I am not sure where the mention of abolition came from. It certainly was not in my party's manifesto. I never promised it to anybody, not once in this brief, and not once in the campaign did I or my party promise this. I do not know what other people might have done. It is for them to speak about that. I am not aware of any such promise in any manifesto. What my party promised to do was to address…

Deputy Ward's party boasted about fees being £6,000 on social media.

As part of the national development plan review, which was conducted last summer, I secured for the Department a capital allocation of €4.55 billion over the next four years from 2026 to 2030. This is significant and it is almost double what it was previously. It is the largest budget in the history of the Department. It is aligned to the overall capital envelope of the NDP. Part of this is becaus…

To pick up on Deputy Smith's remarks about Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology, I had a meeting on it as recently as yesterday. I am really excited about it. Going back to the wider question, I will do everything in the programme for Government to the best of my ability but I will do other things. The Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology merger was not in the p…

There is a real skills shortage. It is a factor of success because we are at almost full employment in the economy. Recently my Department produced a labour force modelling report which looked at our construction skills needs. I am working closely with Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on the development of that report. That showed we need to continue to grow our pool of skilled tradespeople from …

I thank Teachta Ní Raghallaigh. Supporting students with disabilities is a key strategic priority for me, for my Department and for the Government. Indeed, we have a Cabinet subcommittee on disability which I sit on. My Department has taken on a number of actions through that because it is something we are determined to address across all of Government. The National Access Plan identifies student…

The PATH 4 programme is a wonderful programme. It is a programme I am very passionate about. I am glad to hear the Deputy visited the Trinity Centre for Intellectual Disabilities. I have also been there. I met with the students, the learners and the educators. I have also been to the Field of Dreams in Bishopstown in County Cork and a lot of other centres, including in my own area of Naas and Sall…

Absolutely. The PATH 4 initiative is something I am very committed to and intend to mainstream. Certainly, I will be revisiting that in the coming weeks. I intend to speak to Cabinet colleagues on that and t o look to roll that out on a more permanent basis. The Deputy makes an interesting point about the opportunity to have wider participation for students with complex needs. That is a good poin…

You will never be in government. You will never have to worry about it.

The issue of assessment for SUSI is a complex one in regard to the scenarios the Deputy described - a mature student over 23 years of age or an emigrant returning home. Perhaps it needs some investigation and revisiting. We are preparing budget 2027 at the moment. That work is under way. It will be guided by fairness and getting the most help to the most people. I will take on board the Deputy's c…

I understand this is an historical issue. As far as I am aware, there was a write-down on the project in 2021. Value for taxpayers' money is paramount. The project should deliver. As the Deputy has said, the project is ongoing. It is an important and fundamental system but it must be delivered efficiently in a cost-effective manner. I have asked for a full inquiry and will update the Deputy and th…

I thank Deputy McGettigan. I understand well the issue that she raises and I share her concern. It is well-placed. I have heard this myself from apprentices out in the field in different locations. I have heard about the challenges they face when they are sometimes placed somewhere far from home and how difficult that is to manage. Finding accommodation, of course, is a big complication as part of…

Again, I agree with the Deputy. Part of the situation is that when an apprentice is offered a place, they are offered the next available place. There is pressure on for good reason. I put that pressure on myself to get as many people trained as quickly as possible. I addressed some of the backlogs that had previously arisen during Covid, etc. As a place becomes available on a particular course, th…

The Deputy will be aware that there are allowances available to the apprentices who have to travel. There are various different rates and different bandings depending on whether they are travelling 5, 10 or 20 miles, right up to 40 miles or more. There are different travel allowances available to apprentices to help them in meeting those travel costs. While the issue is a real one, and one which I…

I hope the Deputy will agree that value for money is a key component of every State-sponsored project or use of State funds. UCC is an autonomous institution. It manages its own projects and capital and it is responsible for the oversight, planning and management of its capital development plan. The university has a review under way in light of increased construction inflation. The increase in con…

For clarity, I am not aware of any impact on this particular project as a result of any kind of funding withdrawal or shortfall. It is news to me if that is the case. It has not been raised with me by any of the college authorities or anybody else in the sector other than by way of the Deputy's suggestion today on the floor of the Dáil. As such, it is fair to say it is not a factor here. What is s…

The Deputy will have to forgive me for saying I am not entirely sure what she is asking. On the one hand, she is calling for me to spend more money and, on the other, she is talking about being careful with taxpayers' money. I am a little confused as to what her ask is. Value for money is a key consideration. UCC is an autonomous body and a very well-run institution with an extremely competent cha…

This is a timely question. On 26 November, I launched the new INSPIRE research infrastructure programme, which provides €750 million for capital investment in research infrastructure across the State and all our HEIs. It is a landmark moment for Ireland's national research and innovation system. As I am sure the Deputy has done, I have met with various stakeholders from the higher education system…

I understand the points the Deputy raised. I will be addressing student accommodation in the response to a later question, so I will not duplicate that now. The framework on which the INSPIRE programme is built was developed in collaboration with the sector. In March of this year, I put together an expert working group made up of people from the Irish Universities Association, people with experien…

The programme will be delivered in two phases and will be managed by the Higher Education Authority in the first phase and by Research Ireland in the second. The first phase will establish a strategic baseline across the sector such that all investments are grounded in a systematic alignment with the particular university or HEI. It is a competitive fund and not a case of there being one for every…

I thank the Deputy. It is something I am focused on and it is in the programme for Government. It is something I have been working on since I took on the position. I am committed to continuing the progress of the technological universities as key drivers of regional and national development. They have fantastic potential and are already realising it. I think I have visited all of them at this stag…

For clarity, I will provide a short recap of the historical position. The original institutes of technology, IoTs, did not have professorial grades. They were amalgamated, largely, to form the technological universities we have now. Within the IoTs, the comparative grade was senior lecturer 3. The scales, grades, bands and job titles did not innately map onto the universities'. In some cases, the …

They are being closely monitored, not least by me. I keep a programme for Government tracker to make sure we make our targets and, as far as possible, get ahead of target in delivering all the items I signed up to deliver at the start of this year. The OECD report is extremely useful in setting out academic career structures, contracts, senior management and leadership structures and the benefits …