James Lawless

I thank the Deputy. I am very aware of the high cost of student accommodation and the burden it places on students, especially those from rural or outlying areas, although it is not limited to them. In my own household, which is in an urban area, my daughter has commuted to UCD for the past couple of years and it was not a short commute, despite the fact we are not terribly far away from the colle…

I wish to confirm and restate that the maintenance grants have increased significantly in some cases, particularly those on the non-adjacent rungs of the grant system. That is something that is very important to me and that I was very determined to be able to do. As well as that, there is additional support for students with disabilities and mental health challenges. The thresholds have increased …

I am glad the Deputy mentioned the rent a room scheme because that is an important tax relief that is available. Householders can earn up to €14,000 per year tax free by renting rooms to students. It has also been extended to local authority tenants, and at the end of last month, over 5,200 rent a room student beds were on offer in higher education institutions across the country, so that is a ver…

I thank the Deputy. I thank him also for the invitation to Cavan recently. I was delighted to be able to take that up. We visited the Cavan Institute, where we saw, among other things, the original equipment manufacturing, OEM, apprentices at work on the advanced manufacturing side. We also saw the students at Youthreach, which is a very critical intervention with youth. From there, I went to Mona…

Absolutely. The opportunity that Cavan provides was very evident on the day of my visit. There is a great opportunity to continue to expand educational provision there on site at the Cavan Institute. That would be encompassed by the college of the future programme, which I am working out through the national development plan. I am examining progress on that at the moment but I would be confident t…

All-Ireland entities are always fashionable in my household. We can have all the citizens' assemblies and deliberate as much as we want to but doing it for real is what counts and that is what we are doing here. There is a very ambitious timetable to make that collaboration come together. I intend to bring legislation through the Houses in the new year to set out the mechanics of how it will be en…

I thank the Deputy for his continued advocacy, support and championing of ideas for this sector. The national student accommodation strategy 2025 to 2035 is due to be published in the coming weeks and will be considered and agreed by Government before being officially launched. It is at a very advanced stage. The strategy aims to make higher education more accessible by addressing both affordabili…

I have to wish Sallins the best of luck on Sunday in its own intermediate final, so we have to get that in as well on the day. I will take Deputy Cahill's question first and then revert to Deputy Connolly. It was good to visit Killarney and Tralee recently along with Deputy Cahill, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. It was a go…

The Deputy made a number of points. I totally agree with him that the provision of serviced sites on or adjacent to campuses is key. There is a significant earmarked fund within the student strategy and my national development plan budget to allow for those sites to progress, and to be identified and serviced, with facilities where necessary. The local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF…

This is a consistent theme of the Deputy's and an area he takes a significant interest in. I thank him for his ongoing advocacy. The Government is committed to increasing healthcare training places more broadly, but very much including dentistry, in line with commitments in the programme for Government. I like to think I made some good inroads into that in the first ten months of the term. At pre…

The planned intake in the current year is 78 Irish students, with 26 of those in UCC, 32 in Trinity College and 20 in RCSI. The UCC outreach proposal I mentioned has the potential to raise intake by another 35 student places. All those measures combined strengthen and increase the opportunities for domestic students. It is the case that a course like this cannot be ramped up overnight because it r…

I will leave my colleague the Minister for Health to answer more comprehensively on the issues the Deputy raised regarding public health provision in Cork and the south west and how dental places fit into that. My Department is working to increase the number of places and courses and invest in the equipment and facilities in UCC, RCSI, Trinity College and elsewhere to ensure there is a sufficient …

I am glad the Deputy raised this programme because it is extremely important. It has served us and our students and educational institutions well. I was in Europe on Tuesday at the Competitiveness Council. I attended the research and innovation meetings. I will be back in the near future attending the education Council at which Erasmus will be on the agenda. My colleague, the Minister of State, De…

I will take Deputy Burke's question first and then come back to Deputy Timmins. Regarding the Northern Ireland dimension, I am glad the Deputy raised this important point. Unfortunately, with the UK leaving the European Union, Northern Ireland is not eligible for Erasmus programmes. However, the Government supports Northern Ireland students to allow them to continue to participate. Northern Irelan…

The Deputy is absolutely right and I completely agree. The point is well made, particularly now, when we have the shadow of war on the Continent and tensions internationally. Perhaps, we do not have the same community of nations that we might traditionally have enjoyed. It is all the more important, therefore, that we better understand each other, communicate and exchange with one another, and hav…

I was delighted to recently announce this partnership and my support for it. I brought the proposal to the Government to receive all-of-government support and endorsement for it. It is a very exciting and historic proposal. This will be the first all-island university, which speaks to many of our aspirations about our shared island and all-island dimensions. It is a programme that will enhance bot…

I thank the Deputy for that. Discussions are ongoing and intensifying between the two institutions. My Department and I remain in close contact with both institutions. From the early stages, I indicated my full and strong support and shared ambition to develop and progress this partnership. My understanding is the institutions intend to sign heads of agreement this month. This is happening now; it…

As I have said previously, the Deputy and I share those aspirations in every sense. The Deputy mentioned the mechanics of how we develop the working patterns between Dundalk IT and Queen's University, and referred more broadly to apprenticeships on the island. On apprenticeships more broadly, I launched the first-ever all-island apprenticeship, namely, the accounting technician programme, along w…

Under budget 2025, additional funding was announced for Research Ireland in order to increase its PhD stipend level to €25,000, representing an increase of 31% in just two years. This announcement builds upon my Department's consistent focus and progression on this issue. That came into effect from 1 January this year and, given the significant growth in such a short space of time, I have no immed…

One of the first things I changed was the equipment and infrastructure available to them. Just last month, I launched the new Inspire programme. This is a €750 million capital envelope to support research infrastructure and equipment across our higher education institutions. That was a very clear ask of me by the research community and it had long been sought. Coming into the role, it was somethin…

I fully support the research and development tax credit of 35%. In fact, I engaged with the then Minister, Paschal Donohoe, to seek it. I think it is really impactful for the research and innovation and advanced knowledge industries. That ultimately is what creates the resources, jobs and enterprise and, indeed, creates the tax intake that allows us to deliver the public good in other ways. Many o…

I am familiar with the issue. The Deputy has engaged with me on it on a number of occasions. He and I met a group of personal assistants during the summer. Supporting learners with disabilities is a core priority for my Department. In the budget just gone I was pleased to be able to invest a further €3 million in support for the fund for students with disabilities as well as an additional €1 mill…

A couple of items arise there. I know personal assistance for students with disabilities is an area of interest the Deputy has raised here a number of times. National policy on personal assistance is being reviewed by the HSE-led personal assistance review group. My Department is not leading that particular aspect of the review. We are very much engaged with it and remain committed to ensuring tha…

I will pick up on the WRC claim because the Deputy mentioned that as an item of interest. I think the Deputy is well familiar with it, but the position is that ETBs employ staff in some cases to deliver PA services, and the contractual relationship is between the employee and the ETB.

Personal assistants are employed usually under fixed-term contracts and, therefore, do not get paid outside of term time, nor do the public servants under section 19 of the ETB Act. In early 2024 my officials embarked on a review of the hourly rate of pay of personal assistants employed by ETBs. That followed discussions between a representative group of personal assistants and one of my predeces…