Parliamentary questions

295. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the expected timeframe for a conclusion of discussions between a union (details supplied) and officials from his Department on the alignment of the Youthreach calendar with the second-level academic year calendar; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4909/25]

296. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the annual payment by his Department to the climate action fund scheme, as required by virtue Circular 01/2020 (D/PER), broken down by trip, in each of the past five years and to date in 2025, in tabular form. [4957/25]

297. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of discussions between a union and officials from his Department in respect of a matter related to academic calendar alignment (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5187/25]

712. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to clarify the position of current apprenticeships in electrical instrumentation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4028/25]

713. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to outline his Department’s plans for expenditure of monies allocated in the Budget 2025 skill package for training to support digital transformation. [4069/25]

714. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for his plans for investing in digital skills such as basic digital literacy and in increasing education in areas like AI and quantum computing in further and higher education institutions. [4070/25]

715. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to publish the ministerial brief he received on commencing his role; and when and by what means it will be published. [4093/25]

716. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the anticipated impact on training courses in the 2025-2026 academic year of the end of the human capital initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4159/25]

717. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if the €50 million increase in funding for ‘enterprise-focused higher education’ under the National Training Fund, as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2025, will be made available to training courses currently funded by the human capital initiative, given that the initi…

718. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the need for a stipend or financial supports to supply radiation therapy students with assistance with uniform purchase or rental, travel and reimbursement for work on clinical placements; and his plans to bring financial reimbursement in line with other courses, such as nursi…

719. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in respect of each Bill for which his Department had responsibility and that was initiated in 2024, or that was enacted in 2024, to specify in which House of the Oireachtas the Bill was initiated; the number of ministerial or Government amendments submitted at each legislative Stage…

720. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the salary scale that applies to the Secretary General of his Department; whether this scale has changed in the past year; whether there are proposals to change this scale in the coming period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4319/25]

721. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the establishment of an electric mobility capability centre in Mullingar. [4346/25]

722. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the budget allocated to SOLAS in 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form. [4347/25]

723. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide a schedule of expenditure relating to IT external service provision in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, including the company name and amount expended with them, in tabular form. [4474/25]

724. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of apprentice training course offers that have not been accepted due to the distances between the offered training course and the apprentice’s residence, for the years 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4527/25]

725. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will address the situation whereby Solas is offering job training in colleges miles away from apprentices’ homes, and they are given six weeks to find accommodation or forfeit their training to go back on the national waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4…

726. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science it is reasonable to send apprentices in Kerry for job training in Dundalk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4529/25]

727. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to outline the exact title of each Minister of State in his Department; to outline their delegated functions and attributable budget heading for each of these functions; the timeframe for when such delegated functions will be formally notified to the Dáil; and if he will make a statement …

728. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will address the issues raised in correspondence (details supplied) facing radiation therapy students in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4665/25]

729. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the issue of staff restructuring at a company (details supplied) and the strike action conducted in relation to it; and if he will work with the company to ensure that education staff is paid fairly and student education is not negatively impacted. [4717/25]

730. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the funding that has been provided to date by his Department or any bodies under the aegis of his Department to support the National Gender Equality Dashboard for Higher Education Institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4745/25]

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]

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]

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 int…