From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
By: Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science; Simon Harris
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Dia dihuit a chairde. Good afternoon to you all.
Thank you for having me here in Wexford for my first ever TUI conference in person.
I want to thank your General Secretary and Executive for the invitation to be here with you today. Tá an-áthas orm a bheith anseo libh go pearsanta… ar deireadh!
To start, I would like to thank the TUI and all your members for the continued flexibility, adaptiveness and problem-solving approach that you have displayed these past two years.
I do not say this lightly. The pandemic has allowed us all to demonstrate resilience and dedication to public service values, and none so much as those at the front line, like yourselves.
Since I was appointed Minister for Further and Higher Education, we have collectively faced our toughest challenges. However, we have used the pandemic to our advantage and found innovative ways of maintaining and in some cases, improving service.
To your credit, you have striven to ensure the student remains the centre of your focus and have worked hard to ensure education continued.
You should all be very proud of the quality of service that you have provided these past two years… I know I am.
And most recently, a new challenge has emerged.
As we all know, the tragic situation in Ukraine is having a profound effect across Europe in all areas of life.
Most significantly, it is disrupting the lives and education of thousands of Ukrainian children and students.
In Ireland and across all European countries, you are well aware that we are already welcoming students and pupils into our universities, colleges and schools, and I would like to thank the delegates for the important role you are playing in welcoming these displaced people to our country.
It is of course putting pressures on our education systems – pressure on places, pressure on our teachers and lecturers – but these are pressures that we are bound to embrace, in solidarity with our Ukrainian neighbours at this time of crisis.
I know many of you have been working diligently to support those entering the education system, providing English language support where needed.
I thank you for this, and I know I can count on your continued support. We know how much this sense of normality in these times can mean to people uprooted from their normal homes and lives.
I am aware of some challenges related to the recognition of prior learning.
However, I know these are ones we will meet because we must, we are morally bound to and crucially we want to.
We are committed to providing every support possible for Ukrainian citizens who are seeking the recognition of their qualifications in Ireland, and I know that advice can be readily obtained, free of charge, from the NARIC Ireland service, hosted and operated by Quality and Qualifications Ireland.
While the Government has been unequivocal in its welcome to those fleeing the war in Ukraine, facilitating the significant numbers of people arriving is challenging, not least for the education sector.
I have tasked a panel of experts with creating a central helpdesk hub for Ukrainian students who want to continue their studies in Ireland.
The Helpdesk will be made up of guidance counsellors and other experts who will be able to direct the students to a local college equipped to meet their educational needs.
Plans are moving forward and I expect that the helpdesk will be operational next week.
Our priorities in our education systems have to be, to welcome, support and meet the needs of the students, teachers and researchers who are displaced.
I am convinced that this Steering Group will deliver a central information hub to achieve just that.
I know you will support this venture in any way you can. I know I can count on you to welcome these Ukrainian students into our third level system and to guide them in their academic endeavours here.
I turn now to funding. The Government’s Economic Recovery Plan is clear that Ireland must intensify its commitment to building a knowledge-based economy in an increasingly competitive global environment. We need to build on our existing competitive strengths. This is even more pressing given new challenges posed - as a result of the pandemic; arising from recent geopolitical events; or indeed from the ever-present challenge of climate change.
Our third level education system is a core part of our strategic national infrastructure.
I know funding is something which concerns us all.
Policy decisions taken since the publication of the Cassells Report in 2016, and especially in recent budgets, have taken significant steps to address the funding needs of the sector. Budget 2022 saw a €138 million increase to higher education funding. €118m of this represented an increase in core funding.
This means we now have total investment of over €2 billion in the higher education sector. This is the highest it has ever been - higher even than peak funding levels achieved in 2008.
Apprenticeship and Springboard funding has also increased with an enterprise focused provision introduced to the recurrent grant. And we have a new 5 year Human Capital Initiative introduced through the surplus of the National Training Fund.
The revised National Development Plan also includes Exchequer capital funding of over €700 million for higher education for the period 2022 to 2025 – this is a significant step-change compared to funding levels over the past decade.
This brings me to the issue of future funding. You know the history of this but I will tell you recommendations on the Government response will go to Cabinet next week.
This will not be new money for old rope though. With additional investment will come the need for additional reform.
This will include reductions in the lecturer: student ratios and better pathways between further and higher education.
I know this is something TUI members are passionate about and I would welcome your support.
I am confident the changes will bring meaningful change for the sector and significant benefits for students, staff and indeed for all stakeholders.
As you know, the Building Momentum agreement provided that members’ pay increase by 2% by the beginning of October this year.
And I am aware that my Department is continuing to engage with the TUI on an additional 1% that’s available under the Sectoral Bargaining Fund.
New talks are also due to commence in the next few months to agree a successor to “Building Momentum”. This will lead to a new National Agreement to underpin pay for public servants beyond the end of this year.
My Department is also in the process of establishing the Higher Education Sector Oversight Group, as required under “Building Momentum”.
This is a new development and a “first” for the higher education sector.
The Oversight Group will be chaired by the WRC.
It will bring together all the unions that represent the sector, all the employer representatives, and the Department.
And it will be an effective forum to help resolve disputes pertinent to higher education. This will be an important step forward - another key measure to help ensure the industrial relations mechanisms for the higher education sector are fit for purpose.
If I can I want to turn to two important policy areas. Improving equity of access to higher education is an ongoing objective of mine and of my Department and a lot has been achieved over the lifetime of the third National Access Plan.
Notwithstanding this, I accept that there is still work to be done to increase diversity and to increase access and successful participation for students and groups who are currently underrepresented in Higher Education.
As you know, the Third National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education, or NAP as it is known, ended in December 2021.
The vision is that the student body entering, participating in, and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population.
While significant progress has been made in supporting learners to access higher education during the previous National Access Plan (2015-2021), the consultation process leading to the new Plan has highlighted a continued need to focus on the gaps that still exist when it comes to equity of access, participation and success in higher education.
The new National Access Plan will set out the Department’s and the HEA’s ambitions for achieving a more inclusive and diverse student population in higher education.
The development of the next National Access Plan is at an advanced stage. Colleagues in my Department are currently working on a Memo for Government and I am looking forward to publishing the new Plan in the coming months.
This new Plan will be more student centred, have a strong focus on pathways and will have an increased focus on student success.
One of my priorities and one that I am extremely passionate about, is to look at how we can strengthen the focus on supporting students with an intellectual disability in participating in and successfully completing higher education.
And while I cannot get into too much detail ahead of Cabinet, I can tell you this has the potential to be transformational for people with intellectual disabilities and open the doors of third level education to all.
We will fund all third level institutions to support universal design and will develop partnerships between further and higher education.
We have an ability to bridge the gap between secondary and third level education and ensure higher education is not out of reach of some.
I will hopefully be announcing the details of this soon and I hope I can count of the support of TUI members.
My Department and I will continue to keep existing provision and initiatives under review.
We want to develop a better understanding of what works best within the different models, and to look at how we can assist people to access and progress through higher and further education and training.
This will ensure that we grow prosperity across communities and build social cohesion, while also recognising the different needs of learners and enabling each and every one of them to develop to their full potential.
I am convinced that a more unified approach across the further and higher education and research sectors can lead to more joined up opportunities.
We must meet the different needs of individual learners throughout their working and personal lives.
We need greater collaboration and more unified regional systems.
We need to provide more choice - a more extensive range of possible pathways, all equally valued.
Removing barriers to progression will facilitate lifelong learning and develop diversity of talent.
I understand these objectives have long been championed by the TUI.
Your members are to the forefront in supporting greater access and inclusion.
I know that you welcomed the changes introduced to the CAO portal with inclusion for the first time of information on apprenticeships. This is an important step in communicating to students, their parents, and their teachers, the breadth of options available in the post-secondary space.
Since November, there has been over 27,000 unique visits channelled through the CAO platform. And SOLAS and CAO will continue to evolve and strengthen this partnership.
Of course, apprenticeships are employer-led and differ in nature from other options.
It is not expected that application for an apprenticeship would exactly mirror the process for other options on the portal. The facilitation of apprenticeships through the CAO will be much more bespoke.
Feedback and involvement by all stakeholders will help ensure the success of this new approach, and I very much welcome your support and input to this.
In terms of moving to a more integrated and balanced approach, I accept that more work is needed.
And that pathways across and between sectors require some further development.
I believe I have the unique opportunity, as the first Minister of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, to progress this more unified approach.
My Department is currently developing a policy approach to bring the complementary strands of further and higher education and research closer together.
I intend to bring greater detail on this to Government in the coming weeks.
I also propose to undertake an open process of consultation and engagement.
And I look forward to working with learners, with staff, with institutions and with other stakeholders so that together we can create a new more integrated approach to tertiary education in Ireland, and identify the actions necessary to achieve it.
Turning to the Further Education and Training Sector, the 5 year Strategy Future FET, Transforming Learning 2020-2024 sets out an ambitious agenda across the three core pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion, and facilitating pathways to deliver a more strategic and integrated FET system.
It acknowledges the key role of FET in driving both economic development and social cohesion.
The Strategy will build the FET contribution to a more collaborative and cohesive national tertiary education system.
This involves simplifying the FET structure; improving access and supporting learners. The objective is to create a distinct, diverse and vibrant community-based FET College of the future.
This Government is committed to realising the potential of the FET sector and supporting the implementation of the FET Strategy.
We are providing targeted resources for its implementation.
Under the new phase of capital investment in the further and higher education sectors some 45% of the total allocation of €430 million is being directed to FET.
This investment will address the expansion of skills centres and apprenticeship programmes across the country and the establishment of FET Colleges of the Future.
The FET strategy will underpin the development of new strategic performance agreements between SOLAS and each of the ETBs for the next three years, from 2022-2024 and the provision in Budget 2022 will support building the required capacity within the ETBs.
A key concern identified in the Strategy has been the programme based rigidity around the delivery of resources and operational regulations. In order to address this barrier, SOLAS is developing cross FET funding and guidelines to replace the previous programme specific focus.
The funding model will be reformed to move away from approaches that reinforce programme silos and to reflect the outcomes and performances of ETB’s and to facilitate strategic investments in long term priorities.
The Organisation Design Phase 2 process which is commencing in the coming weeks across the ETBs is underpinned by our shared acceptance of the need for a flexible and dynamic structure for ETBs to respond to strategic and operational requirements.
While there is much work to do, significant progress is being made under the core pillars of the FET Strategy with the increased provision in upskilling and reskilling opportunities under Skills to Advance and Skills to Compete and particularly under the Action Plan for Apprenticeships.
In the area of fostering inclusion, key developments include the Framework for Universal Design for Learning in FET and the 10 year adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy strategy, Adult Literacy for Life.
I turn now to the TU Agenda. I think you will agree that we are currently at a cross-roads in the higher education landscape. We have followed the signposts from the Hunt Report, the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, and have arrived at our first way-station in terms of now having established a network of technological universities across the country.
Taking that analogy a bit further this is a journey that arguably started some 50 years ago with the advent of the Regional Technical Colleges, and which then led us to the Institutes of Technology.
It has been a progressive line of travel and one where we are all companions on the journey, dependent on each other to successfully reach our destination.
The steps along this road may have seemed difficult at times, but there is no doubt that this has been worthwhile.
I know that some among you are concerned that we will lose the cohesion for the technological higher education sector’. That is something I and my Department, together with the management, staff and students across TUs will ensure does not happen.
Instead we want to build on the strength of the Regional Technical Colleges and Institutes of Technology approach in terms of their embeddedness in localities and regions.
Also in terms of their engagement with local and regional employers and enterprises and their emphasis on student and learner access.
Their crucial role in the development of multi-faceted higher vocational, technical, technologically based and professional skills-based education was also a key strength.
Their emphasis on preparing graduates for the world of both work and life after college is another forte we want to develop.
That is where the TU model comes into play. It enables the establishment of institutions of far greater scale– we are talking 15,000 , 20,000, almost 30,000 students in a TU. Critical mass allows them to crystallise their provision, maximise the skills, dedication and creativity of their staff.
To nurture enthusiasm and hunger for knowledge in their vibrant student populations, so that they attract greater numbers of students.
Students will be drawn to our TUs by the best of equipment, facilities, academics and researchers in their regions ensuring the enrichment and progression of those self-same regions.
Supported by ongoing funding nationally, through EU co-funding sources such as the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the ERDF, and with significant capital investment, TUs are unique in the higher education landscape.
They provide qualifications all the way along the ladder of qualifications from apprenticeships to doctoral degrees.
They have a clear emphasis on access and lifelong learning. Significant applied research informs teaching and learning. Agile provision, online, distance and blended learning, ensures that current strengths are recognised and fostered.
Capital investment leading to landmark buildings, nurturing a region’s pride, and enhancing the TU’s creative environment.
A TU is not some sort of pumped-up Institute of Technology. Nor is it a watered-down traditional university. It is something entirely different and new.
The TURN report sets out what an Irish TU should strive to be, what is required for an Irish TU to achieve the ambitions prescribed in legislation.
Each TU is to define itself in terms of its own unique characteristics, its own regional mission and values.
As you know, I have been steadily working, laying foundations grounded in the TU legislation and the TURN report recommendations.
Firstly for the formal establishment of Ireland’s latest set of TUs - the fifth of which will come on stream in the South East within the next fortnight.
And secondly, to put in place the operational and policy elements so that each TU can settle into its role and mission. Comfortable in its own new skin.
Since 2013, almost a quarter of a billion Euros has been invested in TUs but we know we must continue to invest in these new entities.
I have taken steps to work towards a proper funding system that over time will see an equalisation approach as between TUs and the traditional universities.
I have also worked to develop a borrowing framework which will allow TUs to borrow from non-Exchequer funded sources.
In February last, I announced new programmes that will see significant capital investment of some €430 million in the higher education sector, including a programme dedicated to strengthening TUs.
We are specifically targeting funding in a new Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund focused on investments that provide essential additional capacity and strengthen the role of TUs as drivers of regional development.
In addition to this new call, my Department is supporting a number of ongoing investment programmes across the Technological sector.
Last year, construction was completed on two major new buildings at the TU Dublin campus in Grangegorman and I recently turned the sod on another.
We are also advancing a significant Public Private Partnership Programme which plans to deliver 11 new buildings across the sector.
Funding of just over €150m has also been allocated in areas such as apprenticeship capital, refurbishment and upgrade projects and decarbonisation. This includes 13 major projects across 9 campuses involving all 5 Technological Universities - including the soon-to-be established South East Technological University - which are at various stages of design, planning and construction and will significantly benefit the TU sector across the regions.
Also, we are also supporting a second round of the Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund, which is open to all higher education institutions and will co-fund strategic projects to a maximum of 50%.
In doing this, we have emphasised support for regional development, since we recognise the significant impact that a significant TU presence within a region can have.
I am also keen, through our investment approach, to encourage closer collaboration between higher and further education providers.
Another key element of TU progression is the enablement of greater research capacity building, intensification and utilisation. Ireland has a world-class reputation for excellence and impact in numerous fields of research and innovation. However, there is some disparity between the traditional and technological sectors in this regard.
It is clear that a step change is needed in how we support our research and innovation ecosystem in order to support jobs, productivity and competitiveness, and to realize the ambition of being an innovation leader in the EU and beyond.
My Department is spearheading the development of a new national research and innovation strategy in consultation with key stakeholders. The strategy will set a vision and ambition for Ireland’s R&I system that all relevant actors can identify with and contribute to, with ambitious yet realistic national strategic goals and objectives out to 2027.
In the strategy, issues such as researcher mobility will be addressed, including providing researchers with the skills to both collaborate with and transition to industry.
The needs of industry will also need to be identified, and my Department will work closely with the Department of Enterprise to progress this important work.
There is also a question surrounding access to pensions, which my Department is working to address.
Of course, the TUs themselves will be expected to play a pivotal role in the development and realisation of the new strategy.
One further critical element, which I know you will all be intensely interested in, is the need for an appropriate, fit for purpose career structure for academic staff in TUs.
That, in turn, will require a new and ground breaking type of academic contract that ensures staff are facilitated and encouraged and indeed rewarded for the many and varied roles they fulfil; that creates the space for concentration of pathways – be that pedagogical, research or engagement ; and for some form of rotational academic leadership that will ensure there is progression both personally and in terms of contribution to the goals of the TU.
You will all know that the Department and HEA has commissioned a piece of analysis on TU academic career structures, contract and leadership from the OECD. The finishing touches are being put to the report in Paris and we expect the final report shortly.
My officials inform me that the OECD exercise is of the highest quality and that considerable and productive input has been received both from the TUI to date and from TU management and other experts, including Professor Tom Collins, whose own Review of Lecturing report also fed into the process.
My officials are undertaking preliminary discussions with their counterparts in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to bring them up to speed and to put the case for the significant funding that will be needed to ensure that new approaches to career structures and a new academic contract can be appropriately delivered.
I intend to bring the OECD report to Cabinet in due course and to update Government on its contents and the collaborative approach that I and the Department intend to take in delivering on key elements.
I can assure you that the TUI will be consulted and will be involved in discussions moving forward and as appropriate.
There will be no imposition of new contracts or terms and conditions.
What we are seeking to achieve is a phased, collaborative working through of the necessary steps for bringing new structures into TUs, structures that will last for decades and beyond.
There will be interactions that will focus on outcomes , on how best to achieve what we all want – individually and collectively – in order to enable staff and TUs to fulfil their potential.
I have no doubt that the engagement on these issues will be frank, perhaps robust at times, but I am also confident that the engagement will be professional and constructive and, ultimately, productive for all sides.
I think the words in the title of the TURN report - “Connectedness and Collaboration through Connectivity” - are very apt, as we move forward. We want to connect with staff and students, with management and regional stakeholders.
We want to collaborate and connect in the broadest sense. To hear and be heard. To make progress through honest debate and active discussion in appropriate forums. To achieve our shared goal - delivering on the TU agenda both regionally and nationally. And also delivering objectives which are personal to the individual, both staff and student.
I know, too, that there may be some concern at the relatively rapid pace of change.
In the short space of 4 years, we have moved from 14 Institutes of Technologies to the current position - 5 TUs and 2 Institutes of Technologies. Literally a halving of the number of institutes. However, I believe this momentum has been building since the Hunt Report. And now that certain key foundation blocks are in place, we can expect to see a pivot into a new space, a new way, a new world of working and learning.
There has been some concern expressed that Dundalk IT and IADT Dun Laoghaire will be left behind but, speaking for myself, for the Department and the HEA, I can assure you that that is not the case. The HEA continues to provide financial and expert guidance for these Institutes, indeed with a special adviser providing support. However, Institutes are autonomous and ultimately it is a matter for their governing bodies to decide. Of course, there is still room for diversity in the sector. We stand ready to assist both of these Institutes within the parameters of what is possible under the existing policy and legislation.
It should be acknowledged, however, that some time to settle new structures would be reasonable, particularly since 3 TUs have been established recently within an 8 month period. For some, the time may not be right to engage with another Institute in terms of possible mergers.
Nevertheless, if any conversations have commenced or are under consideration, these will be encouraged.
I know, too, that a huge amount of work was undertaken on a different amalgamation – that of St. Angela’s College, Sligo, with the newly established Atlantic TU, to take place in due course.
Officials in my Department and the Attorney General’s Office are working to ensure there is a proper legislative basis for such a proposed amalgamation.
I know, too, that the TUI and in particular your Deputy General Secretary is playing a key role in this regard. There may well be lessons to be learnt in terms of approach in the context of any other future potential mergers.
I want to round off on the issue of TUs by once again underlining the need for collaboration.
The most important thing is that we all keep engaging, keep talking, stay connected and remain collaborative.
We are in a new landscape and a new world. Our TUs are here to stay. And it behoves us all to seek to ensure that this new reality is the best we can make it for the TUs and for their staff, their students and wider stakeholders and regions.
As I conclude today, I am looking forward to our continued collaboration on what will be an exciting year for Tertiary Education and Research and Innovation in Ireland. I would like to thank you once again for your kind invite to address you all today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Congress.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.