Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2023
90. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to increase the allocation to the Fund for Students with Disabilities in Budget 2024. [40741/23]
View answerThe Fund for Students with Disabilities is a critical intervention which supports participation by students with a disability in further and higher education. The fund is an important driver for equity of access to education for students with a disability
The purpose of the fund is to provide resources to Further and Higher Education Institutions for the delivery of key services and supports for students with disabilities on full time and part time courses. The FSD operates firmly within the context of the wider education policy landscape in Ireland, which emphasises the importance of the system being one in which students of all backgrounds can succeed within the mainstream, including those with disabilities. The FSD is designed to complement, rather than substitute for, the core system.
The FSD is one of the main funding sources supporting participation by students with disabilities in approved further and higher education courses in Ireland with an annual core budget of €7.658m at Higher education level. The expenditure at Further Education level in 2022 was €3.5m.
One of the key targets of the National Access Plan 2022 to 2028 (NAP) is to increase the participation of students with disabilities including intellectual disabilities in Higher Education. In 2020/21, the percentage of new entrants indicating a disability on entry to Higher Education was 12.4% exceeding the original National Access Plan target of 8%. Under the new NAP a target has been set at 16% by 2028 and I am pleased that recent figures for 2021/2022 already show an increase to 13.2%.
Earlier this year I launched a competitive funding call under the Programme for Access to Higher Education of €3m over 3 years for proposals to enhance provision for students with an intellectual disability. Institutions are asked to revert with their proposals by the 12th October and I look forward to the conclusion of this process and ultimately seeing projects coming to fruition to enhance provision for students.
I have recently published the 2023 Annual Options Paper on the cost of higher education. Within this, an option has been outlined to extend the FSD across the Further Education and Training Sector. As the Deputy will appreciate the estimates process is ongoing and while I cannot at this point pre-empt the budgetary process I can confirm I will have regard to all of the options set out in the Options paper when deciding how best to prioritise proposals.
