Mr. Richard Dolan:

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend for this discussion on the barriers to education for vulnerable groups. The purpose of my presentation is to provide the committee with an overview of a range of interventions across the education continuum to meet individual identified educational need that is supported by the Department of Education and Skills. A key priority for the Department is for education to be a proven pathway to better opportunities for those in communities at risk of educational disadvantage and social exclusion. We have a wide range of policies and supports in place to tackle educational disadvantage from early years to primary, post-primary and further and higher education.

Inclusive education is a fundamental principle of our education and training system. It is vital that all learners have the opportunity to benefit from education to help them fulfil their potential in life. The Department early years education policy unit plays a support role in the ongoing development of the better start access and inclusion model, which was launched in June 2016 by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. This model of supports is designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme. The model was developed and agreed by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, our Department and the Department of Health.

Implementation of the access and inclusion model is ongoing. A total of 2,486 children received targeted supports in the 2016-17 ECCE programme year and 4,038 children are receiving targeted supports in the 2017-2018 ECCE programme year to date. Through the work of the early years education policy unit, the Department continues to provide support to the access and inclusion model through participation in the project team on developments such as access and inclusion model inclusive play resources and the training working group convened to develop further training programmes in 2018.

At primary and post-primary school level a range of additional supports are available in mainstream settings to support the identified additional learning needs of pupils. These are supplemented by further supports available under targeted support programmes such as the delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, strategy. DEIS is the Department's main policy initiative to tackle educational disadvantage at primary and post-primary level. Following the recent review of the DEIS programme, a new DEIS plan was introduced last year that seeks to build on what has already been achieved by schools that have benefitted from the additional supports available under the initial DEIS programme introduced in 2005. The two key elements of the 2017 plan are the development of a new identification process for the assessment of schools in terms of the socioeconomic background of the pupil cohort using centrally held data and the updating of the DEIS school support programme, which represents the overall suite of supports available to schools participating in the programme.

The ambition set out in the DEIS plan 2017 is for Ireland to become the best in Europe at harnessing education to break down barriers and stem the cycle of inter-generational disadvantage by equipping learners to participate, succeed and contribute effectively to society. There are now 902 schools in the DEIS programme, including 704 at primary level and 198 at post-primary level. The Department is investing over €125 million in 2018 in the range of additional supports provided to DEIS schools. These supports are detailed in the DEIS plan. The latest retention report issued by the Department statistics unit shows an increase in leaving certificate retention rate for DEIS schools from 82.7% for the 2009 student cohort up to 84.41% for the 2010 cohort. Since 2005, the non-DEIS schools leaving certificate retention rate has been between 91.7% and 92.9% while the retention rate increased from 78.4% to 84.4% for DEIS schools in the same period.

While this represents a strong increase and a narrowing of the gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools, it is evident that a gap still remains. Equity of access to further and higher education is a fundamental principle of Irish education policy and one that has been endorsed by successive Governments in policy statements and commitments over the past 30 years as a national priority. The Further Education and Training Strategy 2014-2019 and the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 work on breaking down barriers for target groups to enrol in and complete their chosen areas of study. The Department provides funds for the demand-led student grant scheme. This scheme will support approximately 78,000 post leaving certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate students in the academic year 2017-2018 at a cost of approximately €370 million. In addition to the scheme, students in third-level institutions can access the student assistance fund and the fund for students with disabilities. We have recently established the programme for access to higher education as well. The student assistance fund provides financial assistance to students experiencing financial difficulties while attending third level. Students can be assisted toward the cost of rent, child care costs, transport costs and the costs of books and class materials. The fund for students with disabilities supports participation by students with a disability in full-time programmes of further and higher education. In the 2016-17 academic year the student assistance fund benefitted 16,019 students at a cost of €7.99 million and the fund for students with disabilities benefitted 11,881 students at a cost of € 10.4 million.

The programme for access to higher education fund comprises dedicated funding to support access to higher education. The fund is allocated on a competitive basis to higher education institutions to support particular priority areas as determined by the Department. The €16.2 million secured through the budgetary process has enabled three strands of the fund to be rolled out.

In 2017, a budget allocation of almost €638 million was provided for SOLAS-funded further education provision. A total number of 324,503 opportunities were made available to learners from SOLAS-funded further education and training programmes and services in 2017. Of the 324,503 total places made available, 54,189 were specifically for the provision of community education.

Significant progress has been made in increasing participation in education by most socioeconomic groups. However, some groups continue to be under-represented.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present. I look forward to any questions.