Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is very difficult to persuade people to go to third level education when they have been rejected in every other educational experience they have had. A very small number of Travellers in relative terms do the leaving certificate. Spaces could be opened up on every degree programme in the country and every bar or criteria such as the leaving certificate removed. That is what happens for access programmes, through which successful applicants do an access year. Every degree course in Trinity College must hold one or two spaces for mature students. There is no reason there could not be targeted Traveller-specific spaces. It is not always a matter of economics; it is often more to do with social and cultural factors and everything that has gone before.