Dr. Emer Smyth:

We need to look at financial incentives for young people. We need to increase the maintenance grant to adequately cover the costs of education so they are not left to rely on parental support. More importantly, we need to look at all of the steps along the way in their educational career, at performance levels and at guidance within the school system. We have seen an improvement in the transition to higher education from students who attended DEIS schools but there is still a massive gap there. We really need to look at increasing equity for disadvantaged students who attend DEIS schools but also those who do not. We really need to be putting in supports around teaching and learning and also guidance. We also need to consider a scale of funding for DEIS schools that reflects the complexity of needs there because the current funding does not bridge the gap. These are fundamental measures that are needed if we are to increase access. We also need to look at the mature student issue as well. As I mentioned, there has been a decline in the representation of mature students which is concerning.