Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator was not rambling. She was very cogent on a lot of issues. I thank the Senator for her work with the Minster of State, Deputy Niall Collins, and with me in highlighting the need for the programme for access to higher education, PATH. I acknowledge the Senator's own experience and advocacy around Down's syndrome. It was a good example of how we were able to take an issue, highlight it and try to put in place a funding stream that did not previously exist.

When I was the Minister for Health I attended a graduation ceremony at the programme in Tallaght Hospital. It was one of the most enjoyable and inspiring events I ever attended. I am aware of colleagues who work in similar programmes in the Houses. Whether it falls under my direct remit or not, I believe we should do something about the expansion of this. I will talk to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, about this to see if we can team up to work on that. The Senator is right.

I am glad that Senator O'Loughlin brought up this issue because sometimes the conversation can become too much about higher education. Whether we are talking about people with disabilities or those without disabilities - it does not matter - with people in general we should be talking about a unified tertiary education system and which bit works best for whoever at whatever time. The focus on further education and training is very important. I have a couple of thoughts on this.

SOLAS is a further education and training agency and is currently overseeing an independent evaluation of the specialist training provision programme. This provides education and training for learners with a disability with higher support needs. The evaluation is currently under way but has experienced the usual Covid-related delays, which were for good reason because they wanted to ensure they could engage specifically with learners and potential learners with a disability who require supports. SOLAS will hopefully have an outcome on that very shortly. That is one kind of structural piece being done under the further education and training strategy. SOLAS has identified the need to do a lot more in this space. That is thought number one. I will keep in touch with the Senator on the evaluation of that special training provision.

The Senator referred to Down's syndrome. My second thought is that there are some very good examples being driven by Down Syndrome Ireland, for which I want to credit that organisation on the record of this committee. Down Syndrome Ireland has started linking in with SOLAS and a number of education and training boards, ETBs, to try and do exactly what the Senator is saying. I understand that the Senator's question is broader than Down's syndrome but it is a good example. They are sharing their knowledge and their expertise in helping our further education and training sector to develop and design courses for adults with Down's syndrome. They are linking in with teams and adults with Down's syndrome and their families to ensure their voices are heard. They are also supporting SOLAS and the education and training boards with disability awareness across the further education sector. With regard to outcomes, this has meant that so far we have four regional self-directed advocacy groups that meet on an ongoing bimonthly basis to ensure that any student or family experiencing barriers are represented and heard. It continues to provide up-to-date information and website links about the various programmes that are available. It is an interesting point because one of the challenges, which I find in life in general, is that while there is always an important argument to be made about the need for more services, there also can be a challenge in finding the existing services and signposting for the services. They do very good work in that regard in providing direct information by putting up website links and sharing good practice. Their target now is to have 105 tutors working in further education with access to their Moodle resources and online training resources. They have supported two of our ETBs to complete current programmes. They will support a further five ETBs in the coming months. Since then they have updated us to say there has been a large demand in training from the ETBs. They have provided disability awareness training to the City of Dublin ETB, the Louth Meath ETB and the Tipperary ETB. The courses give all ETB staff a broad understanding of additional needs. They have also formalised partnerships with three ETBs and now have 32 students currently studying latch-on literacy and DSI work skills courses in Dublin, Dundalk and Roscommon. I will send this note to the Senator. It is a very good example of that partnership model.

I would like to see more of that in Down's syndrome and more beyond Down's syndrome. I will send on that note and come back to me with any thoughts on it.

The last point is valid. I mentioned to Senator McGreehan earlier about the Blue Diamond Academy which I visited. It is an example of an incredible drama academy providing training and education for people with disabilities in south County Dublin. I do not mean this rudely, but it is doing it over there and needs to be plugged into our education system. What Senator O'Loughlin describes is a similar example where Kildare Down Syndrome Association is also providing what we would probably call community education, which is valid but how does it fit in with the ETBs? If Senator O'Loughlin sends me a note on that I will come back to her on this. If it is a tug-of-war between education and health let us see if we can resolve it. There is a broader piece of work we need to do about community education providers who are providing really valuable education for people with disabilities or indeed for people more generally. We need to make sure they are not an island and that they are plugged in. I will come back on that to Senator O'Loughlin and the Chair.