Mr. Hugo MacNeill:

One of the great things about this model is the combination of the student with the business partners. It is transformational.

It ties in with many things that are happening in companies as well as the diversity and inclusion agenda. It has a positive impact on the employees of the companies with which we work. Mr. David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, said that it had a humanising impact. Some of the people sitting on the front desk had Down's syndrome. What a message that sent out to the company's clients and staff.

The great news is that, when we present this to companies, there is considerable buy-in. We have gone from four partners at the start to more than 40. Behind each of the stories coming out of those is an employee and a family whose lives have been transformed.

Many of the companies are household names but, even though a large number of companies are involved, we are still only scratching the surface. Trinity College Dublin had a visiting professor from the US. He looked at this list and thought it was incredible. We have local coffee shops that help us out, which is great if that matches the capabilities of the student, but we are also seeing that students can do much more. The slide the committee sees shows the momentum. The slide only shows up to 2021, but the momentum continued to grow even through the Covid pandemic. We are excited about this and the potential is significant, but we also need to spread it well beyond Trinity and around the country. We have 20 students each year in first and second years, but there is demand out there and the feedback has been fantastic. We want to work with other universities and interested parties. Behind each of these employees is not only a young person, but also that young person's family, who realises that they are not the only ones who care about them. There is great potential for Ireland to lead in this field.

Importantly, the job placements are paid employments and the students are becoming employees. It is not only the right and moral thing to do for the State, but it is a good deal because it means these people are not on unemployment benefits. One of our students, Ms Margaret Hurley, said that she loved to grumble about paying taxes. She loved her job. Behind each of these stories is an individual.