Mr. Lewis Purser:

On the broader issue of access for disadvantaged communities, the seven universities and the DIT have been working together for a number of years. Since 2010, they have rolled out a national programme called the higher education access route, better known as HEAR, which has been widely publicised in the media and school sector. The programme is mainly targeted at second-level students who have the potential to succeed at third level but who, for all sorts of socioeconomic reasons, have tended not to get even near the university sector.

There is a set of nationally agreed eligibility criteria that we have worked through with the Department of Education and Skills and other national stakeholders. It is based on a multi-indicator model so as to tackle different types of socioeconomic disadvantage. The bottom line since 2010 is that the number of students who have applied under HEAR has increased dramatically. More important, the number of students who have been offered and who have accepted places has increased by over 71% in the past three years alone. I refer to students from very disadvantaged communities, with endemic social problems in many cases. Many of the students' parents never completed second level and, in some cases, primary level.

As Deputy O'Brien stated, sometimes pockets of deprivation are inner-city pockets right beside the main universities. This is an anomaly in 21st-century Ireland. The universities and most higher education institutions do considerable outreach work with schools, particularly DEIS schools, across the country. Examples include mentoring for students and homework clubs to provide the support students in other schools would normally get at home. Campus visits familiarise students with the idea of going to college. Students do tasters, explore the sports facilities and engage in all sorts of summer activities. Thus, by the time they are ready to apply through the CAO system, third level is not a big mystery. Walking through the gates of NUI Galway or Trinity College Dublin is no longer a big mystery.