Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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There is a massive challenge whether it is vulnerable sectors or people with a disability or members of the Traveller community. We are looking at finding better ways to improve access, which is one of my priorities in this job.

There are ways in which we can make it easier for somebody with a disability. I met a professor recently who said much research has gone into this but it could come down to simple factors such as environment and physical accessibility to buildings, and we should keep that first and foremost in mind.

There was a question on the percentage of women in senior academic roles. The Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, has been a very strong advocate on this matter. There is a significant deficit but it will be mandatory for all higher education authorities to retain a certain percentage for research funding. I can revert with the exact details of the number of women who will be involved. We must first create awareness and then do something about it. The Minister of State has been campaigning on that.

There was mention of third level funding and there is the question of how to future-proof universities and higher level education. I attended an event last Thursday morning at the new Technological University of Ireland Grangegorman campus. We brought all the stakeholders and leaders in the third level sector together and I specifically raised the matter of funding so they could make suggestions and see how we could look at the issue in a collaborative fashion. There has been an increase in capital funding and there will be future increases in such funding. Whether in Ireland, Edinburgh University in Scotland or any other university in the world, there is a constant debate on future third level funding. The Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, keeps me abreast of what is happening with the Cassells report, which is in Europe currently. Whenever we are in a position to follow up on that, I will be happy to do so.

The reallocation of National Training Fund, NTF, resources that were used for employment programmes below the National Framework of Qualifications, NFQ, level 5 to the Exchequer was begun in budget 2018 and it has been accelerated in budget 2019. There was €57 million in investment in programmes with significant activity below level 5 on the NFQ that were previously resourced from the NTF but it will now be funded from the Exchequer. The NTF should be deployed to support close to labour market skills programmes in areas of identified skill needs. The support for enterprise higher education programmes increased from €37 million in 2018 to €120 million in 2019, and this investment will be made in areas with identified skills needs as outlined in the national skills bulletin and in line with priorities established by the National Skills Council. As was the case in budget 2018, the NTF will fund all of some programmes as part of this investment.