Ms Kerry Lawless:

I can only really talk about what I know about third level. We heard Mr. Gilvarry talk about the wrap-around of services he had and how well supported he was and Ms Newman talked about moving at her own pace. That is not necessarily there at third level. There is a presumption that once you get to third level you would not need it. We know that people with disabilities in third level the figures from the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability, AHEAD, show that they are increasing but when you look into it the figures are increasing because more people are identifying with dyslexia, which I also have, and getting accommodations for that, which I have had. That is out of proportion with other disabilities so in a way this welcome increased in reporting of students with dyslexia is overshadowing the fact that other areas like visual and hearing impairments and mobility issues are not increasing at that same level. When you look at figures for postgraduate students with disabilities the numbers have fallen. The figures were not high and they were unrepresentative in the first place but the numbers are falling in the most recent figures I have seen. That is because the tailored level of services is not available. The educational institutions need funding for their disability services. I am not talking about taking from one area and giving to another. I question why any course is being delivered that needs accommodations for people with disabilities to take part because at this stage those accommodations should be built in at third level.