Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are initiatives that are proving successful. This is about looking at the individual students, asking why they drop out and seeing what has gone wrong. Some of the access programmes have been very successful because they support students right through their transition and perhaps offer help with supplementary studies. Sometimes mathematics might be a problem, for example, for students whose maths preparation was not adequate for their chosen course.

It is not just a question of resources right across the sector; it is about policies being designed. Obviously, each institution is independent and the HEA, as I outlined in the reply, is looking to see what the best practice is and is seeking to mainstream that. From the overall framework we set targets for each institution, and reducing drop-out rates is a key target. We review the performance of institutions on this measure. This is why the HEA has taken this new initiative to try to improve the practice within each institution. It is hoped this will be crowned with success. It can be seen, across the various qualifications, that perhaps some people make mistakes in their choices. This goes back to Deputy Thomas Byrne's comments earlier that some students may pick a science subject when they may have been better off choosing an apprenticeship route. That scenario might have been better for all concerned rather than high placement rates. We need to work across the spectrum to reduce the figures of non-progression.

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