Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I accept some of the points the Minister of State made. For the people I represent, sometimes the barrier to education is not just points. There are many more issues that affect people.

There are transport, accommodation and finance considerations, and people who are involved with care-giving duties. In the area I represent, only 10% of the people who go to third level education consider themselves from disadvantaged areas. My constituency includes a rural area and a city. Across the constituency, there are different types of people at third level. We need to get more people into third level education. The experience of people living in areas where people do not typically go to third level is that when they go to third level they feel isolated and alone. We need to work with these young people to ensure they can stay on at third level.

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