Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Cullinane.

The Minister will be aware that, until now, people with disabilities have been forced to choose between academic scholarships and disability payments, including two very impressive women from my county, Mayo. Catherine Gallagher is planning to do a PhD in political communications at Dublin City University, DCU, and Muireann Cosgrave is in the process of completing her undergraduate course in analytical science in DCU and has been offered a PhD position in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Most PhD students work part-time to get by, as the stipend given as part of the scholarship is often far below the minimum wage. This is simply not an option for many people with disabilities. In addition, people with disabilities often have extra expenses and costs for a variety of reasons. I sincerely hope there is cross-party agreement that these barriers in higher education should be removed.

Can the Minister assure Muireann, Catherine and other students with disabilities that this barrier has been permanently removed? What is the exact methodology for removing the barrier? The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, said she would remove it in recent days. What guidance can the Minister give to current PhD students who have had their disability payments removed? Will there be a retrospective aspect to the change being made now, which I welcome? What other financial barriers, either in terms of grant funding or removal of social protection payments or other income, has the Minister identified that deter people with disabilities from pursuing their educational goals and fulfilling their potential?

How quickly can the Minister, Deputy Harris, enforce the change, legislatively or otherwise, to remove those barriers?

With regard to medicine, exactly how many extra places did we create for medical students last year and how much funding did we allocate to medical places? I am really concerned. One of my constituents, who is a postgraduate who wants to go back to do medicine, contacted me recently. He has calculated that it will cost him €100,000 to do the four years in medicine. At a time when there is such a demand for doctors and clinicians we really need to look at that. The banks who give out loans for this purpose seem to be the ones who benefit rather than anybody else. Perhaps the Minister will answer specifically on the number of places and the places this year that will be funded.

On mental health and well-being, I conducted a survey on third level students' health and well-being. I sent the results with policy recommendations to the Minister's office. Four out of five college students have said that their college experience has been negatively impacting their mental health. More than 90% can report struggling with loneliness, with stress and with feeling disconnected. One in every four first year students are not aware of the mental health supports and counselling services available in their college. This is very worrying. Students shared stories of struggling to get an education while living and studying in completely inappropriate environments. Many are in cramped flat-shares with large numbers of other students or are living at home with families that are also juggling working from home and home schooling siblings. Many students are without proper Internet connections, laptops and desks that they need. I have instances in my constituency where the broadband has been down for three weeks flat. All of those students, right throughout national school, to secondary school to third level, cannot access their online studies. One student explained having to study while sitting on the bed as parents and siblings use the other desk spaces for home schooling and for working from home. This means that between studying and sleeping, students are in the same spot sometimes for 20 hours per day. This has obvious implications for the students' mental and physical health. Another student explained that due to sharing a cramped flat with other students he was relegated to sitting on the floor in the corner of a room as he did not have space for a desk. He spoke of struggling mentally and physically after enduring three-hour lectures in one position. Other students spoke of the particular challenges of being parents and trying to juggling care, home schooling and looking after their own education in cramped houses. The results of this survey are alarming and should be a wake-up call about the level of stress and hardship faced by students. The situations that students shared with us are heartbreaking and very concerning. The mental health implications are alarming. Sadly, more than one quarter indicated that they have no one with whom to share their thoughts and feelings. Yet so few, only 12%, have accessed the mental health support and counselling services offered in their colleges. Waiting months for counselling appointments due to limited staffing and resources is a major barrier. We cannot allow this pandemic to inflict long-term damage on the students. Mental health services need to be quick and easy to access. In the Minister's strategy document, however, which focuses on how human capital powers Ireland’s knowledge economy, the subject is barely addressed. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the exact definition of "human capital" refers to ", and all of the , , , etc. that they have, which makes them to a or ". I ask the Minister, what about the intrinsic value of students and young people as human beings? Students are not commodities and they should not be treated like hamsters on a wheel but I am afraid that they are being treated so. There is a looming mental health crisis among students and I urge the Minister to act urgently. I hope the Minister will review the information that I have sent and the policy recommendations that we have made.

Will the Minister support the Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Bill 2021 that is being put forward by the Union of Students in Ireland, USI? I acknowledge all of the work that has been done on that, and especially by my colleague Deputy Ó Broin. Perhaps the Minister could answer those questions. If he has not time to answer all of them maybe he will give the answers in writing.

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