Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to hear the news hot off the press that a space survey will be carried out by the HEA and that the Minister will launch the new phase of capital investment calls later this week. It is welcome that will include this emphasis on universal design principles. What both I and the Labour Party spokesperson on higher education, Senator Hoey, have been hearing is that many students and potential students who are not even counted in figures kept by universities and colleges on students with disabilities require greater levels of accommodation and support. It is thought that as many as 20% of students currently in higher education have a disability. That is a sizeable minority of students, not all of whom may have indicated to college authorities that they are in that cohort. There are potential students who would like to go to college but need greater encouragement, facilitation and support to do so. My experience of engagement as a college tutor for many years with the disability office in Trinity College Dublin is that the office is superb but students with disabilities do not want to have to raise concerns about access at every interval. That is why universal design principles are so crucial. They should be accommodated in building design so that students do not have to keep asking. I ask the Minister to elaborate on the capital funding allocations.

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