Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The submissions process has formally closed but it is never too late to submit a good idea. If there are any further groups or ideas the Deputy wishes to bring forward, I will be very happy to hear from them. The Deputy is 100% right as he has described those at the margins. One of the things a group or stakeholder driving the strategy said was that there needed to be additional priority groups.

As I was saying in my response to Deputy Bacik earlier, we have made good progress on a number of category groups. There are more students with a disability in higher education than ever. However, that masks another reality. We are not measuring all disabilities, so we expect additional priority groups.

On the outcomes piece, that is exactly it. We cannot just say, and this came from the feedback and the consultation, that it is great a student with a disability got into college. Of course it is, but that is the student's right. What we need to do is see what the student's college experience is like. That brings me to the Deputy's next point, because the plan will require joined-up thinking, including with the Department of Education on the transition planning between second level and third level and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on what happens in terms of job opportunities afterwards.

On the point about further education and training being the Cinderella of education, from a capital point of view that has been correct, but the Deputy can expect a significant uplift in capital funding in a new capital call. He can expect an announcement in that regard probably later this week.

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