Dáil debates
Tuesday, 8 February 2022
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Educational Disadvantage
7:05 pm
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
I am 100% up for that. I hope the Oireachtas and Oireachtas committees, including Deputy Michael Moynihan, can genuinely play a helpful and active role in monitoring this. It is not a static document. In my term as Minister, I have been regularly invited to the oversight group. We publish the documents and the targets, but then the work begins. Our figures for higher education participation are very good and among the best in Europe, but headline figures can flatter and can mask another reality. They are very good and there has been progress across all groups, but not equal progress. That is why this is a national access and inclusion plan, identifying the priority groups where we want to make progress and provide funding. In fairness to my colleagues in the Government, I am pleased we have a €5 million fund this year to drive forward some of these initiatives, so it will not be a plan without real funding.
The question about the percentage of the budget is very good. I will have to get the answer for the Deputy because, of course, it is not one budget line. We provide a variety of supports for students with disability across SOLAS, the HEA, the SUSI grant system and the fund for students with disability. Perhaps I can send that information in writing to the Deputy.
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