Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I acknowledge the work of the Deputy's colleague, Senator Hoey, who I happened to meet this evening. There is a lot we can do in this space. I am proud of the progress we have made across the education sector, including in early years, primary and secondary education, with regard to being inclusive of people with additional needs. We have made some progress in the third level sector and there are statistics to back that up but we have not made enough. In many ways, the cliff edge for many students has moved from second level to third level. We need to fix that. We are developing our new national access plan. I hope to publish that around Easter. I am pleased to say that we have €5 million to spend on that in 2022. I am now considering how best to deploy that. To give the House an indication of my plans, one of the areas I intend to focus on this year is the area of intellectual disabilities. This is an area we have been too silent on when it comes to disability in the third level sector and one in which we can make progress. I look forward to engaging with Deputy Ó Ríordáin and Senator Hoey as we publish the national access plan and then, crucially, as we implement it.

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