Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a big piece of policy work that I have asked my Department to do on how we support people with disabilities throughout the tertiary education system. This is not a political point because it happened long before I was here but over a number of generations we have made good progress on inclusion at primary and second level. We have more to do but there has been good progress. However, there is still a bit of a cliff edge when it comes to third level. I can point to good examples and good practice but I do not want to just be able to point to good examples and practice but to embed that. I want to know that there is a consistency of approach no matter what part of the tertiary education system a student is in. For example, at the moment we have ten ETBs employing 82 personal assistants directly, four ETBs procuring personal assistant support services via external providers and two ETBs that say they have no current demand for personal assistants which, in and of itself, concerns me. The reason I am sharing that information is to highlight the very different approaches across a range of ETBs. We need to get to a much more consistent position so that no matter where students live in Ireland, and regardless of whether they go on to further education, higher education, or an apprenticeship, they can have an expectation in terms of the supports provided to them as a citizen with a disability in this country. I am determined that we do that piece of work.

In the short term, I want to meet the personal assistants with the Deputy and see what we can do with that additional funding for students with disabilities. My Department is also monitoring carefully the claim submitted by FÓRSA.

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