Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the Minister is talking about dealing with some of the inadequacies that exist in the SUSI Act. I wonder how the parameters of some of the supports will work for these students, which is something we have to look at. We are talking about fairness across the board and ensuring as many people as possible can engage with regard to disabilities. When I spoke to those involved in running the course and those attending the course, they believe that what they see as the new funding being provided to them will allow them to properly engage with industry and business, and we can look not only at internships but also employment because this is ensuring there is a proper route map. The Minister has said many times that, unfortunately, when people with disabilities hit 18, this often just falls off a cliff. It is a case of looking at all of those things and finding the parameters with regard to how those moneys can be administered. In the long term, we need to look at these courses in the context of SUSI, but I welcome that the Minister is looking at the Act.

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