Dáil debates

Thursday, 1 December 2022

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Third Level Reform

11:04 am

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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93. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an announcement of the funding allocations being made available under PATH 4, phase 1; the institutions that have applied for this funding; if the quantum of funding will be sufficient to meet the demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59617/22]

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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We discussed this issue at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Autism recently. I am seeking further detail on the announcement of the funding allocations to be made under PATH 4, phase 1. I wish to know the institutions that have applied for funding and whether the quantum of funding will be sufficient to meet the demand. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for the question. We initially discussed this at the Committee on Autism and I thank him for following it up further. In June, I announced €12 million in funding for a new four-year strand of PATH funding. This is funding that is directed as under-represented groups in higher education. This is known as PATH 4. Phase 1 supports the embedding of universal design approaches and inclusive practices in HEIs. Universal design is based on the principles of flexibility and choice for all students. It recognises that a well-designed service or approach will accommodate the diverse range of student needs. Universal design is a proactive approach to inclusion that eliminates the need for separate arrangements for those with particular needs. This will benefit all students, including autistic students.

This phase will also enable institutions to build capacity to support greater participation by students with intellectual disabilities in higher education. It involves once-off funding of €3 million in 2022. Just before coming into the Chamber, I received a list of some of the ideas that have come back. I may get a chance to discuss some of this with the Deputy, but everybody will get a portion of the €3 million. A number of really good ideas have come back, including charters for universal design, leadership seminars, training of students and staff and transition programmes to welcome autistic students. Those are some examples from the comprehensive list I have just received. HEIs are required to develop a project plan, which is what I have just received, showing how the funding will be used.

There are 19 HEIs participating in the PATH programme. In the main, these are the publicly funded institutions. I am pleased to confirm that all 19 HEIs have now submitted project plans and that funding will issue in the coming weeks. In regard to the Deputy's question on the quantum of funding being sufficient to meet demand, the funding for PATH 4 is being provided using an allocation model that gives each institution a base amount, with additional funding being provided to institutions on the basis of on student numbers and the number of students with disabilities. The overall project, including the levels of funding, will be evaluated to assess effectiveness and impact in order to inform future policy developments. I genuinely believe success in this area will require me being under pressure to find more funding. Such is the level of good ideas coming through, that would be a good outcome.

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister for the answer. I want to try to dig down and understand how the funding allocation model works. The Minister stated that there is base funding, with a proportion allocated on the basis of student numbers. In regard to applying a cost-benefit analysis, €3 million in the first year is a significant amount. I want to rest assured that we are giving plenty of guidance to the HEIs on how to do proceed and that we are scaffolding their efforts around it. We must have an evaluation process to ensure that the taxpayer is getting value for money, on the one hand, and that students are getting the maximum possible benefit, on the other. I sometimes worry when money is given out in the absence of strict performance criteria. I would like the money that is being allocated to unlock the greatest possible benefit for the students who will derive that benefit.

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I should have said that we have brought in the National Disability Authority, NDA, to evaluate these projects. I wish to thank it for doing so. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the NDA are evaluating these projects. Before I launched the call for funding, I met with representatives from the NDA to discuss this matter. I also met them briefly again at a conference I attended yesterday and had the opportunity to thank them for their work. Project plans come in and are evaluated by the HEA and the NDA and money is then approved and disbursed for the project plans using the allocation I outlined. There will also be an evaluation of the projects post implementation to assess effectiveness and impact. This is very much a starting point. There is much more we need to do in this space. This is €3 million to get the wheels moving in terms of using best practice to identify what is happening well across the country and seeking to expand that. It is also there to empower HEIs to come up with their own plans. There have been workshops at which there has been brainstorming with HEIs, a sharing of ideas and presentations from the HEA and the NDA.

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I acknowledge the work that Dublin City University, DCU, has been doing in this space. Representatives from DCU also made a presentation to the joint committee. It is exciting to see the idea and principle of universal design being applied to universities and to housing and such matters. It acknowledges that these specific interventions might be of particular use to autistic people and help them in the context of access. However, many of these interventions are going help everyone in the student body, not just those who are autistic, and make our campuses more inclusive places. I will be very interested to see what the evaluation shows. It is well worth putting the money in. However, it is important that we monitor the level of success and how effective what is being done is from a student point of view and ensure that a structure is in place for information sharing so that best practice can be shared. We should not have to reinvent the wheel on each campus. That evaluation system is going to be important in ensuring that we share the experience and best practice.

Photo of Ruairi Ó MurchúRuairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I have engaged with the Minister on this issue previously. There are many positives. As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said, it is a matter of ensuring that best practice is employed. Universal design makes campuses more comfortable. Whether we are talking about autistic people or those with other disabilities, it is by means of universal design for learning that we can enable individuals. It is almost a case of arriving at a bespoke solution for every individual in the best way we can. We need to ensure that this happens. There is also the wider issue of ensuring that the scaffolding and framework are in place to facilitate these students to be all that they can be, which is what we are trying to do across the board.

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Ó Murchú. That is a very good summary of what we are trying to do. As Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said, having the evaluation is key to this. As we discussed in some detail at the Joint Committee on Autism, the cliff edge has moved for far too many students from getting from primary to secondary school or from getting from secondary school to third level. That is what we are trying to fix. It can be fixed in a couple of ways. I am a great believer in universal design. I have seen many good examples of it. That is why tranche 1 is about universal design guided by the NDA, with projects approved by a panel involving the NDA and the HEA. Evaluation will then take place afterward. I am happy to keep the House informed on that. We also need to recognise that there will still be a need for specific programmes. Even with all the universal design in the world, there is still a need for the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities and for some of the good initiatives Deputy Ó Cathasaigh referenced in DCU. In phase 2, there will be €3 million a year over three years to get HEIs to come forward with particular programmes for students with intellectual disabilities. If we can get this right, it could be a game-changer.