Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator and assure her I will work closely with her on this. I highlight the two schemes in existence not to suggest they are perfect or an alternative to reform but just to put that information out there for anyone following this debate as avenues that might be of assistance to a student with disability or students more generally in terms of the student assistance fund, because they are available to part-time students. However, I take the point. More and more, we are going to see people of all ages wanting to access education in a flexible, agile way. The Senator quite correctly referenced the Covid pandemic in the context of how we saw people then accessing education in hybrid manner online. Beyond students with a disability and young carers, there is going to be a huge need from mature students and people going back to education. We cannot on the one hand say go back and do part-time education as it is a great way to do it and on the other hand have Government schemes that do not support it. Thus, this is a huge body of work we are committed to doing. It is a policy priority for me and my Department. The pace at which we can introduce it is a matter for the normal Estimates process but I will keep in very close contact with the Senator on it.