Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators who contributed. The Minister and I readily acknowledge that students face many obstacles in choosing and completing third level education. The current cost-of-living and housing difficulties are acutely felt by third level students. However, the steps implemented by this Government seek to erode those obstacles and provide more opportunities and supports to those who wish to start, or indeed reignite their lifelong learning as mature students. We are working closely with the higher education sector to address additional supply of affordable student accommodation, in the short term through digs supply and activating projects with planning permission with the support of this Government, and in the longer term by adopting a sustainable approach to standardised design of accommodation and through continued supporting initiatives.

Our commitment to increase the number of access routes into third level education is growing. The newly announced tertiary education programmes are an exciting new pathway, blending the best of further and higher education to provide accessible and flexible courses for our students. These new programmes include courses across the healthcare, enterprise, ICT and creative sectors in a further education institution, with students knowing that they have a guaranteed progression route into the higher education institution to completely their fully accredited degree. Importantly, tuition fees or student contribution fees will be applied for the duration of the tuition delivered by the ETB, and the free fees initiative and student contribution arrangements will apply for the duration of the tuition delivered by the higher institution. Students registered on the tertiary programmes will be eligible to apply for the student grant subject to the eligibility criteria. These supports, coupled with the increase in financial supports through SUSI grants, will ensure that our students who most need support can access a third level education that works for them and that Ireland benefits through the development of a highly skilled workforce with the necessary skills and capacity to operate in a constantly changing environment.

One of the overarching objectives of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 is apprenticeship for all, which means ensuring the profile of the apprenticeship population more closely reflects the profile of the general population. The plan promotes general access, diversity and inclusion in apprenticeship by offering targeted supports to encourage participation from under-represented groups, including gender diversity, people with disabilities and members of socioeconomic groups of disadvantage. The specific targets and interventions are informed by the access and inclusion subcommittee of the National Apprenticeship Alliance. This will help to ensure the voice of under-represented groups is integral to the further development of the apprenticeship system. Information on apprenticeship was included on the CAO website for the first time for CAO applicants in 2022. This shows the range of learning and qualification options for school leavers. As part of this landmark change, a freefone helpline was introduced for learners, parents and guidance counsellors to provide information on apprenticeship, including how to find an employer. The helpline supplements the existing guidance counsellor service at post-primary and further education and training levels. The National Apprenticeship Office will increase the visibility of under-represented groups in apprenticeship literature and promotional material to reflect the participation and positive experience of people from all backgrounds and communities, as well as the availability of assistive supports. The general push towards women in STEM roles under the STEM education strategy and the ICT skills action plan should also feed through to the apprenticeship intakes. These measures, and the implementation process for the action plan for apprenticeship overall, will have a significant impact in ensuring greater diversity and representation in the apprenticeship population as a whole.In addition we are focused on providing additional supports for the further education and training, FET, sector in providing the facilities required to support these learning needs. Yesterday we announced additional funding of €5.4 million in respect of 127 projects across 14 education and training boards. This brings the total devolved grant for the education and training boards to €13.4 million for the year 2023. Projects approved cover health and safety issues, small-scale energy efficiency measures, equipment and requests relating to positive improvements for learning spaces. Additionally, we are investing strongly in developing capacity in key skills areas in our FET colleges. To date, six locations are benefiting from part of the next tranche of capital investment under the further education and training strategic infrastructure upgrade fund.

Ensuring there is sufficient accommodation for our third-level students remains a key priority for this Government and for the Minister, Deputy Harris, and me and is being addressed under the Housing for All scheme. We recognise the importance of increasing additional affordable supply to ensure access and the well-being of our students. The growth of the student accommodation sector not only delivers benefits for the higher education institutions in attracting and retaining students but also plays a pivotal role in addressing the wider accommodation shortage, which is a shared mission of the Government. We are working closely with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and his officials in this regard. Our Department will continue to work with colleagues across Government and the wider sector and, of course, student representatives to ensure access to education is attainable for all.