Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, for coming in, in place of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. My Commencement matter seeks a statement on the uniformity of supports for students at third level who have additional needs and disabled students, with particular regard to the National College of Art and Design, NCAD. I am raising this as a Commencement matter but I have raised it on the Order of Business. This is a matter that has been covered both by the national broadcaster and by the print media. It is an appalling and sinister case involving a talented student who was given a place on merit at NCAD and who was then subsequently failed by NCAD. The student did not fail per se, but was failed by the manner in which NCAD did not provide the supports that were necessary for her to succeed on her third level journey. This is a most egregious case. The student's mum is here today. It has caused that family a great deal of upset and trauma. I have done a lot of investigation into this matter. I will quote some of the comments from people who were involved in the case. They said that "this student was treated in a manner that I would imagine would have happened 60 years ago" and that "there was something about this student's disability that marked her out".

NCAD has a diverse student profile and the teaching staff there have in the past and currently supported students with additional needs. However, I refer to the quote, "There was something about this student's disability". I do not want to identify her but her disability was a very visible one. On that basis, it provoked very hostile "discriminatory behaviour from a university, from management." This hostile behaviour and hostile scrutiny took many forms. To begin with, she was not allowed to choose the student personal assistant. I have a son with additional needs in third level and it is a collaborative process. The funding is provided through the HEA to the college, not to the college, but to support the student. The student should have a role in selecting and choosing the person he or she works well with, in a collaborative way. I was also shocked that there were several instances in this case where management queried the bona fides of the student and queried whether the work submitted in portfolio was actually hers.

On a very important document, the profile of needs assessment or a statement of needs, a signature was forged, not by using the Adobe signature tool or by being personally signed by the student but simply her name entered as you would type it in a Word document, without her knowledge or consent. Then this sensitive document was shared, despite the GDPR rights and concerns of the individual, with wider management. People have resigned from the board of NCAD over this. The Minister has been written to but has not responded. He has not come here today. There was no action or response on the basis of it being raised by me on the Order of Business when, again, the student's family was here.

We are accountable to the people but we must also hold powerful institutions to account. A university is supposed to be a place of learning and love that wraps itself around all students. While it is not in loco parentis, it has a pastoral duty of care.I really impress upon the Minister of State, who is a person of the utmost integrity, that he communicate to his colleague, the Minister, that he must take action on this. I will address shortly the manner in which he might do that.