Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the measures which are taken by her Department to increase the level of participation in third level education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9657/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Broadening access to further and higher education is one of the Government's major policy priorities. As the Deputy will be aware the Government made a €42 million package available in 2003 which involved substantial increases in grant levels while extending the income thresholds and linking the amount of the top-up grant to the maximum personal rate of unemployment assistance. The impact of the scheme resulted in an increase in the number of grant-holders from 51,000 in 2002-03 to more than 56,000 and an increase in the number of top-up grant-holders to more than 12,500.

In addition to the initiatives within the mainstream grant schemes, the national officer for equity of access to higher education, the national office, manages for my Department a number of funding programmes to widen access and support the participation of certain targets groups including the socio-economically disadvantaged groups. These include the student assistance fund which provides financial support to benefit from their third level studies; the fund for students with disabilities which has contributed to an increase in participation by students with a disability, with 1,696 students in receipt of funding under the 2004-05 scheme, an increase of almost 1,200 since 2000 when 511 were in receipt of funding under the scheme; and the millennium partnership fund for disadvantaged through which 57 partnerships and community groups received funding.

A number of practical steps are being taken to address increased participation rates. This includes the establishment in August 2003 of the national office within the HEA as a co-ordinating unit to lead work nationally on achieving equity of access to higher education, co-ordinate funding and resources and monitor and report on progress. In December 2004 the national office published a three year action plan — 2005-07 — which sets out a range of practical steps which need to occur so that more opportunities are created for groups who have to date been under-represented in the sector, such as socio-economically disadvantaged school leavers. This will include arrangements so that all disadvantaged regions, schools and communities, in particular those with low levels of representation, are linked to access activities and programmes in at least one higher education institution in their region.

An integrated and coherent strategy is required if we are to further increase the participation rates among persons from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Incentivised funding at the level of the institutions and the individual as advocated in the action plan from the national office for equity of access to higher education will be an important element of funding policies in the future. I also attach considerable importance to the recommendations in the action plan in relation to awareness issues and the need for user friendly and accessible processes and procedures for the allocation of funding.

A priority area for action is evaluation of access programmes which have been established in higher education institutions to ascertain what strategies and partnerships work best in achieving equity of access to higher education for all under-represented groups. Building upon this work, the national office will develop and support the implementation of a national framework of access policies and initiatives for each target group, including young people from socio-economically disadvantages areas. The national office will monitor and report on progress in implementing the action plan and reaching national and institutional targets on equity of access to higher education.