Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the supports and resources her Department offers third level institutions in the Cork region, in particular colleges of further education, to allow people with disabilities to fully access educational opportunities with all available courses. [11370/06]

Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The fund for students with disabilities, which is ESF-aided, was introduced in 1994. It provides funding to students with disabilities attending courses in Irish and British third level institutions and, since 1998, in post-leaving certificate centres. The fund is administered by the national office for equity of access to higher education. The purpose of the fund is to provide students with serious physical and/or sensory disabilities with grant assistance towards the cost of special equipment, special materials and technological aids, targeted transport services, personal assistants and sign language interpreters. To be considered eligible for the fund, an applicant must meet the prescribed criteria.

Applications for assistance are made by the individual students through the disability or access officer of a third level institution on registration. Decisions on applications are taken by the national office for equity of access to higher education and verified by an independent panel comprising representatives of agencies and individuals who have experience of working with people with disabilities. In 2004 and 2005 over €185,000 was provided to students attending post-leaving certificate courses in the Cork area.

The national office for equity of access to higher education was established within the Higher Education Authority in August 2003. The national office facilitates educational access and opportunity for groups who are under-represented in higher education, that is, those who are disadvantaged socially, economically or culturally, those with a disability and mature learners. The office works with the universities, the institutes of technology and all publicly funded institutions offering higher education programmes.

Access to higher education has been supported since 1996 by the strategic initiative funding scheme, previously the targeted initiative scheme, of the Higher Education Authority. The national office manages the funding of all access initiatives under this scheme. This funding has been one of the key sources of State support for higher education access. Between 1996 and 2005 almost €48 million was allocated to support activities in HEA-funded institutions to improve access by groups who are under-represented in higher education.

In 2005, €300,000 was allocated through the strategic initiatives scheme of the HEA to University College Cork to support the range of services and initiatives being provided by the college enabling persons with a disability to fully access and participate in higher education. The services being provided by UCC include a regional resource centre in assistive technology, which assesses and makes provision for the technological support needs of students with a disability in the college. The centre also provides a technological assessment, training and consultancy support service to students and staff in the institutes of technology and colleges of further education in the Cork region.

Other projects include a sports and recreational development programme, disability awareness training for staff, a careers support programme, a transport programme, a higher education support programme for students with disabilities which promotes independent learning, academic success and improved quality of life and an inter-institutional disability research project, with DIT and TCD, tracking the experiences of students with disabilities admitted through standard and special entry routes over the last three years. In 2004, UCC commenced a diploma course in disability studies in which 30 students are participating in centres both on and off campus. It is proposed to expand this programme in the future to five centres, thereby increasing pathways to higher education for a greater number of students with disabilities.

It is the Department's policy to seek to encourage and facilitate the participation of people with disabilities on programmes offered in the further education sector. Generally, issues of access for individuals to further education programmes are addressed at local level. In December 2005, special grants were provided by the Department to vocational educational committees, including County Cork Vocational Education Committee and City of Cork Vocational Education Committee, to upgrade services by the purchase of equipment and materials and the carrying out of refurbishment and minor structural works to enhance the provision for students with disabilities.

The vocational training opportunities scheme is primarily for unemployed people but people with disabilities are also a target group. Under the scheme, full-time courses of one or two years' duration are provided to participants to enhance their employability. The Department funds this scheme, which is administered through the vocational education committees, including County Cork Vocational Education Committee and City of Cork Vocational Education Committee. The back to education initiative provides part-time further education programmes for adults to give them an opportunity to combine a return to learning with family, work and other responsibilities. People with disabilities are one of the target groups of the programme.

Adult literacy schemes are administered by the 33 vocational education committees throughout the country. A total of 27 of them make provision for persons with disabilities, including County Cork Vocational Education Committee and City of Cork Vocational Education Committee. In addition, adult literacy provision has been made for deaf people by way of a grant to the Irish Deaf Society to train tutors to give literacy tuition to deaf people through Irish sign language. A grant is awarded annually to the Dyslexia Association of Ireland as a contribution towards assessments.