Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 523: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the initiative within Trinity College, Dublin to develop a third level option for students with a mild intellectual disability; if he plans to undertake an assessment of this initiative with a view to extending it to other colleges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46300/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the initiative referred to by the Deputy is the Certificate in Contemporary Living which is delivered by the National Institute for Intellectual Disabilities (NIID) in Trinity College. This is a two-year, full-time programme which commenced in October 2005.

The Certificate programme aims to promote the full inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities by providing them with the strategic skills to become independent self-reliant adults and to facilitate their lifelong learning. Career development is an integral part of the course.

The NIID received funding from my Department under the second cycle of the Strategic Innovation Fund in February 2008 to develop this programme across a number of higher education institutions. The development of the programme in collaborating institutions will involve institutional visits and mentoring of the institutions staff from staff associated with the established TCD programme. This will ensure that the project is consistently monitored to ensure best practice in the field.

UCC is the first collaborating institution and it will pilot the first module in January 2009, and the programme is expected to commence in the 2009/10 academic year. Other institutions have expressed an interest and it is proposed to commence pilot programmes next year in Dundalk Institute of Technology and Sligo Institute of Technology.