Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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242. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a commitment given in the programme for Government (details supplied) was published in advance of the budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37614/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government contains a commitment to commission an independent examination to identify the supports and barriers to accessing higher education for lone parents, and examine measures to increase participation.

In line with this commitment, my Department engaged a multi-disciplinary team in NUI Maynooth to undertake the independent review.

The review is being overseen by a steering committee comprising officials from my Department and from the Departments of Social Protection and Children and Youth Affairs, as well as the Higher Education Authority.

The review will examine existing data and describe the supports that are currently available for lone parents with a view to identifying the specific challenges faced by lone parents in accessing higher education. The intention is to identify measures and best practice that will address those challenges in the future.

The review is currently being finalised. This is a complex policy area that involves three Government Departments. However, the review was sufficiently progressed to inform policy discussions between the relevant Departments in advance of Budget 2017.

In this context, I secured additional funding in Budget 2017 to support more lone parents to participate in higher education. This new funding will be used to respond to the recommendations contained in the review.