Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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92. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on supporting the establishment of units similar to a facility (details supplied) in all universities and institutes of technology. [43302/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have been struck by the initiatives I have seen to give people with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to engage with higher education institutions.

It is fair to say that these have tended to be smaller in scale than the system-level provision delivered in the further education and training (FET) sector, but I am interested in seeing what we can do to build on these existing initiatives. This will include developing a better understanding of what works best within the different models, how we can support different providers in working together and learning from each other, across both the further and higher education system, and examining what is scalable from institutional-level approaches. There are other important policy and access questions, for example is it better from an access perspective for provision to be provided locally in a further education and training setting or in higher education settings where access may be problematic for some students living further away from the institutions?

In this context, I will be looking over the coming year to see what more can be done in this area and I have asked my officials to bring forward proposals to me in this regard.

In looking at these issues, it is also important to akcnolwedge that much of the current provision of education and training for people with intellectual disabilities takes place in the FET sector.

Fostering Inclusion is one of the three core pillars around which the Further Education and Training Strategy 2020-2024 is built. The FET sector is committed to increasing levels of inclusion through the provision of high quality, more accessible and flexible education and training programmes and supports suited to the identified needs of individuals, including those with a disability. FET programmes are available to all learners, including those with a disability, who meet the eligibility criteria and the guidelines provided for each FET programme. Specialist Training Provision (STP) is also available for learners with more complex support needs, and this provision addresses the identified training needs of people with disabilities who are experiencing exclusion and labour market disadvantage in the form of vocational training programmes.

Community Education assists learners with a disability to participate in FET provision by adapting course content, resources and teaching methodologies to suit their abilities. FET providers are required to offer reasonable accommodation to learners with disabilities, the nature of these accommodations varies depending on the identified needs of individual learners. FET provision is available across the country in every county. Most of these programmes are either free of charge or heavily subsidized.

Details of FET courses are available at www.fetchcourses.ie, or through the Adult Education Guidance Service in the learner’s local ETB. This service is free of charge and open to anyone over the age of 18, and they will be able to advise of all education and training options, as well as additional supports that are available to learners, including for learners with a disability.

SOLAS, the national Further Education and Training authority is currently overseeing an independent evaluation of SPT. The purpose of the evaluation is to examine the quality, effectiveness, on-going relevance and overall value of vocational training that is currently delivered by specialist training providers, and to propose any recommendations for future practice.