Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

7. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will detail progress on supporting more students with disabilities to access further and higher education, including the status of the new National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36753/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department, and my ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for persons with special and additional needs.

On the higher education side, I am pleased to report that the target that was set in the last National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education (which covered the period to 2021) to increase participation in higher education by people with disabilities were not only met but was exceeded.

Specific targets set to increase participation in higher education by students with physical or sensory disabilities were also met. The original target of 8% and the revised target of 12% under the National Access Plan of new entrants to higher education with disabilities has now been exceeded. 12.2% of new entrants to higher education in 2019/20 declared a disability.

On the further education and training side, some 5.9% of enrolments in 2021, were reported as having at least one type of disability. Enrolments were primarily concentrated among Adult Literacy, Community Education and PLC programmes.

While this all represents good progress, I want more to be done.

The new national Access Plan is currently being finalised and I expect will be published in the common months.

Students with disabilities will continue to be a priority group in the new plan with a particular focus on students with an intellectual disability.

The work to support learners with an intellectual disability will be supported with a new funding stream under the Programme for Access to Higher Education. The PATH Strand 4 - €12 fund over four years will be implemented in two phases.

My Department will also continue to keep existing provision and initiatives under review in keeping with the objective of enabling a greater number of students with disabilities to access opportunities in higher and further education in the future.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

14. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which third and fourth level education continues to focus on the need to supply suitably qualified staff, in both the public and private sectors, in areas currently experiencing difficulties in obtaining and retaining staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36710/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A core mission for my Department is to continue to advance efforts to ensure that Ireland offers learning opportunities to all who wish to pursue them on a lifelong basis, provides the right skills and competences to learners to succeed, and produces further and higher education graduates, apprentices and trainees with the right skills to support our economy, society and essential public services.

At an institutional and provider level this requires agility, responsiveness and continual engagement with employers to understand emerging and evolving skills needs.

At a national level, the National Skills Council advises on the prioritisation of identified skills needs and on how to secure delivery of these needs. Key high level trends identified at recent National Skills Council meetings include automation and digitisation, digital literacy and transversal skills. Information on these trends is then used to guide the implementation of key skills strategies and initiatives such as the National Skills Strategy 2025; Technology Skills 2022; Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative.

Engagement with the national skills architecture has also informed the development of new undergraduate places for the coming academic year. On 28th June, I announced the creation of close to 1,000 targeted places across areas of key skills needs. These places will be permanent additions in the system, and will be in areas including Healthcare, ICT, Architecture and Construction, Engineering and Environment.

Apprenticeships are playing an increasing role in meeting our skills needs as a country. The Action Plan for Apprenticeship sets out new ways of structuring, funding, and promoting apprenticeships with a target of 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per year by 2025. In 2021, a record 8,607 new apprentices were registered- an almost 40% increase on the figures from 2019, the last broadly comparable pre-pandemic year. Development of new apprenticeship programmes has continued despite the pandemic challenges with 65 apprenticeship programmes currently on offer.

The further education and training sector also plays a critical role in meeting critical skills needs. We are also working to strengthen the further education and training system under a new strategy for that sector. This will help ensure that our tertiary education system as a whole equips our students with the knowledge, skills and expertise required to secure good quality, well paid and sustainable employment. This includes building on traditional areas of strength such as healthcare and construction and building capabilities aligned with emerging skills needs, in areas related to sustainable development.