Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has ever undertaken a study on the physical accessibility of third-level institutions for persons with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40284/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Inclusion is a core goal for my Department across the tertiary education system and equity of access to Further & Higher Education continues to be a national priority for the Government and my Department.

While higher education institutions are autonomous, the approach of my Department has been to offer a range of supports which enable them to meet national objectives, including those related to inclusion and supports for people with disabilities.

The number of new entrant students with disabilities participating in higher education is increasing. The original National Access Plan target of 8% has been exceeded and the figure is currently 13.2% (2021/2022 academic year).

But the higher education population of students with disabilities does not reflect the wider population. That is why we have placed an unrelenting focus on this area and have a new target of 16% by 2028.

In January 2021, I announced approval for €5.8 million towards strategic initiatives aimed at supporting students with disabilities to access and engage with higher education funded under the Fund for Students with a Disability (FSD). Under the FSD Strategic Initiatives, 5 HEIs, namely National College of Ireland, St Angela’s College, Trinity College Dublin, Munster TU and Dundalk IT, conducted accessibility audits.

In 2022, €3 million of funding was provided by my Department for Universal Design Measures. Institutions have provided their proposed project plans. Projects are currently ongoing and some of these include accessibility audits/mapping and enhancements to physical accessibility.

With regard to the buildings and estates, the Higher Education Authority undertook a detailed space survey of the higher education estate in 2022. As part of this survey, higher education institutions were asked to indicate the compliance of their buildings with Part M of the Building Regulations, which addresses access for people with disabilities. This survey found that 35% of buildings were fully compliant, 60% of buildings were partially compliant and 5% were non-compliant. Institutions can address issues of non-compliance using funding from their Devolved Capital Grant or as part of broader building upgrade projects and my Department will work with them on this.