Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1098. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the further education, training and employment opportunities for young people with intellectual disabilities finishing post-primary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11725/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Education, training and employment will be important considerations under the next National Disability Strategy. DCEDIY is working collaboratively across government and with stakeholders to ensure that this Strategy sets out appropriately ambitious actions in realising our obligation under the UNCRPD to ensure that people with disabilities are afforded opportunities to learn and work on an equal basis with others.

Meaningful and ambitious action across employment, training, and education will all be fundamental to the success of the next NDS in ensuring that disabled people are empowered to live lives of their own choosing and are provided with necessary supports to realise their career aspirations.

My Colleague, Minister Simon Harris, published the fourth National Access Plan to Higher Education in August 2022. The plan aligns with and builds on the wider ambitions of the Programme for Government to provide accessible, affordable education to all citizens.

The plan identifies students with a disability including students with an intellectual disability as groups who are underrepresented in Higher Education. Since the launch of the plan Minister Harris has made a number of key improvements including:

• Providing €3m of funding to support universal design in higher educations with projects currently ongoing.
• Increasing the Fund for Students with a disability by 5% for 2024 bringing funding available to over €8million.
• Recently provided funding to 10 Higher Education Institutions who will provide courses for students with an intellectual disability across the country over the next 3 years. Course provision is due to commence in September 2024.
• On the 9th February Minister Harris also announced a further €1.8 million to support inclusion measures. Part of this funding will be prioritised to progress recommendations made by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism such as the roll out of sensory maps of college campuses. Some of the funding will also allow further Universal Design measures.