Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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2586.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated full-year cost of a new staff member in each education and training board to promote disabled students’ participation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32603/24]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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While there in no dedicated Disability Access Officer post in the ETB sector, fostering Inclusion is one of the three core pillars of the Further Education and Training (FET) Strategy 2020-2024 SOLAS publication. This is FET Learners with Disabilities 2022 found 6.8% of all learners enrolled in FET programmes, that is nearly 13,000 learners, reported having at least one type of disability.

A key priority of the FET strategy is to ensure consistency of support for all learners, including people with disabilities. This is underpinned by the principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a set of principles for curriculum development that gives all individuals an equal opportunity to learn, including students with disabilities. UDL approaches aim to reduce obstacles by considering the needs of all learners, regardless of background and ability. SOLAS’s publication of the UDL for FET Practitioners 2021 provides guidelines to practitioners on how to incorporate UDL practices into their curriculum.

Specialist Training Provision (STP) is an important aspect of service provision within the Fostering Inclusion pillar of the FET Strategy. Under this programme, the 16 Education and Training Boards contract Specialist Training Providers to offer vocational training programmes, in specific settings, for persons with disabilities. The basis for this provision is that some people with disabilities have needs that may not be catered for through non-specialist vocational training provision. STPs provide intensive, tailored training and supports. SOLAS allocated some €40m for the STP programme across the ETBs in 2023.

SOLAS also collaborates with agencies, such as AHEAD, Down Syndrome Ireland, Dyslexia Association of Ireland, the Irish Deaf Society, and the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities on specific initiatives to support the participation of people with disabilities in FET.

Within the FET sector, the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) supports eligible students on PLC courses so that they can participate on an equal basis with their peers. SOLAS manages the FSD for the FET sector. Specific provision of €2m was provided in Budget 2024 to support the progressive roll-out of the FSD across FET.