John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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2501. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the constituency universities of TUD that are to benefit from the Altitude Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18927/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The development of the ALTITUDE Charter was supported by the HEA under the Programme for Access to Higher Education PATH 4 Phase 1 funding stream. The ALTITUDE Charter is an extensive cross sectoral collaboration led by ATU and AHEAD, involving six national agencies, fifteen higher education (HE) institutions and six Education and Training Board (ETB) representatives nominated by Directors of FET to represent the Further Education and Training sector.

Universal Design (UD) in education is the creation of an environment which can be accessed by all and enables full engagement, progression and success for all students. While Universal Design began as a design approach to accommodate people with disabilities, Universal Design has been significantly developed and transformed, and now offers a framework for the inclusion of all students in education. Universal Design is based on the principles of flexibility and choice for all students, recognising that a well-designed service or approach will accommodate the diverse range of student needs. So, one size does not fit all, but a well-designed service will. Universal design will however particularly benefit students with disabilities.

Universal Design is a proactive approach to inclusion, which eliminates the need for students to be labelled in order to be included in education. Universal Design is a framework which embeds flexibility and choice for students turning the deficit model on its head. It weaves inclusion into the fabric of the student experience. Instead of looking at the ‘deficit’ in the student, Universal Design encourages a reflective, inclusive approach, identifying and removing the barriers or potential barriers to the engagement of a diverse student population. It addresses those proactively, rather than relying on a reactive approach to providing bespoke solutions or temporary fixes.

The ALTITUDE Charter is a high level vehicle for institutions to declare their intent to make incremental and sustainable progress on embedding a Universal Design (UD) approach. It provides an implementation toolkit and guidance to support implementation of the Charter. It also provides a technical report outlining the legislative and policy context, the development process, the evidence base underpinning it and recommendations for how it can be supported at the institutional and national level.

As autonomous bodies, the adoption of the Charter is entirely a matter for each individual institution.

I recently announced that my Department is providing additional funding of €2.8 million under PATH 4 Phase 1 to support Higher Education Institution's work on Inclusive Environments. This funding is to further build on the progress made by Institutions in embedding UD practices across the sector. A portion of the funding is also ringfenced to support anti-racism measures across the Higher Education Institutes. Under the new round of funding Institutions have been informed that it can be used to contribute to the preparation to adopt the ALTITUDE Charter.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that, subject to the approval of project plans and budgets, TUD's approved total allocation of this additional funding is €281,630, with a minimum of €39,011 of that total ringfenced for anti-racism measures. However the breakdown of this fund within the TUD separate campuses is a matter for TUD.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.