Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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54. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department will consider working with higher education institutions to expand access to remote learning with a view to increasing accessibility to further education for students in rural and isolated communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26277/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The disruptive impact of the Covid pandemic on students at Higher Education was immense and this impact resulted in positive and negative outcomes - one such positive was the overnight transition to remote teaching, learning and assessing. This necessity served to demonstrate the capacity of remote teaching to increase access to further and higher education for students in rural and isolated communities.

Our HEIs continue to recalibrate after this disruption supported by the HEA, an agency of my Department. The HEA is working across a number of initiatives to support HEIs in digital teaching, learning and assessment. One such initiative is through SATLE – the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement Funding in Higher Education. SATLE is administered by the National Forum under the auspices of the Higher Education Authority and designed to drive teaching and learning innovation across the higher education sector with a focus on three themes, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Academic Integrity and Digital Transformation in the tertiary sector. In 2024 SATLE funding for the HE sector totaled €5m.

The Deputy should note that HEIs are autonomous institutions and my Department does not have a role in directing the courses and programmes they provide or the format in which they provide them. My officials, the HEA and the national Forum on teaching and Learning will continue to work closely with and provide policy support to the sector on this important matter.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the proposals, in place to develop further education on a cross-Border/All Ireland basis. [26225/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to the promotion of deep and meaningful North-South collaborations across the tertiary education system.The Deputy will be aware that opportunities for cross-border collaboration are available as part of the EU PEACEPLUS programme, specifically under Investment Area 2.3, which focusses on skills development.

ETBs such as Cavan-Monaghan, Donegal and Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim are partners in four of the five successful North-South projects, which were recently awarded approximately €38 million in total under this programme.

I am confident that these initiatives will lead to sustainable North-South partnerships.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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56. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the plans to enhance disability supports for students at further and higher education centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25307/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Supporting the participation and success of learners with disabilities is a critical national priority.

Good progress is being made as part of the National Access Plan to increase new entrants to higher education institutions with a disability.

The latest figures available to the Department show this figure has increased to 14.7% for the 2023/2024 academic year form 12.4% at the start of the plan and we are well on target to reach 16% over the lifetime of the plan. In further education, there were 14,825 learners enrolled in 2023 who reported having at least one type of disability in the further education and training programmes. This figure constitutes 6.8% of all learners enrolled in the same year.

There are a range of existing supports and programmes for learners with disabilities.

The Fund for Students' with a Disability is provided across higher education and post leaving certificate programmes with an annual allocation of over €15 million. There are an extensive range of supports that fall within scope of the Fund including assistive technology, non-medical helpers, ISL interpreters, transport supports, and examination supports.

The Programme for Access to Higher Education, or PATH, 4 funding stream under the National Access Plan supports my Department's goals of enabling all learners with disabilities avail of higher education.

Phase 1 funding of €3 million was provided in 2022 for a range of projects to improve Universal Design for Learning in higher education institutions. I recently announced additional one-off funding of over €2.8 million to further support such projects.

PATH 4 Phase 2 is the funding programme which has been made available by the Department for the provision of courses for Students with Intellectual Disabilities in HEIs. I am very pleased to report to the House that 173 students are currently enrolled in 11 HEIs across a wide geographic spread from Donegal to Cork.

It is also my intention this year to initiate a disability demonstration project which will seek to inform the development of a policy framework on the design and implementation of more flexible,responsive, tailored model of supports for students with disabilities during their educational journey.

The project will consider transitions from second level to third level, both FET and Higher Education. It will also consider the range and level of supports for students with disabilities and how to provide opportunities for students to gain work experience and to transition to employment after their studies.

This project aligns with the National Disability Strategy, which is due to be published in 2025, and Ireland’s commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.