James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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724. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans or strategies being considered for the integration and inclusion of neurodivergent people in higher education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28854/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has made significant progress regarding the range of supports and programmes for learners with disabilities, including neurodivergent people.

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 supported the embedding of Universal Design (UD) approaches and inclusive practices in HEIs which will benefit all students and in particular autistic students and enabled the building of capacity in HEIs for greater participation by students with intellectual disabilities in higher education.

I recently announced additional one-off funding of over €2.8 million to further support such projects. Within the suite of planned activities to be proposed under this extra funding, HEIs are encouraged to prioritise implementation of the findings and recommendations within the Final Report of the Joint Committee on Autism (2023), including in respect of the development of sensory maps and providing more autism-friendly tours of campuses throughout the year where these are not already in place.

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 Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). I am very pleased to inform the Deputy that 173 students are currently enrolled in 11 HEIs across a wide geographic spread from Donegal to Cork.

The Fund for Students' with a Disability in higher education has an annual allocation of over €9.5 million. There are an extensive range of supports that fall within the scope of the Fund including assistive technology, non-medical helpers, ISL interpreters, transport supports, and examination supports.

New entrants to Higher Education with a disability has increased to 14.7% for the 2023/2024 academic year from 12.4% at the start of the National Access Plan.

It is also my intention to initiate the disability demonstration project this year which will seek to inform the development of a policy framework on the design and implementation of a 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.