Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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167. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline any additional supports being considered to assist students with disabilities in their transition from secondary to third level education, particularly in areas such as academic supports, accessibility, accommodation and mental health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37636/25]

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, to assist students with disabilities in their transition from secondary to third level education, particularly in areas such as academic supports, accessibility, accommodation, and mental health services.

The Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) 4 funding stream under the National Access Plan (NAP) 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, to support 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 across the country.

The Fund for Students' with a Disability in higher education has increased this year by 18% to 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 a 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, in both Further 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.

My Department has allocated a total of nearly €32 million to support higher education institutions in meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of students since 2020.

This funding supports institutions in directly meeting the needs of students through counselling services as well as delivering the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework.

As autonomous institutions, the exact disbursement of the funding is a matter for each institution depending on their own prioritisation of needs. They have been advised to distribute it in support of specific student-facing areas, such as recruitment of additional Student Counsellors and assistant psychologists, head of service posts, training and awareness-raising.

The majority of new posts created through this funding have been counsellors, reflecting the capacity building phase of the implementation of the Framework.

In the FET sector, Education and Training Boards (ETBs) provide various supports for learners with differing needs including Universal Design for Learning, adaptive and assistive technologies, scribe services, extra exam time, adult literacy supports, and reasonable accommodations.

The Fund for Students with Disabilities supports learners participating in Post-Leaving Certificate provision. The Specialist Training Provision programme provides training to learners who require more intensive support than is available in non-specialist settings. FET courses are typically free of charge or heavily subsidised. SOLAS also provide funding to several agencies to support the participation of people with disabilities and special educational needs in FET. Where applicable, learners may receive a training allowance.

Furthermore, I recently published the Design Guide for State Sponsored Student Accommodation. The Design Guide reflects feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, including the National Disability Authority, ensuring the design standards are both practical and responsive to real-world needs. It will support the efficient delivery of additional student accommodation that prioritises student wellbeing, provides long-term value for the State, and embodies high quality architectural design.

And lastly, the new Student Accommodation Strategy to be published later this year will introduce a permanent Student Accommodation Support Scheme. The scheme will provide targeted financial aid to students most at risk of exclusion, identified by the NAP. Delivered through higher education institutes access offices, it will support student accommodation choice across all accommodation types.