Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
1168. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the concrete steps being taken to ensure equity of access in further and higher education, including support for students with disabilities, care leavers, and low-income backgrounds; the way progress will be measured and reported; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6244/26]
View answerThe National Action Plan 2022-2028 (NAP), identifies three main groups who are under-represented in higher education:
1. students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, including: Students from low-income families and/or who are long-term social welfare dependent, students from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and students who have experience of the care system.
2. students who are members of Irish Traveller and Roma communities and
3. students who have disabilities, including intellectual disabilities.
The Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) is a multi-strand initiative that supports programmes and projects with innovative approaches to deliver the ambitions, goals, objectives, actions and targets of the NAP.
PATH 1 focuses on broadening access to initial teacher education (ITE). It provides funding for Centres of Teaching Excellence to strengthen their capacity to deliver access through innovative projects to improve diversity in the teaching workforce.
PATH 2 – the 1916 Bursary Fund (https://1916bursary.ie/) provides financial support to students identified as being the most socioeconomically disadvantaged from specified priority groups, and complements existing student supports and access initiatives.
PATH 3 funds regional clusters of HEIs to develop partnerships with the Further Education (FE) sector and other community partners to increase access to higher education by underrepresented groups.
PATH 4, over two phases, aims to strengthen universal design for all students, including students with autism, and enhance opportunities for engagement of students with intellectual disabilities in higher education.
PATH 5 enables HEIs to put in place an infrastructure to increase the participation of Traveller and Roma students in higher education.
A mid term review of the NAP is being finalised and will be available shortly.
Students with disabilities are supported through the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) (https://hea.ie/funding-governance-performance/funding/student-finance/fund-for-students-with-disabilities/) which allocates funding to HEIs for the provision of services and supports to full- and part-time students with disabilities. The FSD aims to ensure that students with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, have the necessary supports and equipment to enable them to access, fully participate in and successfully complete their chosen course of study. In Budget 2026 I increased funding by €1m bringing the total annual fund in higher education to over €10.5m and by €2m in further education bringing the total funding in further education to €7.7m. This fund supports over 22,000 students with disabilities.
In addition, the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial support to full- and part-time students who experience financial difficulties while attending higher education. Students can apply for the Student Assistance Fund to help with either temporary or ongoing financial difficulties. For 2025/26 I have increased the SAF to €19,345,417. This represents an increase of over €260,000 for the Student Assistance Fund from last year.
In Further Education and Training (FET), courses are free or heavily subsidised. Learners in receipt of social welfare can transfer to a learner allowance when participating in certain courses, if eligible. The rate depends on an individual’s social welfare payment. Learners with underlying social welfare entitlements may receive additional payments for qualifying dependents and may keep secondary benefits, such as medical cards. Supplementary allowances for food, travel or accommodation may also be available.
Learners on Post Leaving Certificate courses, subject to eligibility criteria, may qualify for financial support under the Student Support Scheme in the form of SUSI maintenance grants.
There are also non-financial supports in FET, aimed at supporting access for diverse learner groups. For example, there is a dedicated Adult Education Guidance and Information Service in each Education and Training Board (ETB). ETBs deliver courses in a variety of formats – hybrid, part-time, full-time, in the evenings, and at the weekends – so that learners can undertake courses and acquire certification at their own pace, around their work, family and other commitments and needs. Further, SOLAS’ eCollege offers flexible certified online learning.
I trust this clarifies for the Deputy.
