Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 July 2026
137. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps being taken by his Department to improve the further and higher education experience and supports available for students with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49772/26]
View answerThe National Access Plan (NAP) 2022-2028 builds on the vision of previous plans and ambitions for a more inclusive and diverse student population in higher education. The latest figures available to the Department in the Midterm Review of the National Access Plan show that new entrants with a disability to Higher Education have increased to 16.3% for the 2025/2026 academic year, up from 12.4% at the start of the NAP. This is the realisation of the target of 16% of new entrant students with disabilities in Higher Education, two years before the end of the current plan.
The Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) is a strategic multi-stranded fund that supports the ambitions, goals, objectives, actions and targets of the NAP. PATH 4 was developed over two phases, specifically to support students with a disability in accessing and progressing through Higher Education.
Since 2022, a total of €5.8 million was allocated the PATH 4 Phase 1 Universal Design Fund, 2022-2024 and the Inclusive Environment Fund (2025-2026) to support the embedding of Universal Design (UD) approaches and inclusive practices in HEIs to the benefit of all students, in particular neuro-diverse students, and to enable building of capacity for greater participation by students with intellectual disabilities in higher education.
PATH 4, Phase 2 courses are specifically designed to meet the needs of students with an intellectual disability in higher education. This is a pathfinding programme with a budget of just over €11 million. 193 students have been enrolled over the last two academic years in 11 HEIs across a wide geographic spread. Initially for a two-year period and recently I extended these courses to run until at least 2028. These courses are designed around providing the students with opportunities to develop their personal skills for life and for employability, and to develop links with employers, and all programmes have a work experience element built in.
Students with disabilities are supported through the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) 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. Last year, the FSD supported over 21,000 students.
The Department, through SOLAS, funds a range of supports for disabled learners in FET. This includes the FET Fund for Students with Disabilities and the new Transport Fund for Learners with Intellectual Disabilities, with €7.7 million allocated in 2026. SOLAS has also allocated circa €45.2 million to Specialist Training Provision and almost €1.6 million in 2026 to five specialist agencies to support the participation of disabled learners in FET.
Since 2020, SOLAS, AHEAD and ETBI have undertaken significant work to expand ETB capacity to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and to make reasonable accommodations across FET provision, ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are core principles across the FET system. This work will remain a priority in the coming years.
I have also tasked officials with leading a Disability Project in my Department to develop a policy framework on the design and implementation of a more responsive?system?of supports and services for students with disabilities.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
