I thank the Deputy. The PATH 4 programme is extremely important. I am very proud of it and the Taoiseach is very supportive of it as well. We have discussed it directly in Cabinet. It supports the goal of enabling all learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, to avail of higher education. I have visited a number of PATH 4 locations, including in Cork - I think it is called the field of dreams. I have been to the Trinity centre for people with intellectual disabilities. Each one is remarkable in terms of the participation, enablement and autonomy it provides students who can avail of the service. I am keen to continue to support the programme. The two phases of PATH 4 aim to strengthen universal design for all students. Universal design means making sure that buildings, courses and how we navigate them internally are geared towards students with various different disability types in mind. The programme also enhances opportunities for the engagement of students with intellectual disabilities to fully participate in courses in a way that suits them and from which they can fully benefit. A total of €5.8 million has been allocated under PATH 4 since 2022. Some €3 million was allocated in 2022 and I was pleased to bring forward last year a further €2.8 million for the period 2025-2026. To date, that funding has been introduced on a phased basis year by year and is something I hope to mainstream. I plan to update my Cabinet colleagues on proposals in that regard to make the funding a permanent feature of the system. I expect to make an announcement on that in the near future.
Sentiment score: 0.39
Yes, that is fair. I think 193 students are enrolled in PATH 4 phase 2. The original target or expectation was that it might hit 160 students, so it has gone well beyond that, which I am delighted to see. They are running across 11 different programmes. I will not list them out but there is a reasonably good spread geographically and they include the technological universities and the traditional universities right across the board, with multiple institutions participating. The way in which those courses or colleges were identified and chosen followed a competitive call for proposals. The Deputy asked how this was decided. There was a PATH initiative under strand 4 whereby an independent expert panel was commissioned to say which of these applications should be supported and, following a competitive call, these 11 were chosen. The courses are typically between one and two years in length. I hope this does not need to be said but I will just say it anyway. The courses are free and there is no charge for participation. There was a significant consultation across many Departments. The National Learning Network, SOLAS, the Irish Universities Association, the inclusive national forum, Down Syndrome Ireland and many others were also consulted in devising the courses and the allocations.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I will address the UDL piece first. I thank an Teachta Connolly. I know Deputy Ó Cearúil is taking this question in his stead. Deputy Connolly has invited me to a UDL conference in University of Galway later this year, which he is involved in arranging and which I very much hope to attend. That will be a very important milestone in rolling out UDL more widely and discussions about this issue. In terms of mainstreaming our permanent funding, this was, to an extent, a new pilot programme when it was introduced in 2022. It was funded until, I think, 2024. When I came into office I allocated a further €2.8 million to it to continue for this year and last year, the intention being, having done a second phase or second tranche of funding, and all going well, and it has done very well, to look then to mainstream that and put it onto a more permanent, sustainable footing. As I said, I intend to bring a memo to Cabinet in the near future on that note. I hope I will have good news to share with the Deputy in the House at that stage.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I am very familiar with the challenges of commuting from Kildare to various colleges. I have two daughters, one attending Maynooth and one attending UCD, both of whom recently graduated, and I have seen the commute, the grind and so on. The Deputy and I have worked together on improving public transport on many of those services. When I came to review the grants this year, I was mindful of non-adjacent students, that is, students who live 30 km or more away from college. The Deputy will appreciate, representing as we both do a commuter-belt constituency, that non-adjacent previously meant 45 km and it is now 30 km. Just because we are close to a college, be it UCD or any college in the city centre, does not mean it is easy to get there, put simply. That is because of congestion, commuting and so on. I was very mindful of that, so the distance is down to 30 km. As to what supports are available for students facing accommodation pressures, commuting costs and so forth, I have increased all the non-adjacent grants this year - the first five levels, from the base grant right through - some by €350 and some by up to €420. Every single non-adjacent grant for students living 30 km or more away from their college has increased this year. I have also increased the postgraduate contribution fee. That means that postgraduate students have €500 less to pay this year. I have increased the subvention to the student contribution fee more broadly, in a universal fashion, which means there is a €500 permanent cut to student fees across the board. In particular, in terms of targeted measures, that additional money allocated to people on non-adjacent grants is real money into their hands, additional money that I expect will support them significantly in making the costs add up. I also increased the student assistance fund. That is a discretionary fund available through college hardship officers. I am increasing thresholds as well. The threshold to avail of the various grants has increased now to €120,000, which means Members of this House, for example, can benefit from a SUSI grant, which would not have been the case historically.
Sentiment score: 0.26
In any social democracy, where do we draw the line and where should income levels and thresholds be? We are at a situation now where the threshold to avail of the minimum form of a grant is €120,000 per household, which means 80% of households in Ireland are eligible for at least some form of SUSI grant intervention. To the Deputy's broader point about how we draw the line, and there are a number of lines as you go through the graduated system, I mentioned to Deputy Charles Ward earlier that there is a disregard for mica scheme payments. There are also disregards for disability payments and bursaries, for example, the 1916 scheme. I think there are several dozen of those because I signed a statutory instrument last year to give effect to them. The many disregards should go some way towards making it easier to hit the thresholds. One thing I intend to explore in the upcoming budget is whether, in the case of larger families with a number of children in the household attending college at one time, there is a measure we could take to ease the burden on them and whether that is a factor or criterion we could take into account. I am pursuing that at the moment to investigate for this year's budget.
Sentiment score: 0.02
I wholeheartedly agree with the Deputy. Many of the thresholds are now so high and some of the benefits are so broadly available that maybe people have not realised they are eligible for them. I did launch a communications campaign in the national media last summer as a result of that to make people aware. Deputies may have seen it running across national radio and TV. That did actually drive an increase in applicants, which I was glad to see because we devise these schemes so people can avail of them. That is the whole point of having them. I agree with that and we will continue to do more of that as well. I will mention too, because I think it is relevant in terms of the wider supports, that the student assistance fund, which the Deputy might be aware of from his students union time, is a broad-based fund at the discretion of each individual access officer or welfare officer in the colleges. It is a pool of money worth €19.3 million. That is there and I increased it again coming into the new year. That is for things like books, the cost of materials, rent subvention if necessary, food, travel and medical costs. There is a relatively wide list and it is not prescriptive. Significant trust is rightly given to the access officers or welfare officers in each college to make a call when they have a student coming to them for assistance. They can judge and I think they get that call right.
Sentiment score: 0.27
That broad-based fund is available and it is an additional student support on top of the other schemes there.
Sentiment score: 0.54
I think an Teachta O'Connell is standing in for an Teachta Roche. I acknowledge that he raised this issue with me during Questions on Policy or Legislation earlier in the week. It is an important issue. This is a universal scheme. Means testing of reckonable income is applied to students on an equal basis. I will recap the rules that pertain to mature students. A student is considered to be independent or mature if he or she has attained the age of 23 at the start of the calendar year and has not ordinarily been resident with his or her parents from the previous 1 October. By contrast, if students are living in the family home, they are assessed as dependent students. I know the Deputy is asking whether it is correct for that to be the case. I appreciate it is difficult, particularly at a time when housing needs are not always met and people are living in the family home by necessity rather than necessarily by choice. It is a difficult situation intergenerationally as well. A number of improvements have been made to the scheme. The eligibility thresholds have increased by about 15% across the board. The student contribution was permanently cut by €500, which could contribute towards affordability. In addition, all the non-adjacent grants have been increased. The student assistance fund has also been increased to an historic high. Various other supports for things like disability and mental health were also brought into the system through the recent budget.
Sentiment score: 0.16
Lifelong learning is at the core of everything I seek to do in the Department. It is one of the reasons I brought the proposal for a national skills observatory to Cabinet last week. This dataset will enable future labour force needs to be forecast and emerging occupation trends to be modelled, predicted and met well by the education and training systems. Just last Friday, I attended a Skillnet event in Dundalk with my colleague, the chair of the committee, Deputy Erin McGreehan. We saw at first hand how Skillnet working with local employers can be extremely useful. We also have microcredential courses. These are short courses that can last six weeks or six months and can be offered online, through a hybrid model or in a local centre. Those microcredentials can be stacked upon one another. You walk away with a qualification that can be increased and augmented over time. The reason a student living at home is not considered to be independent is that they do not necessarily pay rent, although I appreciate that they make a contribution in some cases, although not all. They also benefit from certain supports that are not provided to students living in an independent residence. I take on board the point on the prospect of modular homes and the planning system. That is progressing and it is something we need to look at to see what its knock-on effects might be.
Sentiment score: 0.22
The Government's commitment is set out in the programme for Government. It is no more and no less. The programme for Government commitment is to reduce the student contribution fee in a financially sustainable manner over the lifetime of the Government. Budget 2026 was my first opportunity since taking up office to begin delivering on that programme for Government commitment. I did so with an immediate permanent reduction of €500 in the student contribution fee. That became effective straight away. Students are benefiting from that in the current academic year. That flat-rate reduction is universal. It is not means-tested and is available to all students, regardless of income. It has resulted in the base-rate fee reducing from €3,000 to €2,500 for the current academic year. That is the first permanent reduction in fees since free fees were introduced in 1995. It is significant and I am proud to have been able to deliver it. That fee reduction will benefit around 108,000 undergraduate students. A further 14,000 apprentices will also benefit, as will postgraduate students. In addition, I have increased the income threshold for grant applicants to €120,000. As I said earlier, there are Members of this House who could now benefit from that. The new threshold reaches into the middle income bracket and, I would suggest, even a little bit beyond. Some 80% of households are now eligible for at least some form of SUSI intervention, whether in respect of fees, maintenance or both. I would welcome debate as to where to target further moneys. Further moneys have been pledged. I am of the view that we should be progressive and target these funds. We should look at investing moneys in the sections of society where they are really needed and where they will make a lifelong difference. That is why, as part of the budget, I invested in mental health and disability supports and increased all of the maintenance grants for the first five basic layers. I also increased the student assistance fund. We give help to everybody but we should give the most help to those who need it most. That is a fundamental principle of social democracy and social justice. I would welcome the Deputy's comments on that at some stage.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I was also one of those parents, not this year but in recent years, and I will say I did not need that support. I will be honest about it. Those on an upper income, such as Members of the House for example, are in a privileged enough position. Having said this, I have extended the threshold and Deputy Ward will now benefit from the €500 cut. Presuming his income is the TD's income we all have, he will benefit from the €500 subvention. This means the fees will be €2,000, the same as they were last year. It is arrived at through a different formula but it is the same thing. It is a little bit fairer and more progressive because it is based on means, albeit the means threshold is at €120,000 now, which is the highest it has ever been. The combination of the flat cut of €500 and the student subvention cut of another €500 on top means that effectively it is the same thing. As much as I can, year on year I will continue to reduce the figure. There are many other aspects to it, such as the cost of accommodation, the cost of travel and the cost of books. I have engaged with student unions across the board on this in terms of their needs and there is a range of measures. The minimum thing I will do in every aspect of my brief is to follow the programme for Government. Deputy Ward can take it as read that I do my very best to follow the programme for Government in its fullness. I also look to go beyond it. For example, reaching the families that I mentioned is not in the programme for Government but I want to do it. There are many other things I want to do to support students and families.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I am not sure where the mention of abolition came from. It certainly was not in my party's manifesto. I never promised it to anybody, not once in this brief, and not once in the campaign did I or my party promise this. I do not know what other people might have done. It is for them to speak about that. I am not aware of any such promise in any manifesto. What my party promised to do was to address the cost of education and this is what we are doing aggressively. We are going full steam ahead on it. This is why I have introduced a range of measures. The €500 permanent cut is the first of its kind. There is the fee subvention for households with an income up to €120,000. The student assistance fund is being increased. All of the basic layers of maintenance grants are being increased. It is worth recapping and restating that 80% of households, if we look at the ESRI income distribution chart, will now benefit from SUSI grants. The question is whether we will continue, and we will, with flat reductions, but the 20% of top earners are the ones who will benefit most from ongoing fee reductions. I will do this but I will also do things that support those in the 80% and the 20% at the bottom because it is socially just to do so. Deputy Ward raised the issue of fees. His party in the North recently had an advertisement about student fees being £4,800. This is two and half times more.
Sentiment score: 0.25
Deputy Ward's party boasted about fees being £6,000 on social media.
Sentiment score: 0.40
As part of the national development plan review, which was conducted last summer, I secured for the Department a capital allocation of €4.55 billion over the next four years from 2026 to 2030. This is significant and it is almost double what it was previously. It is the largest budget in the history of the Department. It is aligned to the overall capital envelope of the NDP. Part of this is because the Department's activities are so aligned with the whole-of-government missions, such as infrastructure needs to roll out housing for our people, the metro, transit, grid upgrades and water upgrades. The Department will train the tradesmen to do these jobs through the apprenticeship paths and programmes. There are also all of the skills that go with the digital agenda. We are entering an AI age. There is also the energy revolution with offshore wind and all of the opportunities that come with this. There are also healthcare and therapy needs, and we are scaling up the provision of courses for nine different occupations. Additionally to this, the research and innovation aspect of the Department has received significant funding. Before Christmas I launched the €750 million INSPIRE research framework programme, which is fundamental to our knowledge economy, the ideas that we generate and how we succeed, innovate and remain competitive in a very robust and changing world. These are all significant capital projects. I was delighted to be able to secure these moneys and we have published the sectoral plan for the Department which provides a detailed breakdown. One project that might be of interest to Deputy Smith is the college of the future in Cavan. I thank him for the invitation to visit Cavan Institute recently. I still wear the top with pride; I was presented with a sporting jersey which I wear on my runs every week. The Cavan Institute is very much one of the projects I look forward to seeing progress in the time ahead. I might come back to it in a supplementary reply.
Sentiment score: 0.28
To pick up on Deputy Smith's remarks about Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology, I had a meeting on it as recently as yesterday. I am really excited about it. Going back to the wider question, I will do everything in the programme for Government to the best of my ability but I will do other things. The Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology merger was not in the programme for Government but I am doing it anyway. It is something that is very important and I am very excited about it. The all-Ireland dimension is huge. Deputy Smith is a big supporter of the all-Ireland dimension, as is Deputy McGreehan. We were at a function yesterday in connection with it. It is progressing and it is a very important milestone. With regard to funding and capital for the Cavan area, with the relocation of the army barracks Cavan Institute received €5.3 million in funding in 2023. The centre of excellence for supply chain logistics was completed in September 2024 with €207,000. There is a minor capital works application in the pipeline at present for Cavan town. There are also electrical works, roof works and other ongoing and emergency works. The college of the future campus on the Cathedral Road is progressing and I am glad to be able to inform Deputy Smith and the House that I was successful in progressing it to the next stage of development. It is at pre-tender project design planning, procurement and supply stage and I very much hope to be in a position to update Deputy Smith and the House on further progress on it in the near future
Sentiment score: 0.27
There is a real skills shortage. It is a factor of success because we are at almost full employment in the economy. Recently my Department produced a labour force modelling report which looked at our construction skills needs. I am working closely with Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on the development of that report. That showed we need to continue to grow our pool of skilled tradespeople from our craft trades right across the board - all the skills we need to build the big infrastructure projects we aspire to develop over the course of this term which are funded through the national development plan. For almost the first time we actually have funding. What we need is an intermesh between the labour force and the skills to deliver. There are a number of ways we can do that but primarily it is through skilling and training our people. Things like modern methods of construction can be embraced which, as well as being more productive, also bring the employment opportunities to a more regional level because there can be factories developing modern methods of construction in a regional, rural location which are then shipped off to a building site in the big town or the big city without the worker having to commute every day. It addresses the gender balance in the workforce and things like that as well because it permits women with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities to work on a site like that because they may not be able to travel to a traditional construction site. It is beneficial for many reasons and is something we will continue to progress.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank Teachta Ní Raghallaigh. Supporting students with disabilities is a key strategic priority for me, for my Department and for the Government. Indeed, we have a Cabinet subcommittee on disability which I sit on. My Department has taken on a number of actions through that because it is something we are determined to address across all of Government. The National Access Plan identifies students with disabilities as a priority target group for subvention and supports. I spoke to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, and others in the House about targeting supports. It is important that we target resources at those most in need. That is a fundamental principle we should adhere to. The most recent figures show that new entrants into higher education with a disability have increased from 12.4% to 14.7%, so we are getting more participation in higher education from students with disabilities. That is really positive. We have a target of 16% which I think we will surpass. That is very good news but we need to continue to do that and to continue to explore the ways we can support such students. One of the ways we can do that is through a flexible and agile system with many different pathways for learners to take as they navigate the further and higher education systems. One of the vehicles for supporting that is the fund for students with disabilities. That is a critical fund and in the recent budget, I was pleased to increase that by €3 million across both further and higher education. That will make a significant difference to over 22,000 students with disabilities for targeted supports they can avail of in the further education and higher education spheres. We are also looking at things like the universal design which asks how we develop buildings with everything from sensory needs to textures to colours to navigation of spaces. That whole area of universal design for learning approach is critical and under the programme for access to higher education, I have provided €5.8 million to improve universal design across higher education institutions and to further educational institutions. It should not just be the colleges that get it; it should be across the board in every centre.
Sentiment score: 0.31
The PATH 4 programme is a wonderful programme. It is a programme I am very passionate about. I am glad to hear the Deputy visited the Trinity Centre for Intellectual Disabilities. I have also been there. I met with the students, the learners and the educators. I have also been to the Field of Dreams in Bishopstown in County Cork and a lot of other centres, including in my own area of Naas and Sallins. The project there is for people with disabilities participating in education. They are all wonderful centres, and it is really great to see them doing so well. We have, under PATH 4, a target of 160 students to participate. We actually have 193 students participating through PATH 4 in higher education institutions. That programme is currently spread across 11 different HEIs with a budget of €11 million. There is good regional spread. It was done on a competitive call basis with an expert independent panel to assign the funding. That has proven very successful. The model has to be responsive. I take on board the Deputy's points about mainstreaming the funding. Our colleague, Deputy Ó Cearúil, raised that earlier as did others. It is something I am very mindful of. When I came into office I increased the funding by €5.8 million for a further two years, which was this year and last year. I will return to that very soon. I aspire to put that on a more sustainable, long-term basis.
Sentiment score: 0.24
Absolutely. The PATH 4 initiative is something I am very committed to and intend to mainstream. Certainly, I will be revisiting that in the coming weeks. I intend to speak to Cabinet colleagues on that and t o look to roll that out on a more permanent basis. The Deputy makes an interesting point about the opportunity to have wider participation for students with complex needs. That is a good point and something I will take on board. We have a thing called the disability demonstration project at the moment, which is an exercise supported by academic research and a dedicated researcher to look at what interventions are appropriate at different levels and how we can broaden that. The Deputy mentioned Minister Archibald. I meet regularly with her and we have a very good working relationship. There is a number of items on our agenda which are shared. Just before Christmas in Farmleigh we announced all-island apprenticeships and the accounting technicians' body is on an all-Ireland basis. We talked about the Queen's University Belfast and DkIT consolidation. That is something I am really excited about, namely that all-island university potential that is coming to bear there and the disability supports and what we can do on an all-island basis. It is certainly something I would be very happy to support and explore with Minister Archibald. I do meet with her regularly in the North South Ministerial Council and in bilaterals. I have visited both Magee Campus in Derry and Queen's University in Belfast on a number of occasions since my appointment as well.
Sentiment score: 0.33