The content of higher education programmes is a matter for each higher education institution, and any relevant professional regulatory body. The Teaching Council accredits Initial Teacher Education programmes for the teaching profession, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland accredits Nursing programmes, and CORU accredits programmes across a range of health and social care disciplines.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997 and the Technological Universities Act 2018. As autonomous bodies with academic and administrative freedom, each institution is responsible for its own policy and programme development, including in relation to any potential autism training modules.
The Department distributes recurrent funding to the HEA for disbursement directly to the HEA's designated higher education institutions. The HEA distributes this funding as a block grant to the institutions. As autonomous bodies, use of this funding, including in relation to particular components of programmes, falls to the individual institution. Neither I nor the Department have a role in the development of such policies.
As such, it is not possible to provide costing figures.
