Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 May 2020
294. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will seek to expand places on the higher education access route, HEAR, and disability access route to education, DARE, schemes in view of the impact of recent events in order to ensure that the impact on students who suffer from disadvantage is minimised. [6411/20]
View answerThe HEAR and DARE schemes are operated by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) and regulated by the higher education institutions themselves. As such, the Department of Education and Skills has no role in the policy criteria of the scheme.
Admissions under the HEAR and DARE scheme are regulated by the higher education institutions themselves. Each institution determines its own admissions policy in relation to the schemes, the number of places they reserve and the allocation of those places.
Applications to both schemes are submitted to the Central Applications Office (CAO) who coordinate the scheme for participating institutions. All enquiries should be directed to the CAO, www.cao.ie
