Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2021
126. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will consider funding to support early career researchers in Ireland with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27067/21]
View answerMy Department’s Statement of Strategy articulates our commitment to inclusion in education - providing supports and opportunities for learning to all, recognising the needs of vulnerable learners and the most marginalised, and assisting people in access to and progression through higher and further education and training, to grow prosperity across communities and build social cohesion.
Postgraduate students with disabilities are eligible for support from their institutional disability office, including from the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD), which supports students at Level 9 and Level 10 (987 in 2019/20 academic year). The FSD aims to support students with a range of conditions and disabilities including sensory and physical disabilities, specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, autism, mental health conditions and significant ongoing illness.
Additionally, in March 2021 the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD signed new regulations that will ensure that scholarship awards for PhD students are excluded from the means test for Disability Allowance (DA).
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) have recently launched a new funding programme for early career researchers, the SFI-IRC Pathway Programme. The Programme will support talented postdoctoral researchers from all research disciplines to develop their track record and transition to become independent research leaders.
SFI recently launched its new strategy Shaping our Future. SFI is committed to ensuring equality, inclusion and diversity and to removing any barriers so that all researchers have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The strategy includes a commitment to publish a comprehensive Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy outlining specific targets for EDI. This will build on the work of the existing SFI Gender Strategy.
My Department and research funding agencies recognise that excellent research and tangible benefits can best be attained when equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded in leadership and decision-making, in research teams, in research content, within and across the research and innovation system. The business case for diversity in the knowledge and innovation economy is overwhelming - diversity drives innovation and productivity in academic, social enterprise and business settings globally.
Equity of access to higher education, and the development of the next National Access Plan to support this principle, is a key policy priority for the department. My Department and the Higher Education Authority are currently inviting contributions and submissions from interested persons and organisations on what they consider should form part of the next National Access Plan that will run from 2022 to 2026.
