Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2021
457. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the percentage participation of persons with disabilities in higher education in each year since 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32987/21]
View answerThe National Access Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2021 (NAP) was launched in December 2015, and aims to ensure that the student body entering, participating in, and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population. Students with disabilities are specifically identified as a target group within the NAP. A participation target of 8% was set for students with disabilities in higher education for 2019 and, following a publication of a Progress Review of the NAP in 2018, which showed this target had been exceeded, a new target of 12% was set for 2021. Considerable progress toward realising the targets of the National Access Plan has been achieved amongst the students with disabilities target group with the 2021 target already exceeded in 2019/20 academic year.
The proportion of students in higher education with a disability comes from the Equal Access Survey, which is an annual voluntary set of questions asked of all first-year undergraduate new entrant students to HEA funded higher education institutions. The data shows that in 2015/16, 8.6% of students with disabilities participated in higher education (as a % of all new entrants); in 2016/17, 10.3% participated, and in 2017/18, 10.5% participated. Due to GDPR issues, data on students with disabilities is not available for the 2018/19 academic year. In 2019/2020, 12.3% of students were identified as having a disability (as a % of all new entrants).
The development of the next National Access Plan 2022 – 2026 is currently underway.
