Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
139. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science how further education learners have been prioritised in Budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45580/23]
View answerThe package of measures announced in Budget 2024 will break down cost barriers, making further education more accessible for more people than ever before.
PLC learners eligible for SUSI grants will benefit from the increases announced in the maintenance grant rates and student grant income thresholds. Building on our decision to abolish the €200 PLC Levy from the 2022/23 academic year, we are removing PLC fees with effect from September 2024.
FET learners in receipt of training allowances based on their previous social welfare entitlements will receive increases in line with the increases announced in social welfare payments.
We will expand the scope of the Fund for Students with Disabilities to help students with disabilities access further education and training beyond PLC provision currently. We are committing an additional €1m to the Adult Literacy for Life Strategy to ensure that every adult in Ireland has the literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to full participate in society. We are supporting prisoners by providing €1m to the Building Bridges initiative. We are delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to provide a range of free period products in all educational publicly funded settings to ensure that no students are disadvantaged in their education by period poverty.
We are providing €15m in 2024 to support the continued provision of English languages courses to support Ukrainians integrate fully into Irish society.
A €3m additional allocation in 2024 will build on the progress made across the three core pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion, and facilitating pathways set out in the FET Strategy Future FET, Transforming Learning 2020-2024.
These measures will have a real and positive impact on further education learners.
