Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
370. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide an update on the working of the Third Level Access Programme in universities. [44898/23]
View answerThe fourth National Access Plan (NAP) was published in August 2022 and is a seven-year plan. The plan aligns with and builds on the wider ambitions of the Programme for Government to provide accessible, affordable education to all citizens. A full midterm review of the NAP will take place in 2025.
Since the launch of the plan a number of measures have been progressed including:-
• Additional funding of €700,000 to enhance HEI’s capacity for regional engagement with priority groups and create linkages between HEI’s and new NAP target groups and new DEIS schools.
• The launch of PATH 4 - a €12 million fund over four years to support universal design and enhance provision for students with an intellectual disability. Proposals have recently been received from Higher Education Institutions on how they will enhance provision for students with an intellectual disability and I am looking forward to the outcomes of the assessment process for these proposals.
• The launch of PATH 5 - Established as a three-year pilot to support access, participation and success for students from the Traveller and Roma communities with a dedicated sustainable funding stream of €450,000 per year.
The NAP has called for an expansion of funding to address the cost of going to college and enable part time study for socio-economically disadvantaged students from priority groups. We made progress on this in last years Budget and further progress has been made this year.
• From September 2024 all non-adjacent maintenance rates will increase by €615 and all adjacent maintenance grant rates will increase by 10%.
• Students this year will see a pro-rata increase effective from January 2024. Maintenance for Postgraduate Students is being restored on a similar basis to undergraduate students in September 2024.
• Students in this academic year will see a pro-rata increase effective from January 2024. From September 2024 the threshold to receive Band 4 maintenance is increasing to €50,840. This means that more students can avail of maintenance grant support.
• From September 2024 the threshold for the 100% Student Contribution Grant is increasing by 10% to €55924.
• In addition I have increased the Student Assistance Fund by €8.1 million bringing this year’s budget to over €17million.
• From September 2024 a part-time fee grant scheme will provide support for eligible students who are undertaking specified undergraduate part-time programmes leading to a major award, both in-person, blended and online. This means that eligible students will avail of free fees for the first time ever if their household income is below €55,924. This will assist NAP priority groups.
