I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash.
Commencement Matters
Jobs Data
I thank the Cathaoirleach, Senator Kathryn Reilly and the Minister of State for their co-operation. I tabled this matter to discuss with the Minister of State the jobs situation in Waterford and the south east. Specifically, I wanted the breakdown of the jobs created and lost in IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland companies in Waterford.
Some progress has been made in recent years and a spotlight has been shone, not just on Waterford, but also on the south east by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. It is welcome that we have had some positive announcements, employment figures have increased and unemployment figures have decreased. We have gone from being the region with the highest level of unemployment to the region with the second highest. Obviously, there has been some improvement and good work has been done, but a great deal more needs to be done.
I wish to bring the Minister of State's attention to a report that I published for the joint committee in September 2013 entitled, South East Economic Development Strategy, or the SEED strategy. It called for the implementation of a long-term economic development strategy that would support a new model for the region based on sustainability, meeting the needs of enterprise and an alignment of national, regional and county objectives to ensure all of the actors were working to a single strategy that considered the strengths of the region and the opportunities for job creation and retention.
The strategy also called for the establishment of a regional IDA Ireland office and director. I commend the fact that we now have a regional director. It is a step in the right direction, but it must be underpinned by a regional strategy focused on resources and playing to strengths. The strategy called for the south east to have the same IDA Ireland investment aid as the BMW region as part of a change in the regional aid guidelines. It is welcome that this has been done.
A crucial element in the strategy is the need for a university. While this is not directly the Minister of State's brief, it has a major impact on the ability of the south east to sustain itself economically, to take advantage of any upturn and the excellent research and development capacity in the region, and to build on same, thereby creating new jobs. The strategy also called for investment in the roll-out of fibre network broadband in the region, but that has not happened, and investment in the airport, of which there has been some but not enough.
I have been constructive in making proposals instead of just saying that we have a problem. I want to be a part of the solution, as we should be as public representatives. I appreciate the fact that a spotlight has been shone on the region, that the Government is focused on improving the situation and that a collaborative approach has been taken by Oireachtas Members from Waterford to the creation and retention of as many jobs as possible. Good work has been done, but it is now a matter of building on that work and getting information on the hard figures from the Minister of State. What has been done by the enterprise agencies?
I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The most recent annual employment survey showed that, at the end of 2014 in Waterford, there were a total of 10,157 people in full and part-time employment in client companies of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.
Enterprise Ireland clients employ 5,060 people, while IDA Ireland clients employ 5,097. Corresponding figures for 2008 were 5,655 for Enterprise Ireland client companies and 6,790 for IDA Ireland client companies.
Waterford was particularly hit at the beginning of the downturn in the economy with the closure of Waterford Crystal. Following the closure of the Talk Talk call centre in 2011, by which time this Government had taken office, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, initiated the south-east action plan and established the south-east forum to drive the implementation of that plan, in late 2011. Officials from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation engage with the key State players on the forum to monitor developments on the detailed actions set out in the plan, and the Minister has held a considerable number of meetings with the forum.
Significant progress on job creation has been made in Waterford, as the Senator acknowledged, including the establishment of the new call centre operation, Eishtec, supported by Enterprise Ireland, which now employs more staff than previously worked for Talk Talk in the city. There have been several other job creation initiatives for the region as a result of the work of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. During 2014 Sanofi, currently employing 500, announced plans to invest €44 million in Genzyme's biotechnology campus in Waterford. Last autumn, the Taoiseach and the Minister officiated at the launch of an exciting new €100 million project by West Pharmaceutical Services in Waterford city, the latest in a succession of new job creation projects in the region. The number of IDA Ireland site visits to Waterford doubled from 31 in the period from 2008 to 2010 to 62 in the period 2011 to 2014. In addition, other enterprise support initiatives have been developed to support new start-ups, graduate placements and research projects.
In order to improve the offering in the region to win new business, IDA Ireland has, under the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, funded the construction of an advanced manufacturing facility in Waterford. IDA Ireland's commitment to Waterford continues, with further expansion expected in the Waterford area in terms of advanced manufacturing units and other facilities in the next period of time. The facility announced last year, which is under construction, is 2,348 sq. m in area and is located in the IDA Technology Park at Butlerstown. It is now nearing completion.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. It might be helpful if he asked the enterprise agencies to forward a year-on-year breakdown from 2008 of jobs created and lost. It would be more useful for assessing what progress has been made in recent years. The last time these figures were released was in 2013; it would be interesting, therefore, to see what advances were made last year. While I accept that jobs are being created, jobs are also being lost. It is the net increase that is important and that interests people. There is progress, which I support, but we must do a great deal more. Perhaps the Minister might look at the recommendations of the South East Economic Development Strategy, SEEDS, report that have not been implemented and prioritise those as actions that must be delivered as quickly as possible.
In the past two years the number at work in the region has risen by approximately 19,000 and the unemployment rate has fallen from 19.4% to 13.7%. That is a substantial achievement. All of the agencies and public representatives in the area, including the Senator and my colleague, Deputy Ciara Conway, work very hard in this regard. Obviously, Waterford and the south-east region required specific focus from the Government, and that is the reason the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, developed the south-east action plan. The important element of that plan is that there is an amount of local ownership and local buy-in, and IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the local authorities, Waterford Institute of Technology and the local enterprise office are strongly engaged in it.
The report of the Oireachtas committee is very interesting. As the Senator acknowledged, there are elements of it that are not under the direct control of my Department. However, we have an interest in it and the forum has been asked to look at the report in detail. The Minister is on top of that. It is also important to point out that what the Government is seeking to do, particularly the Ministers with responsibility for jobs, is to align the interests of all of the agencies and all Departments and create what might be considered a mini action plan for jobs for each region. Inspiration for that, in many ways, could have been drawn from the south east forum and how it operates.
The Senator has acknowledged the need for the alignment of local, regional and national objectives, and we are doing that quite well in Waterford, an area that was particularly badly hit by the recession. The Senator also acknowledged the good work that is being done. The economic recovery is under way but there is a great deal of work to do in the next period of time and I am aware that the Senator is on board for doing that work, along with colleagues such as Deputy Ciara Conway. We have a focus on Waterford. There are particular issues to be tackled and I am confident we will do it.
Action Plan for Jobs
I welcome the Minister of State. This matter is in a similar vein, although it relates specifically to the regional Action Plan for Jobs for the Border area.
The Scottish poet Robert Burns said the best laid plans of mice and men often went astray. The Action Plan for Jobs appears to be not necessarily a plan so much as a type of framework to provide a template which will then be given to local bodies in the midlands to implement as a pilot scheme. In the regional Action Plan for Jobs, there are many references to the local enterprise offices, LEOs, which will implement the scheme, but they are significantly under-funded and not much focus has been put on how to resource them adequately. Figures that have been released - there was a "Prime Time" feature recently on investment - show that enterprise agencies are failing to support many parts of the country. Worryingly, the number of potential investor visits was reduced in 2014 from an already scarce base. A grossly uneven regional delivery of enterprise and jobs is magnifying the severe jobs crisis, and counties such as Cavan and Monaghan are suffering as a result.
Since 2008 there have been ten IDA Ireland-sponsored visits to Cavan but only two to Monaghan. In addition, there have been 306 gross job losses in Cavan and 267 gross job losses in Monaghan. To compensate for that there have been only 193 gross job gains in Cavan and 108 gross job gains in Monaghan. There has been no investigation into why certain areas are losing more jobs than others, which should have been an important part of the regional plan. I would have liked to see such an investigation. Many counties are suffering disproportionately from the downturn, with unemployment and emigration rates that are far above the average. There is much discontent about the inaction of enterprise agencies in bringing potential investors to these areas. That has exacerbated regional disparities in employment. It is important that the enterprise agencies are directed to try to ameliorate some of these disparities and to get investment into those communities that are hardest hit by unemployment.
In the Department's press release accompanying the framework for the development of regional enterprise strategies it mentioned that €100 million in Enterprise Ireland funding is to be made available over five years through a series of competitive calls. The first tranche will be made available from 2015 and funding under these programmes will be allocated on a competitive basis, with most funds awarded to regional projects offering the best prospects for job creation. IDA Ireland will also roll out a five year €150 million capital investment programme to help attract more multinational jobs into each region.
My concern is that the regions with competitive advantages such as proximity to Dublin, other large urban areas or cities and regions that already have infrastructure in place will have better prospects for job creation in any case. What would the Enterprise Ireland funding do for the regions that have not had the best prospects to date? They might be disadvantaged through no fault of their own. Are they at risk of being left behind again? That is important with regard to the series of competitive calls and what is contained in the press release regarding the funding being allocated on a competitive basis. What criteria will be used? There is already a scarcity of IDA Ireland site visits to many areas, so what will both the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland funding do for those areas if they have not been seen as attractive by the agencies for foreign investment to date?
The Taoiseach said at the launch that this was a plan to ensure no part of Ireland was left behind in the jobs recovery. However, if the recovery is being based on some form of competition for funding, how will we help those areas that might lose out but that might need it most?
I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to discuss the recently launched Action Plan for Jobs on a regional basis. Last week we launched the framework of that strategy. After I leave the Seanad, I will meet the implementation group for the strategy. I will play a leading role in rolling out the Border plan. It very much affects my constituency of Louth and east Meath and I look forward to working together with Senator Reilly and others towards the mutual objective of sustainable job creation on a balanced basis right across the country.
The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to support enterprise growth and job creation in every region. Since the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, employment nationally has increased by approximately 80,000. However, the economic recovery has progressed at a different pace across the regions. Unemployment across different regions remains above the national average, and this is the case for the Border region in general. This is why the Government is placing an increased emphasis on supporting economic recovery and jobs growth in the regions.
Vibrant and competitive regions are important, not only from an economic perspective but also from a societal point of view. Growing the economic base of regions supports social cohesion and provides opportunities, in particular, for young people to continue to live and work in their local communities. The 2015 Action Plan for Jobs includes a commitment to develop and publish a suite of regional enterprise strategies based on the strengths of each region, in consultation with key stakeholders. We will be having a series of meetings with stakeholders in the Border area in the next few weeks.
Last week, the Government announced details of the Action Plan for Jobs - Regional initiative which will seek to maximise the strengths and assets of each region to support enterprise growth and job creation. The objective is that six regional action plans, including one for the Border region, will be launched by July, with two remaining strategies in development at that stage. The purpose of the plans is to strengthen and develop regional collaboration by encouraging local authorities, regional bodies, higher education institutions, the private sector and communities to come forward with innovative ideas to boost job creation in their areas. The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is currently in the process of finalising the regional action plan for the midlands. The plan has been developed in close consultation with local stakeholders in the area and this process will be replicated for all plans, including the regional action plan for the Border region. In that context, local entrepreneurs and business people will have an opportunity to provide inputs to the regional action plan for the Border region. The plan will include measures that can be taken to help the Border region to realise its economic potential. These will include a series of actions for delivery by the enterprise development agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, and the local enterprise offices, together with the local authorities, other public sector bodies and the private sector to support enterprise growth and job creation in the region. We expect to identify measures in a number of sectors that are common to all regions, such as tourism, the food sector and skills, but we will also be working closely with the regions to identify measures specific to those particular regions aimed at boosting job creation. That is how that process will work.
I am pleased to note that year on year, from 2014 to 2015, there was a 12.77% decrease in the live register in Cavan and a 13.86% decrease in Monaghan. There is considerable work being done by the agencies in that part of the country. We all welcomed the announcement by Combilift in Monaghan only a couple of weeks ago of 200 new jobs in a spectacular indigenous Irish company that is well known throughout the world.
The way to address the regional disparities to which the Senator refers is by carrying out a robust analysis, working with local stakeholders and identifying strengths in the area. I have said it before, and I will say it again, there is little point in having the Twenty-six Counties competing for the same type of foreign direct investment. We want to identify the strengths in the area and target investment, and target the focus of the State agencies on that basis.
The Senator asked what Enterprise Ireland would do with regard to the competitive funds. In the next few weeks Enterprise Ireland will announce the framework for those funds. It is designed to identify what particular areas are good at and where local interests can align to work with Enterprise Ireland to develop facilities and ideas for job creation in those areas. The first of the calls will focus on community-driven enterprise initiatives and there will be a role for community interests, local chambers of commerce and local businesses in that regard. The second call will focus on new ideas emerging from the local enterprise offices. A third broader competitive regional call will support significant projects or initiatives to improve enterprise capability in the regions.
I am confident that the Border area, including the Cavan-Monaghan area, which the Senator represents, will be well placed to attract considerable funding from Enterprise Ireland. Much of this, in terms of competitive calls, will turn on the ability of the local community to come together, to pool its resources with local authorities, third level and further education institutes and other bodies to identify the priorities for that area in order that it can work with Enterprise Ireland on a collaborative basis to attract as much funding as possible to develop as many sustainable jobs as it is possible to do in that area.
Special Educational Needs Service Provision
I welcome the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.
I am delighted it is the Minister who is here. She is the person I need.
My motion concerns the need for the Minister for Education and Skills to recognise that it makes good, sound educational, financial and domestic or family sense to provide resource support hours for children with Down's syndrome who also have a mild learning difficulty classification and I hope my argument today will prove to her it is time that we changed this policy tout de suite.
From my experience in this area of listening to families as an educator, I make the case that these children's rights are seriously infringed. We are talking about only 200 children in the primary sector who have a mild learning difficulty classification and also have Down's syndrome as a recognised syndrome and disability. It is estimated that there are approximately 25 to 30 such children per year. I am familiar with quite a number of cases in Galway. The Minister probably read Brendan O'Connor's article on his daughter in the Sunday Independent on Sunday last.
It has been estimated that this measure would cost the Exchequer approximately €1 million to resource, which, in the whole scheme of things - considering the amount of time involved, the possibility of preventing these children from regressing from mild to moderate learning disability, the investment in their futures and the alleviation of worry for their families - is a very good investment.
I was really struck - I apologise for being personal - that the Taoiseach hired a liaison person for €50,000 to improve his personal profile in Mayo, for power, I suppose. My thought was that 20 times that amount would give power to these children to participate more fully in society. We need to look at it again.
Let me give the Minister a specific example. Children with mild learning difficulties come in with an IQ of 55 to 70. Such a child would traditionally have been called a slow learner, with lower intellectual capacity and processing. A child I know with a mild learning disability who also has Down's syndrome has a significant speech disorder and cannot string sentences together and has low muscle tone which makes sitting and attending to tasks difficult, especially those requiring fine motor skills such as writing. She has sight problems. This is typical of Down's syndrome children - more than 50% have sight problems. Glasses, of themselves, do not correct it. They must have a little board right beside them to accommodate their eyesight. Hearing is intermittent for some - in other words, their hearing comes and goes. This child about whom I am talking also suffers from sleep apnoea and is very tired because her oxygen levels are dropping at night. I worked as a primary school teacher for a while in the United States and we were testing inclusion at the time. I was a mainstream teacher but children were being brought into my class to try out inclusion. This was 20 years ago. Some of those children had Down's syndrome and I noticed their tiredness. I noticed that sometimes they needed to be lifted. I noticed that it was difficult for them to keep up. It is an abomination to say that these children are the same as any other child with a mild learning difficulty.
Let me give the Minister another example. This little girl I have just described began to feel stress emotionally at school because she was not learning. Then she was in Crumlin hospital for some of the problems I have described. While she was there, she saw another child with Down's syndrome walk by, and she said, "Oh look; she is like me."
This is a five year old child. The stress became so great when she was not keeping up with her peers that she got alopecia and her hair began to fall out. The parents then begged for a second diagnosis - a psychological assessment - because she began to have behavioural and emotional problems, despite having only a mild learning disability with Down's syndrome. When she got the resource hours, guess what? She is transformed. She is now happy, despite only getting three hours extra a week.
There are a myriad of issues with children with mild learning difficulty and Down's syndrome. The child with mild learning difficulty has an awareness. What I have described to the Minister about the child who feels she cannot keep up is the mild child, not the moderate child. The mild category, plus the range of issues that come with Down's syndrome, makes for a very special case. The ombudsman has ruled that the lack of resources in this area is having a negative impact on the experience of such children. However, the NCSE is now coming out and stating that, with the new proposed model, a psychological assessment is not needed at all and that the child's needs will be met. They are not being met. I ask the Minister to change the policy from September 2015.
I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I met earlier this morning with a group of parents from Down Syndrome Ireland on this issue. It is something I am conscious of and I know the Senator has described some of the issues well.
Under the existing system, all pupils with Down's syndrome, including those in the mild range, are entitled to receive additional teaching support through the GAM, or general allocation model, or from an allocation of additional resource teaching hours allocated by the, National Council for Special Education, NCSE. It should be noted that whether resource teaching hours are allocated to schools under the GAM or through an allocation made by the NCSE based on an individual assessment of low-incidence special needs, it is a matter for schools to utilise and manage those resources to best provide for the teaching needs of qualifying children.
Each school will use its professional judgment to decide how the provision of additional resource teaching time and hours is made to qualifying pupils in the school to ensure that all their individual needs are met. Schools have discretion as to how they allocate their general hours to pupils. Whereas schools will have regard to the number of pupils who require additional teaching support, they are not constrained as to the number of hours they may allocate to a pupil who may have Down's syndrome and a mild learning disability. Schools may also increase the amount of additional teaching time they provide to pupils by using a combination of individualised teaching time with pair and group work.
The NCSE was asked to provide policy advice on the issue of whether Down's syndrome should be reclassified as a low-incidence disability in all instances, regardless of assessed cognitive ability. In its policy advice, the NCSE stated it could not establish an evidence base to support a recommendation that a child with Down's syndrome should be allocated supports over and above other children with mild learning disabilities or children with other syndromes that also have associated co-occurring conditions. However, the NCSE also recommended that, under the new resource allocation model, children should be allocated additional resources in line with their level of need, rather than by disability category, which is the new model proposed.
The Senator is aware that I intend to retain the current model for the coming school year in order to ensure that sufficient time is allowed for further consultation but also in regard to the issues around complex needs, on which we do not yet have full information. I am aware that some parents and organisations representing children with Down's syndrome continue to have concerns that the existing system does not give them certainty as to the number of resource teaching hours that may be allocated to their child under the general allocation model, as these hours are distributed locally by schools. As I said, I met a group in Leinster House this morning. I intend to meet more parents in the coming week and will certainly be listening to colleagues in the Oireachtas also. I will consider the issues they have raised and keep the Senator informed of my developing views on this matter.
The little hope I have is that it is the Minister who is in the chair. I mean that sincerely. I think she is very reasonable and practical, and she is listening. However, for the NCSE to state there is not enough evidence to reclassify children who have a mild learning difficulty and Down's syndrome as needing extra resource hours leaves an unbelievable amount to be desired. The NCSE needs to start observing and doing case studies. This does not make sense. Schools are not clamouring to take these children. Why? It is because they know they have extra needs. The NCSE needs to go in to see why schools are not clamouring for them. I know that there is the general allocation model, but that is just learning support, which is not adequate. These kids have needs over and above that.
I ask the Minister to continue the consultation and to ask the NCSE to go into schools in an observational role. Let us sort this out before the summer. Two years ago we thought we were getting somewhere, but we did not get anywhere with the last Minister. I have more hope on the basis that it is Deputy Jan O'Sullivan who is Minister. I believe these children's rights are being infringed and that Down Syndrome Ireland should consider bringing a case on this issue. I would be delighted if the Minister had any comment to make.
I will be meeting more parents next week. In fairness to the NCSE, it worked on and devised a new model, which is under consideration. Unfortunately, we do not have enough consultation and information, specifically around the complex needs area to implement it next September.
Just make an exception for these children.
That does not mean that it will not be implemented. A lot of work has gone into it and I know Down Syndrome Ireland is positively disposed towards what is proposed in the new model. As I said, I am looking at the issue and will keep the Senator informed.
I thank the Minister. They are worth making an exception for.
Student Assistance Fund
I welcome the Minister. I have tabled this debate to highlight the need for the Department to provide extra funding for the student assistance fund in the light of the fact many colleges have already exhausted their entire allocation for the 2014-15 academic year. As the Minister is aware, the purpose of the student assistance fund is to give the colleges discretionary funding to help students facing severe financial hardship. It assists students who miss out on a maintenance grant, perhaps because their parents are barely over the threshold, but are struggling financially and cannot afford their college fees, or, for example, those students who are under 23 years and are assessed on their parents' income but have very good reasons why they cannot live at home, such as being estranged from their parents due to a violent situation at home. This fund gives the colleges discretion to assist such students. It also helps those who face unexpected hardship during the year that puts their academic progress at risk. For many students, as I know from my time as a student union officer in Trinity College Dublin, the assistance they get from this fund is the only thing that saves them from having to drop out of college. However, while it is a vital scheme, funding has been cut significantly in recent years. It was €8 million in 2013 and €6.6 million in the current academic year of 2014-15, which is totally insufficient, particularly given that students are now under more financial pressure than in the past. To take the issue of rent, which is a significant cost for those who are studying away from home, rents have risen by over 10% nationally and by 17% in Dublin in the past 12 months alone, so more and more students are struggling financially.
The Union of Students in Ireland commissioned a survey which found that many colleges had already exhausted their entire allocation from the student assistance fund by the end of December - therefore, just a few months into the college year, the entire allocation was gone. This was the case in NUI Maynooth, Trinity College Dublin, UCC, Athlone IT, IT Tallaght, IT Tralee, Letterkenny IT and the Mater Dei Institute. There were another seven third level institutions that had already used 80% or more of their allocation by the end of December.
Essentially, what this means is that students with serious financial difficulties will be denied the support they need. As I said, some will end up dropping out of college and missing out on a third level education, in many cases because they do not have just a few hundred euro to pay their rent or meet other costs.
The overall long-term cost, not only to the individual but also to the State, of someone missing out on a third level education is obviously many multiples of that. It is such false economy and it is incredibly unfair that people are missing out on an education as a result of a lack of what is a relatively small amount of money. I have raised this matter in order to ask the Minister if she will provide, as was the case in previous years, both a top-up for the student assistance fund for the 2014-15 academic year and a greater overall allocation for the fund for the 2015-16 academic year.
I thank the Senator for raising this important matter which I have been discussing with the president of the USI in recent weeks. The objective of the student assistance fund which was established in 1994 is to assist, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, students who might otherwise, for financial reasons, suffer severe hardship or be unable to continue with their third level studies. The fund is an important source of support for students who experience hardship while in college. It is a component of the third level access measure, which is managed on behalf of my Department by the Higher Education Authority, HEA. That measure comprises two sub-priorities, namely, the student assistance fund and the fund for students with disabilities. The management of the third level access measure rests with the HEA and the allocation of funding for the sub-priorities in a particular year is a matter for the authority. The overall allocation to the HEA in respect of the third level access measure was in excess of €15 million for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.
The student access fund is allocated annually to universities, institutes of technology, colleges of education and a number of other higher education institutions. Information on the fund is available through access officers in third level institutions. This year the HEA plans to commission an independent review of policy, guidelines and practice in respect of the student assistance fund. We know that practice varies widely between the institutions and, therefore, the review is very welcome. The overall education budget has been fully committed for this year. However, I will continue to liaise with the USI and the HEA to explore how students in need can best be supported.
I am very disappointed that the overall budget for this year has been fully committed. I accept that the Minister budgeted on the basis of a smaller amount of money for this year, but there is a desperate need for her to find funding from somewhere. She should go back to the Department of Finance and seek further funds. If a student drops out of college and signs on for social welfare, the Government is obliged to find money in order to cater for his or her needs. If the difference between someone remaining in college or dropping out is a few hundred euro, no one can help them because the money from the only fund by means of which assistance can be provided has already been spent. As stated, this is false economy.
I accept that the Minister has been given limited resources with which to work but she must approach the Minister for Finance and fight for more money in respect of this fund. Students only returned to or began their college courses in September or October. If all the funding was gone by the end of December, that is a signal that students are experiencing increasing financial distress. It is wrong that someone who is in a position of serious financial hardship might be told in March that nothing can be done for him or her because all of the funding was spent by the end of December.
The Minister indicated that the overall pot of funding for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years was the same. As she correctly pointed out, however, that money is shared between the fund for students with disabilities and the student assistance fund. The reason funding for the latter has been reduced is because there has been greater demand in respect of the former. Higher education institutions have a statutory obligation to provide support for students with disabilities. This means that funding for such students must come first, which is only right.
A question, please.
Of course, we should provide students with disabilities the support they need. However, this should not be done at the expense of those who are experiencing serious financial hardship of a kind that could, as the Minister acknowledged, lead to their dropping out of college. There is a need to ring-fence moneys for the student assistance fund and to ensure said fund is not obliged to compete with that for students with disabilities. Such competition is incredibly unfair. I accept that the Minister is working within the limited resources available to her. In that context, I plead with her to seek further funding from the Minister for Finance.
The way in which this has been set up means that the moneys for both funds emanate from the same source. As stated, I am engaging with both the USI and the HEA on this matter. The amount of money in the pot for this year is fixed. I am willing to explore with both organisations ways in which we might make progress on this matter, particularly in the context of the next academic year. I appreciate that the level of demand relating to the fund always exceeds the amount of money available in any year. I will continue to explore the position with the two organisations concerned.
Sitting suspended at 11.15 a.m. and resumed at noon.