Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The support and wellbeing of our students is a priority for my Department, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the increased stress and pressure resulting from it.

In 2020, a total of €5 million was provided to address student mental health and wellbeing in higher education. HEIs were requested to distribute funding to student-facing services such as:

- Recruitment of additional Student Counsellors;

- Recruitment of additional Assistant Psychologists;

- Head of service posts for those HEIs employing more than 2 FTEs;

- Implementation of the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework;

- Supporting Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide and the Connecting for Life network;

- Implementation of the Framework for Consent in HEIs.

The 2020 funding has contributed to the following overall outcomes regarding mental health and wellbeing:

- increased capacity for students to avail of mental health services., especially in the provision of one-to-one sessions, and also, access to psychologists and psychiatrists;

- additional and significant provisions offered include webinars, group sessions, online forums and the development of regular newsletters and e-zines, as well as increased social media presence;

- innovative outreach events and workshops were also instigated and reported on by HEIs and these provisions catered for consent, suicide prevention, addictive behaviours and vulnerable groups.

- One HEI reported on the development of an anonymous mental health screening mobile app, which has the twofold effect of increasing capacity, while at the same time, increasing the reach of mental health services;

- HEIs have developed systems and structures for improving services and other activities. For example, in larger institutions, more efficient case management and triaging processes have been implemented;

- HEI staff have been able to avail of training sessions on mental health, thereby, raising the profile internally within HEIs of what services and supports are available for students;

- all HEIs reported a reduction in waiting times, with some HEIs offering rapid access resources. It is significant also, that proactively reaching out to students, rather than waiting for students to contact Mental Health services, has become the prevalent methodology of engaging with the student cohort.

Funding allocation for 2021/2022 includes 5 million euro for mental health and wellbeing student supports, to build on the work carried out to date.

An allocation of €10 million has also been made to the Mitigating Against Educational Disadvantage Fund for this year. This Fund supports educationally disadvantaged learners in accessing and participating in further education and training. It also enables investment in building the digital infrastructure of FET providers and their online learning capability. This supports online delivery in a way that meets the complex needs of all FET learners, and ensures that these learners have the skills that will allow them to effectively participate in their programmes.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Inclusion is one of the core strategic goals for my Department. My ambition is to ensure that we provide supports and opportunities for learning to all. This means recognising the needs of persons on low income and those with special and additional needs.

A range of supports and measures are in place for learners with low income and with disabilities; some of these supports are targeted while others are available to the general student population. The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) supports participation by students with a disability in further and higher education. Around 14,000 students are supported annually under the fund. Earlier this year I approved a number of strategic projects under the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) aimed at supporting students with disabilities to access and engage with higher education. The initiatives, which involve 23 higher education institutions (HEI) and €5.8m in expenditure, are broad and are aimed at improving access to higher education for people with a disability, to improving college campuses and to assist staff with training and development. Among the projects are a number of projects for students with autism including the establishment of autism friendly rooms across nine different campuses, the development of assistive technology including for students with disabilities, an app to help students with visual or hearing impairment navigate their way around campus and specialist assistance for students who are deaf.

It is important to state the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2021 (NAP) set targets to increase participation in higher education by people with disabilities. Specific targets have been set to increase participation in higher education by students with physical or sensory disabilities. The original (8%) and revised target (12%) under the National Access Plan of new entrants to higher education with disabilities has now been exceeded, with 12.2% of new entrants to higher education in 2019/20 declaring a disability.

However, we acknowledge more needs to be done. Work on the development of the next National Access Plan (NAP) 2022 - 2026 is currently underway. One-to-one stakeholder meetings around the specific target groups to be supported for the period of the next NAP is almost concluded, with a number of meetings planned up to mid-December. Colleagues in my Department are working closely with the HEA on the development of the new Plan with the intention of publishing the plan in Q1 of 2022. An additional €5million has been set aside for this plan.

A key focus for me will be students with intellectual disabilities. Figures show in the further education and training sector where there were 2,821 learners with intellectual disabilities in 2019 and some provision in the higher education sector involving a comparatively small number of learners. However, I have asked my officials to engage with the HEA and SOLAS to see where we can play a stronger role, in meeting the educational needs of this group as part of a coherent whole of Government responses. We are at an early stage of work in this area, but it is an area I am strongly committed to pursuing.

My Department will continue to keep existing provision and initiatives under review. We want to develop a better understanding of what works best within the different models, and to look at how we can assist people to access and progress through higher and further education and training.