More obstacles: getting the place, getting the funds

Two major hurdles face students with disabilities who are anxious to pursue third level careers: gaining a place and money. A report on an admission survey of third-level institutions published in 1998 finds that there is no standard admissions procedure for students with disabilities. However, "minimum entry requirements, minimum programme requirements and cut-off points criteria apply as standard admissions prerequisites for a majority of third-level courses", according to the report.

However, "the cut-off points criterion does pose a significant barrier to some deserving students with disabilities, who because of the inflexibility of the Leaving Certificate examination procedures cannot compete for a place where achievement of x number of points is the final determining factor for a place on a programme."

The report finds that when it comes to reserved places and quotas, students with disability fare less well than do disadvantaged or mature students. Although all the universities and two-thirds of the ITs say they have special admissions procedures for students with disabilities, very few have admission procedures which are transparent - whereby an interested student could trace a route following step-by-step procedures. "The majority of other institutions had vague statements on `welcoming applications from disabled students'." DCU's direct admission system bypasses the CAO, explains disability officer Declan Treanor. "We encourage people to apply as early as possible. We interview in May in advance of the Leaving Cert. Students must meet the minimum entry requirements but the interview gives them a chance to sell themselves. "Our second level system doesn't encourage diversity. If they have to compete in the points system they will never get in." At DCU, he says, students with no verbal skills have successfully undertaken communications and journalism courses.

When it comes to funding, third-level students with disabilities fare badly. Predictably, money is in short supply. Unlike their British counterparts, who can avail of a generous grant system, Irish students with disabilities must apply to the Minister's Fund in the Department of Education and Science. Last year this fund was worth a total of £250,000. The Department received 300 applications for financial support from this fund. However, only 123 students received assistance, among them 14 people who were grant-aided for personal assistants.

People needing personal assistants are prioritised. The belief among disability officers is that the lion's share of the fund is eaten up by interpreter and personal-assistant costs - to the detriment of applicants with other difficulties.

The net effect is that the colleges are forced to pick up the tab. One disability officer described last year's allocation of the fund as "a fiasco".