2026-05-12

151. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he and his Department have considered not proceeding with the planned reduction in student contribution fees for the 2026-27 academic year, in light of the recent Government decision requiring Departments to absorb expenditure overruns within existing budgets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34357/26]

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing interest in this matter and all matters pertaining to higher education. As he knows, the programme for Government addresses the cost of college in a balanced way. It does so deliberately by combining universal and targeted measures. The programme for Government commits to incrementally reducing student contribution fees as well as increasing SUSI grants; providing targeted support measures for specific cohorts; providing more pathways into higher and further education; and improving how students navigate within the system. The programme for Government also states – this is less often quoted by commentators – that all this must be done in a financially sustainable manner. That is the wording. It is on the website for all to see. In the current budget, I was pleased to introduce the first permanent reduction to the student contribution charge in approximately 30 years. It is a €500 reduction. That flat-rate reduction has reduced the top rate from €3,000 to €2,500. That is in effect from the current academic year, and we backdated it to make it available to students already in the system. That is the first permanent cut. It has benefited 108,000 undergraduate students and 14,000 apprentices. It is only right that apprentices also benefit from a 17% pro rata reduction in the fees they pay. The State provides grants that cover all or part of the student contribution for eligible learners on a SUSI grant. Up to 70% of households are now eligible for the full student contribution fee to be paid, half of it to be paid or, for those at the top level with a household income of up to €120,000, a €500 subvention. A family with a household income of, say, €118,000 that is availing of the flat fee of €2,500 is eligible for the €500 fee grant, meaning they effectively pay €2,000. For a family with an income of, say, €60,000, half of the fees are paid for. Below that, families get their fees paid in full. There are a number of interventions aimed at different sectors in a targeted fashion.

I appreciate that. The Minister will be acutely aware of the level of concern among families and students to the news that there is a possibility that the incremental decreases in student contribution fees will not go ahead. The Minister mentioned that this must be done in a financially sustainable way, which is something that is not spoken about perhaps in the media or by other spokespeople. The Department might be financially sustainable, but why should students or the Department cover the cost for other Departments that are not so financially sustainable? That is not good enough. It is not acceptable to students. I do not doubt the Minister's bona fides on this and I am sure he would love to be able to decrease the student fees or even get rid of them altogether. A financially sustainable way of decreasing fees should not mean students have to bear the brunt for the Department of education's overspending every year.

The Deputy makes the point well. I will not comment on collective Cabinet decisions, but I hear what the Deputy said. It is very fair. For my part, I attend to pursue a multitude of options to further support students. These include making progress on fees but also a number of other options in areas such as maintenance grants, funding for students with disabilities, mental health supports, the student assistance fund, accommodation support through the non-adjacent grants and so forth. As I mentioned to Deputy McGettigan a few moments ago, we will be publishing a paper that sets out the different options available to us, along with the costings of each one. This year, for the first time, I commissioned, through the new economics policy under my Department, an impact assessment that tells us what the benefit of each measure will be on particular cohorts and how it will be of assistance and progressive in reducing the cost of education. I assure the Deputy that I am committed to continuing the work of the programme for Government in full, including the fee reductions.

Is there a date on which that paper will be made available? Those costings will be very important to politicians in this Chamber but also extremely important to the very students who we profess to represent in this Chamber regarding to the amount they will have to pay for the coming academic year. I represent the students across this country and the important issue for them is that there was a commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the student contribution fees, albeit in a financially sustainable way, incrementally year on year during the Government's term. It is something I will absolutely call out as a spokesperson on education. An overspend within the Department of Education and Youth and an overspend across government as a whole should not have knock-on effect for the Department of further and higher education or for the very students we stand here and represent.

I assure the Deputy and the House that I will make the case in the budget negotiations to secure the maximum possible package for my Department for the benefit of students, apprentices, researchers and all the people within and for all the good reasons the Deputy articulates. I expect the cost of college paper to be available in June or early summer, and certainly it will be with us before the summer break. It has been commissioned at the moment. It derives from the cost of college event, which we held with students and other stakeholders, and it will also draw upon information meetings with a number of groups, such as AMLÉ who I will meet in the morning, and many other groups I meet on an ongoing basis. When the paper is published, I will inform the relevant spokespeople. I also welcome any collaborative input from spokespersons on education in the House as to the opportunity cost because it would never be possible, even if we had plenty of time, to do everything. Choices will have to be made. I would welcome a debate and formal discussion. The intention of that paper is to put the choices out there with the costings of this but not that, for example, and to take an in the round view on what is the optimal approach.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.