Third Level Costs

164. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the way in which budget 2027 will support students with the costs of third level education. [72044/26]

There has been a lot of discussion already about the costs of third level education. I ask the Minister to explain the way in which budget 2027 is specifically supporting students with the cost of third level education.

I thank the Deputy very much. It was a priority for me coming into the budget, as it has always been, to listen to students and their families about what supports they needed to access further and higher education. One of the things that I tried to do - rightly or wrongly but I think rightly - is similar to what I did with the employers. I went out and met the students and listened to them. I met a number of student unions. I meet AMLÉ regularly. I held a cost of education event where I convened all the stakeholders together. I and the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, listened to them and spoke to them all over a course of a day to understand what the needs were. On the basis of that, I introduced in next year's budget a €34 million student support package, which delivers significant improvements across the student support framework. That includes things like a 4.5% increase in the SUSI maintenance grant that will benefit 54,000 students, an increase in the special rate of maintenance grants and an enhanced student contribution grant for families with more than one dependent student at tertiary education. That measure will be really impactful and probably has not received the exposure it deserves. For the first time, there is recognition that a family with two or more students attending higher education at the same time has a pinch point and pays for the costs associated with that. There is an accelerated grant for such a scenario. Depending on the income band, fees could be paid in full for those students. As I said, they are heavily subsidised, up to a level of a household income of €150,000. I hope everyone will agree that, considering the CSO figures, that is well above the average household income. Families with very decent incomes are now eligible for support through the grant system for the first time if they have two or more children in college at the same time. That is in addition to the €650 reduction across two successive budgets on a permanent basis in the student contribution fee. The most any student can pay is €2,350. A family with two or more children and household income of up to €150,000 pay a lot less.

I thank the Minister. It should be acknowledged that a package of €34 million is not to be sneezed at. It is a significant support for students as part of budget 2027. There is a great appreciation for the work he is doing to reduce costs for families across the country. I agree with him on the level of support for families who earn up to €150,000. It is significant. One has to examine whether it is a level playing field from the start. Eliminating fees for everybody has to be scrutinised in terms of whether it levels the playing field or gives a further advantage to people who already have one. I admire the Minister for taking that stance, and I agree with, and compliment him, on it. Accommodation contributes to the cost of third level accommodation. We have spoken about viability. One of the challenges regarding the viability of constructing student accommodation is that one of the measures that could close the viability gap would be to increase the cost of student accommodation. I am sure the Minister will agree that is not what we want.

I thank the Deputy for his comments and appreciate his support. It is important that any measure we introduce is targeted at people who really need it. I have a very simple political philosophy, namely that those who need the most help should get the most help and we should target scarce State resources in that way. That is an important principle. It is also important that any interventions are evidence-based and based on need and staggered accordingly as we move through the spectrum of different scenarios. The Deputy is correct that we want to avoid a situation whereby new student accommodation is delivered but rents are prohibitively high. Supply is part of the equation. We know rents are high. The HEA survey tells us that the average rent is €700 per student per month. I appreciate it is higher or lowers than that in certain areas. We want to make sure that we do not get to a stage where new accommodation, in particular, is prohibitive.

I thank the Minister. The baseline academic achievement that industry now looks for is a postgraduate qualification. How will budget 2027 support postgraduate students? Given that industry now seeks a postgraduate diploma or, in many cases, a master's degree, as the minimum educational achievement for employment, how can we support more people to attain that level of education? We have to consider how we can support that. Of course, there are additional costs for postgraduate students. Many postgraduate students are not working. In the past people did a master's degree while in a workplace, but many students now go straight to postgraduate study.

A number of scenarios arise regarding postgraduate students. They are eligible for SUSI and fee support in most scenarios, depending on means and need. It is an area I am exploring more widely. I recently launched a review of doctoral education in Ireland for PhD students to examine the entire framework of PhD education. One of my objectives is to increase the number of PhDs in Ireland. For our knowledge economy, skills and ideas it is imperative that doctoral students come on stream. Doctoral students have a propensity to go on to create a company or have an idea which lights a spark and generates multiple jobs. Of course, they contribute to the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery, which is important. I am exploring the concept of industrial PhDs, which would allow PhD students to be embedded in a workplace and solve a real world problem, supported by employers. It is something I intend to bring forward as part of this. It will not be the only option, but we will provide support for students who avail of it.