Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the budgetary decision to introduce again the €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee for higher education students. This has been introduced again as a part of the cost-of-living package. Last year, students studying outside our jurisdiction, be it in Northern Ireland, Britain or elsewhere, were wrongly denied this payment and, similarly, were denied the rent tax credit as well. Whatever obstacles exist to ensuring those two benefits are applied to all students from the State should be removed without delay. It is well within the capacity of Government, if the will is there, to ensure some bit of fairness for those students who in many cases did not obtain places here on the courses of their choice and are studying elsewhere. The Exchequer is, quite rightly, supporting some major capital projects in Northern Ireland, and presumably within proper Government financial procedures. If we are serious about student mobility, our administrative systems must adapt and change and ensure a level playing field for all students. Families here, regardless of their children's study location, have similar cost-of-living pressures.

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