Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Hoey for the detailed presentation. It is great when people come in here to give such a comprehensive report and come up with practical solutions. I am wearing two hats because I am listening to the USI as a parent who currently has three children in third-level education. Hopefully, I will have a fourth in third-level in September. I concur with what the USI is seeking, which is realistic. My 23-year-old daughter was judged as being ineligible because she is living at home, yet she does everything independently. That is the case with many 23-year-olds. On the one hand we are constantly saying "be as independent as you can", but on the other hand they are not being given the opportunities.

Ms Hoey referred to adjacent rates and said that people who live on islands do not necessarily qualify for NUIG, but that beggars belief. I am 50 miles from Dublin on the M1 corridor, which is grand. It is a completely different story, however, for someone in Dungloe or Rannafast in Donegal who is trying to access college education.

Can Ms Hoey elaborate on the add-on years and the repeat years? Some important points need to be brought out there. I have received representations from people who have had to repeat one subject but they dropped out due to the financial implications involved.

It is not often that everyone on a committee gives such praise, so Ms Hoey should lap it up. It does not happen every day.