Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It will certainly be an issue and probably one on which the political parties will take positions. It is going to be a big question for the future funding of the sector. It is not just a cashflow issue but is more generally linked to the fact that the demographics are constantly growing. I will come to that in response to the Deputy's second question. The population is continuing to grow. It will even off at primary level around 2019 or 2020 but will not do so at third level until we are way into the late 2020s or further on. We will have to consider how we fund higher education with the demographic growth that is going to continue for quite some time. That is a broader question than what we are addressing today and is probably one on which we all have views. We will exercise our minds about it.

On the upward demographic pressures that account for some of this figure, the CAO applications for 2015 were up by 1.82% or 1,333 applications as compared to 2014. The number of those sitting the leaving certificate in 2015 went up by 2.25% on 2014. The number of postgraduate and undergraduates enrolled in higher education was up by 2% in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15. The number of grant holders for 2014-15 was 80,555 compared to 78,965 for the previous academic year. That is also a 2% increase. That demographic is showing itself in the need for increased funding for student support.