Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Subhead C4 is for general current grants to universities, institutes of technology and other designated institutions. The Estimate here appears to have been cut by €15.5 million in 2019. Will the Minister explain the reason for that, particularly given the ever-increasing number of students? It has been predicted that the number of full-time undergraduates will increase from 159,000 to 162,313 and that there will be a similar increase in the number of postgraduates.

Subhead C11 refers to student supports or Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants. There is projected to be a cut from €406.877 million to €404.450 million. Will the Minister explain the decrease?