Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the Deputy's final point first, I am really pleased with how the incentive scheme is going, and I will get the committee the latest figures. However, the last time I checked, approximately 1,000 new apprentices had taken up that scheme, so it really has worked and I have received very good feedback from both apprentices and businesses who have availed of it. It was due to run out in December 2020, but we made a decision in the budget to keep it going for the first six months of 2021. My view is that if it is working, I would like to see the scheme as a permanent part of our landscape, but we have our apprenticeship action plan due to go to Cabinet by Christmas and that will try to tease out some of those issues.

On the €50 million, what I can say and have said before is that there are two cohorts whom we are trying to assist. First, there are those who are in receipt of the SUSI grant, and by virtue of the fact that they are in receipt of this grant, we recognise, as a State, that they need financial assistance. The most obvious way to help them is with a once-off top-up to the SUSI grant, which I would like to happen in the majority of cases in advance of Christmas, if at all possible. The second group is the many students who do not get the SUSI grant and who also have met additional financial costs this year. I am looking at a way of supporting them, be it through a credit note, rebate or other option. I need to tease those things through, but the direct answer to the Deputy's question is that it is not just a scheme for students in receipt of SUSI grants. We aim to support all full-time students in higher education at undergraduate level, and I am also looking into whether we can also do something at postgraduate level. We will have further details of that next week.