Professor Mark Rogers:

Before I make a comment on SUSI, I must also emphasise the response to the refugee issue in Ukraine. I have a couple of comments. The local response is one thing, but if we are taking in a whole range of refugees coming from Ukraine, it is very likely that the numbers involved could be very substantial. The locations in which they end up may not be determined by them particularly. It is very important that a national approach is taken with some sort of warehousing or portal, because we want to be able to align the students with where they are in terms of access to the education. This is something we have certainly been pushing.

The other comment I would make is that it is not clear to me yet, and I have written to the Minister but I have not had clarification, whether the Ukrainian students who were already in Ireland will fall into the same group now and be eligible for the EU fees. We must recognise that there will be Russian students, Belarusian students and others, who are also being impacted, and we must be very compassionate in how we manage those students too.

With regard to SUSI, I agree that the ongoing review is welcome but, I suspect, is not radical enough. There is a simple reality around recognising what it costs to go to university, not just the fee component but also the living costs. If we want those students who were striving to get to university to go, then we must recognise that cost. All of the areas by which the grants are applicable, including the salary and income thresholds, really do need to be radically looked at in terms of what is a real issue. To get a special rate grant a student must be on very low income. Clearly that is not sufficient.