Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Select Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 45 - Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Supplementary)
2:00 am
James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
I think we are in violent agreement. I am saying the same thing as the Deputy is. We should have a fairer scheme that applies the same rules whether one is Irish, Ukrainian or from somewhere else. The previous scheme did not do that. I think things like the means test are fair and reasonable to apply to any situation or student, whether they are Ukrainian, Irish or from anywhere else. I am now doing that. That is a move I have made to change and strengthen the rules and tighten them up a bit, if I can put it that way. However, there are a number of people in the system already who are coming through it, some of whom would have been sitting their leaving certificates earlier this year, so it is important we see that through. We should not be in a situation where we are coming back to address this every year. It should be something that is built into the system and that is costed, sustainable, fair and dealt with on a means-tested basis. That is what we are doing now and it is a fair and more sustainable system in the long term.
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