James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that information. I appreciate that he is going to review the Student Support Act 2011. This is an opportunity for the Minister to think outside the box and look at what other countries are doing to provide funding for PhD candidates. The Netherlands offers a very interesting example, which is very different to Ireland. PhD candidates there are treated as employees of their university or third level institution. Perhaps there is an opportunity for us to look at alternative ways of addressing this problem that could be sustained in the future, not just during the pandemic. Now is the time for radical action on this. The Minister himself has said this is an issue. I look forward to working with him on it in the future. I sincerely hope that in the next number of weeks, he will take the time to address the problems I have outlined to him today.

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