Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of Deputy Boyd Barrett's views on this. I intend to address the funding for higher education, an issue that has been avoided for many years. A new Government and a new Department provide that opportunity. Issues around the registration fee are decided on through the budgetary process. I hope the Deputy will acknowledge that I have taken several measures to provide students with additional resources to meet the costs they face. We have doubled the student assistance fund, a progressive measure by any standards, from €8 million a year to €16 million a year; introduced the first dedicated technology fund to purchase 17,000 laptops for students; and increased mental health supports by €5 million, with a further €3 million included in the budget day announcement.

The previous Oireachtas was asked to look at the issue of the Cassells report and decided to ask for an economic evaluation of all the options. That work is due to be concluded at the start of 2021 and I will act on the findings. I do not believe we should go down the route of levelling students with lots of debt as they start out and I am not convinced that the student loan model works, either. More Exchequer funding is the general direction of travel. We increased Exchequer funding from €1.4 billion in 2015 to €1.8 billion in 2018. The cost of providing education will be higher this year. In a Covid world where we have to have fewer people on campus, a different way of doing things, IT licenses and all that, the cost will go up. We are not increasing the student contribution fee. I would like it reduced over the lifetime of the Government. There is a budget next month and, in the meantime, we are targetting a lot of additional resources at students most in need.

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