Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy knows that every time she says we have the highest fees in the European Union, I am going to point out this is only because Northern Ireland left the European Union, sadly, as part of Brexit. The fees for students in the North, where the Deputy's party is in government, are a hell of a lot higher.

The timeline is a matter for the European Commission. In fairness to it, I believe it would say Covid has had an impact. The report is now with my Department. There are several parts to it. What I will not do is build a shelf to stick it on and let it gather a load of dust. What I am preparing over the summer months is a plan to bring to the Cabinet. This is a report whose recommendations must be implemented.

As I have said before in this House, I do not believe in student loans. I believe they are a barrier to access.

Many say they work on paper but I am yet to see where they work in practice. I do not accept the analysis that nothing has happened since the Cassells report. Since then, expenditure allocated to higher education has increased by more than €500 million, which is an increase of approximately 40%. In 2021, total planned current expenditure funding of the higher education sector, exclusive of research provision, is in the order of €1.98 billion.

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