Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I am pleased to hear that the changes we made in the last budget will have such a positive impact for many of his constituents. We would like to do more and build on that in future budgets as well. I am at a slight disadvantage because I have not yet received the outcome of the review. However, the terms of reference are quite instructive in terms of what we would like to see happen as a Government. The terms of reference have asked that the review: examine the maintenance grant values and their income thresholds; look at the definition of "approved course" because we do not currently provide grants for part-time provision, which, I think, is a weakness in the system; look at the adjacent and non-adjacent rates, and we have begun to move on that; look at postgraduate grant support; and benchmark student supports in Ireland against other jurisdictions because it is important to see how we are holding. In the context of the Deputy's question, the key point is probably the last term of reference, to identify the real cost of attending further education and higher education in Ireland, and to identify the current supports in place. The real cost has changed over the ten years of the SUSI scheme.

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