Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The honest answer to the question as to when we will publish the paper is that it will be in advance of the budget. I will get the Deputy a more specific answer than that. It will be in enough time for the Sinn Féin's alternative budget or pre-budget submissions and for me to begin to grapple with and discuss these issues. One imagines it will be published in the autumn but I will provide the Deputy with a more specific time. In truth, we have not decided yet but I will come back to her on that.

Addressing the costs of education for students and families is a major priority for me. Cost cannot be a barrier for working families getting their children into college. That is why I commissioned a review of the student grant scheme when I took up office, which was published on 4 May. The review involved wide stakeholder engagement, an extensive consultation with students and research into the costs of higher education. The review identified a number of issues, including the rising costs affecting students over the past decade; the fact that the income thresholds for eligibility in the scheme have not kept pace with the rise of earnings over the same period; particular costs, which the Deputy will know well from her constituency, for those who travel long distances to their place of education; and the costs associated with postgraduate study.

We have taken some steps already to alleviate financial pressures, which helps to tackle issues raised in the student grant review. There will be an increase in the grant payment for all those in receipt of a maintenance grant by €200 from September. We have increased the qualifying thresholds by €1,000 to bring more people into the grant scheme. Importantly, and this was the most important change introduced, we changed the qualifying distance for the non-adjacent rate of grant to help students who live further away from college. We have increased the postgraduate fee grant, from €2,000 to €3,500, as well as the postgraduate fee grant income threshold. All of these measures are very much in line with and are a commencement of the implementation of the student grant review.

I have committed to publishing an annual costs of education paper, which will set out the range of options to address costs, including changes to both the student grant scheme and student contributions. This will seek to inform decision-making at budget time regarding what further measures we can take to continue to support students and their families. Last year, from memory I believe we received a funding package of approximately €30 million to invest in additional student supports. We largely put that into the SUSI grant scheme. I expect we will receive another funding package for student supports and we will grapple with and discuss, in this House and elsewhere, how best to spend that in a way that support students and families.

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