Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am actively seeking support to reduce the registration fee. I welcome the support of the Deputy and everybody else on this because I believe €3,000 per year is too high. We could and should increase the grants, but there will always be people who we all represent who will not qualify for the grant. The €3,000 was brought in at a time of extraordinary difficulty in this country. If a family has two kids going to college at the same time, as many people do, there will be €24,000 in Government charges to get those two students through a four-year degree. I met students and parents in Longford recently and they were clear about this. The pace which we do this at, which we have to be honest about since we are part of a collective Government, is a matter for the Estimates process. This Government has three budgets left. I believe, looking at the figure of €307 million, that we can make extraordinary progress in closing that gap in the lifetime of this Government. Similarly, we can make progress on the SUSI review and the student registration fee. I have been a Minister for long enough to know that we cannot achieve everything in one budget, but in three budgets, now that we have the plan, the figures and the reform agenda, I genuinely believe that we can make significant progress on the registration fee, the grant and the core funding.

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