Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Maybe it has gone up slightly, but the vast majority do not get grants. The new student accommodation being built on the UCD campus will cost students €1,400 to rent. Even as a temporary measure, all third level students should get the housing assistance payment, HAP. I do not really like HAP but at least it reduces the cost of rent. That is a temporary measure the Government could bring in for all third level students. Why do we not do what is being done in Germany, where public transport fares have been reduced by 90%. Could we not at least offer free public transport to all third level students or dramatically reduce the cost in the same way we have done for school-going students?

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