Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy and I are in ultimate agreement on the need to do more in this regard. She says she would like to see the cost of education paper earlier. It is the first time there has ever been one. It is a new policy development. There will not, however, be a great mystery to it. The SUSI student review published in May is very instructive. The second thing I think will be very instructive relates to how, if we wish to do so, we consider reducing the student registration fee and the costs associated with each course. I have been clear on the range of costs students face, and Deputies Conway-Walsh and Boyd Barrett have raised a valid issue. Deputy Conway-Walsh referred to public transport, and one could refer to accommodation and HAP. The two levers directly within my Department's remit are SUSI and the student registration fee, so they are the two on which I will focus most directly while advocating for students and their families across the Government between now and the budgetary process.

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