Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem is in terms of announcing different things and saying there are different amounts of money available in the budget. Rents have increased 82% since the Government came into office, which compares with an average of 17% across the rest of the EU. That is an 82% increase in rents and wages have gone nowhere near keeping up with that, never mind the SUSI grants or PhD stipends. In that context, it is easy to see how students would be so discontented. The budget stated that 4,000 PhD researchers would benefit from the €500 increase. However, in an answer the Minister gave me on 23 June, he said there were fewer than 3,000 PhDs funded through the SFI and the IRC. That would mean that less than half of all the PhD researchers would benefit from the payment. We also need a wider discussion, as the Minister said, around how we expect PhD researchers to live on the stipends of €19,000, which is far less than the minimum wage. I welcome the review but I want to know its scope and when it will be completed. It is essential that there be a minimum floor to the stipends for full-time PhDs.

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