Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I very much appreciate the comments of the Minister on the former Minister, Niamh Breathnach. I know her family will as well. One of the radical things she did as Minister for Education was to abolish fees, something from which I benefited, as did many of my colleagues and friends. The debate was lost over the previous 25 years when registration fees crept up. People are now spending thousands of euro a year on fees.

Be that as it may, we are talking about a small cohort of students. It was a welcome measure. I know there is frustration in government that when something is announced there will always be a member of the Opposition who will say it is all very well but it should be tweaked more and the focus is on the negative. What the Minister did was welcome and things are going in the right direction. The Minister is making all of the right noises in terms of reducing third level fees to where they were 25 years ago. Does the Minister not feel that an additional measure or gesture could be made from Government to reduce the fees of a small cohort of students by €1,000, in line with everybody else?

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