Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have to wait to read the Deputy's submission. I thank her for the question. It is that awkward time at parliamentary questions where I am supposed to say that these are matters for budget day on 10 October, which is true. We are in the period where Departments are engaging on what their budget allocations will look like next year. Let us start with what we know. I want to see us take steps in the budget in a couple of weeks' time to address the cost of education for families and learners. We have tried to take a number of steps in each of the budgets since this new Department was established three years ago. Last year, as the Deputy will recall, we made a number of important interventions. We saw a reduction in registration fees of €1,000 for all full-time undergraduate students. All student maintenance grant recipients received an extra payment, a bonus payment, if you like, at Christmas time. We saw students in receipt of the postgraduate fee contribution receive a one-off increase of €1,000, increasing their support from €3,500 to €4,500. More than €20 million was provided to the student assistance fund. All student grants increased by between 10% and 14%, which was above the rate of inflation. Those are things on which I wish to build.

One of the measures I was pleased with in last year's budget was a permanent reduction of €500 in the fees for anyone with a household income of less than €100,000. Only approximately 10,000 students have applied for that scheme and we think approximately 40,000 are eligible. We must continue to explore why more people have not availed of that scheme and consider what more we can do to promote it. There are other things I definitely want to do.

Some of the measures in last year's cost-of-living package worked and made a real difference. I cannot commit to them today but I know that when we reduced fees last year, it helped many people for the reasons the Deputy and I discussed earlier. There are anomalies in the student grant scheme that need to be looked at. I do not like that people cannot access it for part-time education, particularly if they are a part of an under-represented group, for example, lone parents or students with disabilities. Some people need to undertake education on a part-time basis that works for them. That is equally valid and as good as full-time education. We must consider how to support such people financially. I am acutely aware of the issue of PhD stipends. We will be looking again this year at the issues of fees, grants and PhD stipends, but also at some of the anomalies I think exist in the system, including the whole holiday income disregard and how much students can earn at weekends.

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