Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy on both issues and I will look at that widows and widowers issue. I want to look more comprehensively at an overhaul of SUSI to make sure the thresholds are right, that it is supporting people and families across the country and that it is agile enough to understand that people learn in different ways. That is why the part-time change is an important one.

The Deputy is also right about thresholds. There are often people who just about get by. They work hard and do everything right and they find they are just above a threshold and do not qualify for something. That is why I have been determined that when we have been bringing in supports for students and their families, when we reduce the college fees we reduce them for everybody. Anybody who was in a full-time undergraduate course, which is about 96,000 people, got the fee reduction regardless of a means test. Call them what you wish but the squeezed middle, namely, that group of people who find they never qualify for the support, can still be struggling to get by in the cost-of-living crisis. That is why we gave that €1,000 back before Christmas. I meet these people across the country and I know the substantial difference that made to many people.

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