Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for her question. I first want to echo what she said about Brother Crowley. Ireland has lost a wonderful person, someone who brought incredible care, humility and service to support the most vulnerable in our country. We thank him for his tireless work. May he rest in peace. I offer condolences to all of his family.

In response to the Deputy's question, I acknowledge there is still pressure in the daily lives of many families and costs are still high. What we said at the time of the formation of this Government was that, as part of the process around budget 2026, changes would be made in a sustained and permanent way. That covers all policy areas across government. In the context of further and higher education, the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has engaged, and will continue to engage, with students and the stakeholders in that sector. That will form the basis of the options paper on the cost of education, which will inform his work and the negotiation as part of budget 2026. That specific detail will inform him about what is possible and how he wants to prioritise the different measures that can be taken on a permanent and sustained basis.

The Deputy referenced the measures that were taken last year or the previous year. Those measures were taken on a one-off temporary basis as part of a cost-of-living package. We are approaching budget 2026 by trying to take measures that can be made on a permanent basis. Work around that is happening across the Government, with different Ministers setting out their priorities in the context of the budget negotiation process. I will be engaging with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, in that context following the summer economic statement and the publication of the national development plan.

One element of the cost for students is the student contribution fee, but other elements can help the affordability for students. Those include the grants from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, income thresholds and reckonable income when it comes to the wider grant system we have across the further and higher education sector. The work the Minister is doing now in developing the options paper on the cost of education and considering what are the best measures he can take in the context of budget 2026 to support students and households will form the basis of his discussions on the budget.

We have said that the work over the coming weeks will inform the overall allocation, which will be made available in the context of current expenditure. However, we have had a series of interventions over recent years. The average rate of expenditure increase has been 9% in recent years. We have uncertainty around us and need to be careful about the broader economic and budgetary context. That is why we are undertaking careful work within the Government to set out what is possible in terms of the interplay between current and capital expenditure and the changes we will make from a tax perspective.

As a Government, we are saying that the measures we will take for 2026 and onwards will be taken in a budgetary context. We are not taking ad hoc decisions in early July when there is a process to be undertaken. That goes for all my Government colleagues, across the board.

We are cognisant of the pressures that families face, including in respect of third level fees but also in respect of the cost of education at primary and secondary levels, the continuing cost of childcare and the cost of a whole range of services. We want to strengthen public services and make them more affordable. That is the medium-term expenditure framework that we will set out in the coming weeks. That will form the basis of the broader negotiation.

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