Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

I have a question the Minister should be fairly familiar with. Many parents and families have contacted me in the past few days wondering how they are going to pay their children's student fees and rent. People are beginning to see through this Government. The reason it decided to put a halt to the promises made to students and not to include a cost-of-living package in this year's budget is that this is not an election year. Families are being squeezed for every penny they have and the Government has now decided to add an additional cost of €1,000 for each child attending college. One lady who called my constituency office asked me not to let the Government do this. She said that an additional €1,000 would put her family in arrears with their mortgage and that they are living day by day as it is. I will ask the Minister what his fellow Ministers are also asking. Will the Government reverse the decision to charge students and their families an additional €1,000 this year and work towards scrapping student fees once and for all?

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