Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

The student fees issue shows how out of touch the Government is and how unfair it is to students and parents alike. Third level education should and must be available and affordable to all. Students and their parents have to plan financially for the coming academic year and are surely entitled to know the costs involved. The failure of the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Ministers for Finance, public expenditure and reform, further and higher education, who is present, and many other Ministers to refuse to answer the question on whether the fee will rise from €2,000 to €3,000 for the coming year is an insult to parents and students.

This, of course, is not solely an issue of fees. The background is one of significantly increased rents and the significantly increased cost of living. The new rent regime introduced recently by the Minister throws students under the bus. Students have now no rent protection whatsoever. The Minister for housing is allowing landlords to reset rents to market rates between tenancies. Of course, most students rent for only nine months of the year. The Minister says it is not possible to provide a specific rent protection for students. I am not sure that is the case. We have to remember that private rents for students in the past five years have increased by 92%.

The cost of living is also in the background. Other speakers have gone through that. Grocery prices are up three times the level of inflation and insurance and transport costs are up. Students and parents are already under severe pressure. Nowadays, most students work at weekends and over holidays to try to make ends meet. Students from rural areas like my constituency are under even more pressure. They may not have a local third level institution or a range of courses may not be available, so they are forced to travel to college daily or rent at exorbitant rates in far-off cities. If a parent has two or three children in college, it is more serious.

Today's Barnardos report on the cost-of-living impact highlights the difficulties that families face. Let me refer to a few points: one in five families has cut back or gone without heating or electricity in the past 12 months, 40% of parents have skipped meals or reduced portions to ensure their children would have enough to eat, and 12% are using food banks. The Minister should do the right thing – abolish fees. The money is available, this being a very rich country. He should abolish fees now.

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