Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)

Bhíomar ag caint leis an Aire faoi seo an tseachtain seo caite. I hope the comments that caused real concern for young people and parents throughout the country were a blip. We need to be clear: we came together to put a Government together and we created a programme for Government. I remember us all discussing student fees in the course of the formation of the Government. We all decided on the commitment that the Government would, "Continue to reduce the Student Contribution Fee over the lifetime of the Government ... in a financially sustainable manner". That is the programme for Government we all signed up for, so I really do hope this was just a blip on the Minister’s end. I graduated this time last year and I have seen close up how students and parents sacrifice and borrow.

There is another matter I wish to raise. When a young student has been separated from their parents due to issues at home there is a huge issue - my friends went through this experience – where SUSI requires a letter from the courts or An Garda Síochána to show they have been separated from their parents. That is something we can reform. A person struggling with a 30 to 40 hours a week college course such as engineering, like I did, does not have the time or resources to go to the courts and get this letter to get the SUSI grant, and then he or she to work in a job on top of that.

I welcome the fact there is some movement in the right direction and the Minister said recently that we have to reduce the fees and tackle the real costs, including, as mentioned by Deputy Paul Lawless, rent and transport. Let us stick to the programme for Government we all signed up for and keep our word to the students up in the Gallery.

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