Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I, too, am glad to have the opportunity to discuss the matter. I thank Sinn Féin for giving us the chance to speak on behalf of the students. I welcome the students who are in the Gallery and wish them well for the coming year.

There are a number of things at play here. Many families do not qualify for SUSI. As a result, parents and students have to work very hard to ensure they have funding to go to college. The costs of accommodation, food and travel are excessive. Can the Minister visualise leaving a place like Valentia Island and travelling all the way to Killarney? That is an almost two-hour drive and it takes another two hours to get to Limerick to go to college. That costs money and time and wears on the students who go through it. It is a fact; that is what they have to do. Last year many students from Killarney had to travel on a bus to Limerick every day because they could not get accommodation in Limerick. That is a fact. Students have contacted me about that. It is a very serious matter. It is also very difficult to get accommodation in Cork. I respectfully ask both Ministers here tonight to reconsider in favour of the students and allow them the €1,000. They thought the measure would be there and they would only pay €2,000. I know the Minister commented that the €1,000 reduction last year was as part of a cost-of-living package. He told us he would reduce student fees and we cannot understand or agree to them being raised. I appeal to the Minister on behalf of students throughout the country, especially those in County Kerry who have to travel long journeys to go to college, to do the right thing on this occasion.

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