Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)

The debate the Minister referred to in his first contribution is essential. It is important and we all need to contribute towards that.

The only question I have in relation to the student support facility that is in place is that the emails I am receiving tell me that they cannot afford this new measure and this new cost. I then go back to people and ask them whether they have applied for SUSI. They have applied for SUSI. They cannot access the full grant but still cannot afford the new increased cost. Unfortunately, that is the reality for families. It is unfortunate that we are living in a society like that where money is becoming a barrier to a child's education, particularly in the cases of families who have two, three or four children attending third level education. That has to be recognised. I welcome the fact that there have been increases to the thresholds of the SUSI grant scheme. I do not doubt for a minute that that is encouraging but it is this increase in the student fees that is very worrying for many families throughout the country.

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