Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)

The comments the Minister made on national radio caused great uncertainty on this matter. We still do not have clarity on the issue nine days on. I will tell the Minister about the impact this uncertainty and the proposed hike is having on people. He said that he did not understand how people would not be able to afford this increase in fees. A mother in my constituency who has two children in college told me that she literally cried last Sunday morning when she heard the Minister on the radio. She said that finding another €2,000 for next year on top of everything else she is paying out seems undoable.

It is no good to her to hear Micheál Martin and Simon Harris on the radio saying they are going to reduce fees over the lifetime of the Government. She needs it now, or at the very least she needs things to stay as they are, not to increase. What does the Minister have to say in response to that mother and will he provide certainty to her and the thousands of students out there who would be affected by this?

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