James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

Part of me is surprised at the surprise, because I said this at parliamentary questions in February, March and April. I said it in the Irish Examiner, in The Irish Times and in other local radio interviews. I said it in multiple places, so I wonder why anyone feigns surprise. Of course, the general public do not tune into this Chamber, but there are spokespersons and people in the House, and those who follow. Deputy O'Gorman was a Minister who did the cost-of-living package in the previous Government, so he knows it was temporary. There should not be any surprise on his behalf. This is exactly the same situation as prevailed last year and the year before and the year before. In those situations, the €1,000 contribution rebate was not applied until October. It did not kick in in June, July or August. I remember getting representations from students and their families over the past couple of years, querying it myself and being told it was a budgetary matter. It did not get the same attention.

Deputy O'Gorman said earlier that I gave a straight answer. Maybe I should have fudged it and done the political thing of saying there is nothing to see here. I tried to be straight about it and perhaps I have learned a lesson, but if that is the case it is to be regretted that we have to fudge things to get through these interviews. That is regrettable. It is not how I do business. It is a fact that none of us knows, in any Department or any part of government, what our budget is for the year ahead, what we will have and what demands will be placed on that money. We cannot know that until October. What I can say, as I have said repeatedly, is that we already have for September multiple new schemes, benefits and thresholds. I have stated my absolute commitment to see through the programme for Government in full. There may be challenges about how we do that, but the job is to rise to challenges and meet them. I intend to do that and to see reductions to the student contribution fee in a financially sustainable way. That is the bit that gets least attention, but the parties were every bit as adamant that it be inserted into the programme for Government. I will see the programme for Government through to the letter.

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