Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

The Minister is right. I was in government when the cost-of-living measures in the area of the student contribution were agreed. That is why, whereas there is a lot on the programme for Government I am critical of, I welcomed the commitment in there to continue to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government. I took from that the clear meaning that every student in the country took, which was that this was a process that would see further reductions. What the Minister announced was a full-on increase of €1,000 that students are now dealing with. He talked about trying to be up front and honest. We then have to deal with the situation of his coalition colleagues. The Tánaiste is giving this broad stage wink to students like he will look after them in September. It is not fair to create this level of confusion. The Government has created the confusion, and the Minister can clarify it. It is not fair to ask people to wait three months.

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