Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures taken in 2018 to reduce high costs for students accessing further education or towards tackling the rental and living costs they are faced with. [42119/18]

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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The question concerns the costs of further education. It seeks that the Minister would outline the measures taken in 2018 to reduce high costs for students accessing further education or towards tackling the rental and living costs they are faced with.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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In 2018 my Department will spend some €450 million on access measures for further and higher education students. This includes approximately €380 million on student grants and related activities, which is expected to benefit approximately 78,000 further and higher education students. Some 16,000 students are expected to be assisted in 2018 through the student assistance fund at a cost of €9 million. In addition, 12,000 students are expected to be assisted through the fund for students with disabilities at a cost of €10 million.

Under the National Access Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019, my predecessor as Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, created a new funding stream called the programme for access to higher education, PATH. To date, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, who has responsibility in this area, have secured over €16 million for the roll-out of three strands of the PATH programme aimed at increasing participation from under-represented groups in initial teacher education, a new 1916 bursary fund supporting 600 students over three years, and new initiatives to attract an additional 2,000 students from under-represented groups into higher education. A further 850 students will benefit from the provision of scholarships and bursaries to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The block grant paid to higher education institutions includes a specific weighting to promote access to higher education. This involves an additional premium for all eligible access students and takes account of the additional costs of recruiting and retaining students from under-represented backgrounds. For those from targeted socio-economic groups and mature students, this is applied for the first two years of course duration. For people with disabilities, a further weighting is applied for the entire length of the course.

Regarding other steps, the national student accommodation strategy was published in July 2017 to promote and enhance the supply of student accommodation in line with the timescale envisaged in Rebuilding Ireland. It sets a target of 7,000 additional purpose-built student accommodation bed spaces to be delivered by the end of 2019 and the construction of at least 21,000 propose-built student accommodation bed spaces by 2024. This initial target will be exceeded with over 10,000 bed spaces completed or on site as of October 2018. Price is ultimately a function of supply and demand and the national student accommodation strategy is explicitly aimed at increasing the supply of accommodation available to students.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I raise the issue because the cost of going to third level has moved beyond the reach of many people. In the first instance, fees are at the €3,000 mark while many people fail to qualify for the SUSI grant. While I appreciate that there is a Minister of State with responsibility for higher education who is not the Minister, we need to look at the SUSI system and how grants are given out. A great deal of reform of SUSI is required because it can be difficult just to access and deal with the body. The rules around how far one has to be from a college are very rigid which impacts students from rural areas more than those who can travel to college from home on a daily basis. That brings me to the matter of rental costs for students. Many students are now forced to commute or may end up giving college because they cannot afford the cost of living along with rent and fees. We have a good record of higher education that we are at risk of damaging due to increasing fees and costs of living. While a promise is there for 7,000 units, we need to see a lot more being done a lot faster to provide student accommodation. Otherwise we will slip behind in our record on third level education.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I take the point on the wider constraints facing students and, in most instances, parents given those costs. Since the launch of the strategy, 18,729 bed spaces have been completed or are in the planning process. The figure is broken down as follows: 5,500 bed spaces have been completed; 4,800 bed spaces are under construction; planning has been approved for nearly 8,000 bed spaces and a further 472 bed spaces are in the planning process awaiting a final decision. Student accommodation and the affordability of rent are issues we need to tackle together on a cross-Government basis. I have not yet sat down with my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to discuss that but I will certainly do so very shortly.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome what the Minister says about parents. At a time when a parent is letting a child fly the nest, it is very worrying to be unsure about what accommodation is available, whether it is up to standard and where exactly it is located. That is what is so good about purpose-built and on-campus accommodation. It gives students, in particular first years, and their parents the reassurance they need that they are somewhere safe and known. I appreciate that the Minister is new in the role but this is something we need to continue to work on, including in the education committee. There are many studies on this. Credit unions have produced a study showing how many people are nearly being forced to use money lenders. They have got to the stage where they have borrowed to put one child through college and a second child comes along before the first has graduated. People are getting to the stage of nearly having to go to money lenders because they want their children to move on to further education. That is unacceptable in this day and age and it is a matter we must address. That is why I refer to the need to reform SUSI. Not everything is black and white and not everyone fits into the same category. The system we used to have meant one could call to a local VEC office regarding a grant but that is all gone now. It is now just a person on the phone and one either fits the category or one does not. There is no room for any sort of discretion, which is not necessarily a good thing. Perhaps we can look at reform of SUSI in further discussions.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to work with the committee on that. I will also be working closely with my colleague, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, in this regard. I am happy to take on board Deputy Funchion's suggestion that we work collectively on this matter.