Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline the process for contribution fee refunds in 2022; when students can expect a refund of their contribution fee in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51686/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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There was a welcome announcement on the refund of €1,000 to students. I want to ascertain when the process for the repayment of this €1,000 will commence? Will it occur over the next eight to ten weeks? The other issue is we saw the refund of moneys to people in the health sector delayed for quite a period. Is the structure established to make sure this can be dealt with in an efficient and timely manner?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the question and the short answer is that it is established. It is important that when you have an announcement in the budget, you examine how you will translate that into implementation. As part of the budget, I was delighted to receive a significant cost-of-living package for third level students. Some €143 million will be spent between now and the end of the year to reduce the cost of education for students and their families. That is in addition to the public transport fare reductions for students and the rent relief.

Part of that project, as the Deputy said, is including a once-off €1,000 State financial support towards the undergraduate student contribution fee. This will assist students with the costs of attending higher education and will help alleviate some of the financial pressures which they and their families are facing. The measure will reduce the student contribution payable by free fees for eligible students from €3,000 to €2,000 in this academic year. We expect this measure to benefit 94,000 additional students. It is anticipated that students who are paying their student contribution fee in two instalments will have the amount reduced from their next instalment by their institution during semester 2. This means that if a student is paying the €3,000 in two instalments, €1,500 now and €1,500 in the second half of the year, the latter amount will automatically be reduced to €500. That will affect the bulk of students because most of them pay in instalments. However, some students will have paid the full €3,000 upfront. Students who have paid the full contribution fee already will receive a refund from their institutions before the end of the year.

Institutions will communicate with directly on how the refund process for students who paid their full student contributions during semester 1 will operate. Students should expect to hear from their institutions this week and next and that will largely be to seek the bank details of where they would like the refund to be paid into. Those refunds will automatically process in the weeks ahead. If a student does not respond with bank details or if a small number need to be paid in 2023 we are ready and intending to pay them between now and the end of the year and as quickly as possible. This is a measure of putting money back in people's pockets, particularly between now and Christmas.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Has there been engagement with the third level institutions? Is it a case that the Department will have to provide the funding to those institutions to enable them to provide the refunds? When will that process commence?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There has been close engagement. I want to thank the HEA, SUSI, the Irish Universities Association, IUA, the Technological Higher Education Association, THEA, and the higher education institutions themselves for their assistance. We have had engagement with all of them and it is an important point because this is not money being taken from the colleges; it is the Government providing taxpayers' funds so the colleges can give that money back to students and their families. That process is in place. In addition to that, as the Deputy will be aware, we are paying a bonus student grant payment on 16 December. Any student in receipt of a SUSI grant will get their normal December payment. That is due on 16 December, and on the following day they will get a repeat bonus payment. For some students that will be worth over €600 in additional support. This is in recognition of the cost-of-living challenges that students and their families are facing.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I refer to the PhD students who will get the additional €500 as part of their stipend. When is that likely to be paid? Is provision made for that in 2022?

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the suite of recent budgetary measures, especially for young people. They are practical measures that would help students and families with the cost of education and the cost of living generally. There are over 1,736 students in Mayo who will receive the additional student grant repayment. This is very welcome, on top of the €1,000 fee reduction. On the Minister's hard work on the cost of third level education through the funding the future policy, can he provide an update on how we can reduce fees in the coming years?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On PhD students, we will fund the IRC and the SFI for those stipends. I expect those stipend increases to be paid between now and the end of the year and I will get Deputy Colm Burke a detailed note on it. The Deputy will also be pleased to know that 4,809 students in Cork will benefit from the additional student grant payment on 16 December. As Deputy Dillon rightly says, 1,736 students in Mayo will benefit from the additional payment on 16 December and I know that will help.

Deputy Dillon is right that we are only getting started and warming up. This reduction in student contribution fees is not the extent of my ambition for the cost of education, which is too high. I said that when I became Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and I acted on it in this budget in conjunction with colleagues in the Government parties. We will do more in the weeks, months and years ahead. We need to overhaul the student grant system, we need to do more on PhD students and postgraduates and we need to continue to drive down the cost of education. I still see barriers in cost and we have more work we need to do in the months ahead.