Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I apologise to the leaders for us running late. On that basis, a precedent is not being set by allowing the Labour Party to conclude its motion. However, will try to be on time for the future.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Before I begin, I want to say how very sorry I am to hear of the death of Brother Kevin Crowley. I offer condolences to everybody who loved him. Brother Kevin's work at the Capuchin Day Centre is the stuff of legend. He really was a champion for the poor and for everyone who fell on hard times, without judgment and without exception. He lived for others and he absolutely changed lives. We will all feel his loss very greatly. Ireland has lost a great son. Indeed, his beloved Cork has lost a true legend. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Yesterday, I was contacted by a mother at her wits' end. She has two daughters in college. She told me that she and her husband were just about able to cover the costs of that. She talked about the pressure they were under to pay for the accommodation. She likened it to a second mortgage, so this mother could not believe her ears when the Minister, Deputy Lawless, announced that the Government would hike up student fees by €1,000. She asked where in the name of God did the Government think she and her husband would find an extra €2,000. Thousands of students and their parents are in the same position with the worry, stress and uncertainty of having to come up with that money.

Yesterday, my colleague An Teachta Pearse Doherty twice asked the Minister a very simple question about what students and their families would be asked to pay. Will it be €2,000 or €3,000? Twice, the Minister refused to answer. When asked by reporters yesterday whether a fee hike was coming, Micheál Martin was dismissive. He talked about budgeting processes instead of being upfront about the bills students and their parents would face in a few weeks. He was clear on one thing, namely, that there would be no cost-of-living package. Obviously, the fees are going up.

The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, could not have been more cavalier. He said that if he was the parent of a child going to college today, he would do what happened last year, the year before and the year before that. He would pay in instalments and see where the budget brought us to. How out of touch can you get? We are not talking about a few quid here. We are talking about €1,000 per student. That is a lot of money for families. Parents cannot take a wait-and-see approach. They and students need to know now what they will be paying. The Government is making the choice to hike student fees at a time when working people and families are under pressure with soaring prices, hit left, right and centre with increases in the cost of food, energy bills, childcare, petrol, diesel and, as the Government well knows, rent. Prices are through the roof, yet now the Government wants to add a €1,000 hike in college fees into the mix.

That is the flippant and casual attitude of a Government that has no problem reinstating big pay packages for top-brass executives at bailed-out banks or doling out cushy pay increases for its record number of Ministers of State, but pleads the poor mouth when it comes to students and their families. It is a tale as old as time when it comes to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Caithfidh an Rialtas a bheith ionraic le mic léinn agus lena dteaghlaigh. Cad a bheidh mar tháille coláiste acu i mí Mheán Fómhair? An mbeidh costas €2,000 nó €3,000 air?

The Minister needs to be upfront with students and their families. Dancing on the head of a pin, dodging and refusing to give a straight answer is, frankly, not acceptable. I will again ask the straightforward question and I would like an answer, please. When students are paying their fees for the 2025-26 academic year, will the cost be €2,000 or €3,000?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy for her question. I first want to echo what she said about Brother Crowley. Ireland has lost a wonderful person, someone who brought incredible care, humility and service to support the most vulnerable in our country. We thank him for his tireless work. May he rest in peace. I offer condolences to all of his family.

In response to the Deputy's question, I acknowledge there is still pressure in the daily lives of many families and costs are still high. What we said at the time of the formation of this Government was that, as part of the process around budget 2026, changes would be made in a sustained and permanent way. That covers all policy areas across government. In the context of further and higher education, the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has engaged, and will continue to engage, with students and the stakeholders in that sector. That will form the basis of the options paper on the cost of education, which will inform his work and the negotiation as part of budget 2026. That specific detail will inform him about what is possible and how he wants to prioritise the different measures that can be taken on a permanent and sustained basis.

The Deputy referenced the measures that were taken last year or the previous year. Those measures were taken on a one-off temporary basis as part of a cost-of-living package. We are approaching budget 2026 by trying to take measures that can be made on a permanent basis. Work around that is happening across the Government, with different Ministers setting out their priorities in the context of the budget negotiation process. I will be engaging with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, in that context following the summer economic statement and the publication of the national development plan.

One element of the cost for students is the student contribution fee, but other elements can help the affordability for students. Those include the grants from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, income thresholds and reckonable income when it comes to the wider grant system we have across the further and higher education sector. The work the Minister is doing now in developing the options paper on the cost of education and considering what are the best measures he can take in the context of budget 2026 to support students and households will form the basis of his discussions on the budget.

We have said that the work over the coming weeks will inform the overall allocation, which will be made available in the context of current expenditure. However, we have had a series of interventions over recent years. The average rate of expenditure increase has been 9% in recent years. We have uncertainty around us and need to be careful about the broader economic and budgetary context. That is why we are undertaking careful work within the Government to set out what is possible in terms of the interplay between current and capital expenditure and the changes we will make from a tax perspective.

As a Government, we are saying that the measures we will take for 2026 and onwards will be taken in a budgetary context. We are not taking ad hoc decisions in early July when there is a process to be undertaken. That goes for all my Government colleagues, across the board.

We are cognisant of the pressures that families face, including in respect of third level fees but also in respect of the cost of education at primary and secondary levels, the continuing cost of childcare and the cost of a whole range of services. We want to strengthen public services and make them more affordable. That is the medium-term expenditure framework that we will set out in the coming weeks. That will form the basis of the broader negotiation.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister said a lot there but did not answer the question. He is the Minister for public expenditure and this is a straightforward question. Will the cost be €2,000 or €3,000? On the basis of what he is saying and according to the logic of his presentation, I assume the cost will be €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, has announced an increase in student fees to €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, needs to stand up and confirm that. People are waiting for confirmation. Will it be €3,000? People have to budget for that. They cannot just produce it out of thin air.

The kind of logic presented by the Minister strikes me as particularly perverse. In order to bring down the cost of education, the Government is going to hike the cost of student fees. That makes no sense. What does the Government have against students?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Thank you, Deputy.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Government is going to hike up the cost of their rent-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Thank you, Deputy McDonald.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----and is now going to hike up their fees,-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Please, Deputy, time is up.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----but the Minister does not even have the decency to be clear about it.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister to respond.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I ask the Minister to confirm-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Deputy, please, you are way over time.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----if students will pay €2,000 or €3,000.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

What I have said very clearly is that the outlook will be informed by what we agree as part of budget 2026. This is the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin when it comes to third level fees. In the North, the then Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, was not at the time ruling out hikes in student fees.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

There are no increases in the North.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

She then said that she had to work within the context of the financial position. It is the same for this Government when it comes to budget 2026.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Will it be €2,000 or €3,000?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

When it comes to all policy-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Jesus, surely the Minister can answer a question as basic as that.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Deputy, please. There is hardly any need.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Mother of God.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

All decisions we will make for next year will be made in the budget.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister does not know the answer.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

So, in September.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Deputies, allow the response.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

They will be done and concluded in the budget process. That is the same as has happened in previous years. That is the context. That will inform the outlook for 2026.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is most unhelpful to families and students.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is the same for all policy measures.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

That is very unhelpful.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is decided in the budget.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Students are coming back in September, not next year.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

They get the message.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I join others in expressing condolences on the death of Brother Kevin Crowley of the Capuchin Day Centre. I had the pleasure of meeting Brother Kevin, witnessing the immense work that he and his colleagues were doing and experiencing his great sense of humour. He will be sadly missed.

When the idea of a housing tsar was announced some months ago, the question on everyone's lips was the same: what can a tsar possible do for housing that the Minister cannot achieve? The bizarre tsar proposal appears to have been quietly shelved. It has joined a pile of other U-turns on the cutting room floor of Government Buildings and the Custom House. It has become increasingly clear that the Minister cannot take the necessary action alone and needs help. Nearly six months since taking office and in the midst of a severe housing crisis, he has nothing to show for himself other than two Bills. One is to undo the hames he made of those deeply misguided plans to end the rent pressure laws. The other, to be taken next week, is a Bill to amend the huge new planning Act that itself is mostly not yet in force. It is worse than a mere failure to ensure the necessary radical reset. The Government is allowing existing safeguards to fail. It may now have extended rent pressure zones, but it has hollowed them out so that the protections are limited. Rents and evictions will go up.

Speaking of evictions, the Government is starving the tenant in situ scheme so that it has become ineffective. That scheme was the key measure designed to protect renters and keep families out of homelessness. Last Friday, the homelessness figures told of an appalling new record. Some 15,747 people were in emergency accommodation, including 4,844 children, each one a personal tragedy for that child and family. One would think that in the face of this, the Government would ramp up the tenant in situ scheme, but instead it is depriving it of adequate funding and the scheme is failing. We hear it is being curtailed or paused in Dublin, Cork city, Kildare and elsewhere. The Minister has said it will be very difficult to avoid crossing the shameful threshold of 5,000 children in homelessness.

We would think he is a commentator and not the line Minister overseeing an apparent winding down of the tenant in situ scheme and harebrained changes to rent pressure zone laws. All of this has consequences. In 2024, the tenant in situ scheme accounted for two in five homeless preventions in Cork city alone. This meant 100 children were kept out of homelessness. What will happen to families like those now? Increasingly, our TDs and councillors are experiencing hopelessness and despair when they are seeking to advise families facing evictions because there is nothing we can offer. When are we going to see a radical reset from the Government? When are we going to see emergency measures to keep the tenant in situ scheme working and ensure families are kept out of homelessness?

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I absolutely reject what Deputy Bacik set out there concerning the Minister, Deputy Browne. If we look at the series of actions and reforms he has undertaken in recent weeks, I think a significant difference will be made in driving housing supply, private and public, in our economy. He has reformed and streamlined the approval process for new-build social housing projects this week, making a real difference in respect of streamlining the process to try to drive the approvals for social housing across our economy. He has brought through significant reforms and an expansion of the remit of the Land Development Agency, which is to drive the supply of social and affordable housing right across Ireland. He has established An Coimisiún Pleanála, three-year planning permission extensions are being made in certain cases and he has revised the national planning framework to ensure we have more zoned land to try to increase the supply of homes across our economy. The heads of the Bill on reforming short-term lettings has been agreed. This will help to release thousands of units for long-term use. He has also extended the first homes scheme to 2027, agreed the new housing activation office to try to co-ordinate the supply of homes across local authorities and secured €750 million in additional funding for more social, affordable and cost-rental homes, alongside a significant programme of acquisitions. Therefore, I absolutely reject what the Deputy said relating to the series of measures that the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken and that will cumulatively make a difference in driving the supply of housing across our economy.

In terms of the issue of homelessness, all of us in government are disappointed by the increase in the figures we have seen, but we know that the real solution to trying to reduce homelessness is to increase the supply of social and affordable homes. It is in this context that there has been a concentrated effort on preventions and exits. This has been reflected in the figures from quarter 1 of 2025. Nationwide, 642 households, including 850 adults and 369 families, were prevented from entering emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created, for example, in quarter 1.

Turning to the question regarding the tenant in situ scheme, one of the first measures we took as a Government was to provide €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand properties, with a particular focus on tenant in situ acquisitions. This is an important part of the overall allocation for 2025. Separately, I am working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on the national development plan. Central to that will be a focus on housing supply in our economy. It will not only be concerned with providing direct subsidies for housing, but also with how we can invest in our water and wastewater infrastructure, in our grid and in our transport infrastructure to drive the overall supply of homes.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister. He can come back in. I call Deputy Bacik.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

If we look at the series of reforms the Minister has taken, it will make a difference.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Government seem to be content to express disappointment and say that the measures it is taking will have an effect. The reality for people across the country facing eviction is that there is no hope and no lifeline. The Minister said that increasing supply was the key priority. Of course it should be; that is right. Instead of seeing a ramping up of construction activity, though, we have seen delays and pauses in the building of social homes. In the last week alone, we have seen further delays announced. We have seen the filleting of the tenant in situ scheme. Councils, including Cork City Council, are telling us that they are curtailing the scheme, which was supposed to offer a lifeline for families facing homelessness to keep them out of homelessness. Far from energy, what we are seeing from the Minister, Deputy Browne, and the wider Government is inertia,-----

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Lethargy.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----a failure to act, a lethargy that leaves people in despair. People are telling us they have no hope of any prospect of owning-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy. I call the Minister to respond.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----or even of being able to rent their own homes because there is so little out there. What is the Government offering now to people facing eviction?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy, but she is over time. I call the Minister to respond.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have referenced a series of actions being taken,-----

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

No-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Raising rents.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----including the strengthening of the Land Development Agency, continuing to support the increased supply of social and affordable homes-----

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----and the measures the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken to cut through some of the bureaucracy that exists around the four-stage approval process and reform that. He has taken a series of measures that will increase the supply of social and affordable homes.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

When?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Central to the new national development plan will be an increased allocation that is all focused on housing. Our central and number one focus as a Government is driving the supply of thousands of new homes right across our country, but this requires reforming how systems operate. The Deputy is just asking for additional allocations, but we need to change some of the systems that are currently-----

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We talked about them.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Well, credit has not been given to the Minister, Deputy Browne, for some of the measures he has taken in recent weeks that will make a difference in the context of social and affordable homes.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

They will make matters worse.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Please, Deputies.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

On the tenant in situ scheme, we have provided an additional €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand homes.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Time is up.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

This will make a difference to families facing homelessness.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I extend our sympathies to all the family and colleagues of Brother Kevin Crowley. He is someone who gave his life to serve others.

The Minister did not tell people during the general election campaign that a vote for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be a vote to increase college fees. The Minister has been asked twice about this issue. I will ask him a third time. What fees will students have to pay in September? Will it be €2,000 or €3,000? It is a simple, straightforward question that the Minister has been asked twice. I have asked him a third time and I ask him to answer the question and to give a straight answer.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Hear, hear.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

There is now complete disarray and open revolt in the Government over student fees. Last night, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, announced he was not happy about this mess. He said he signed up to a programme for Government that clearly promised to reduce fees. He described the threat to increase them by €1,000 as a scud missile nobody was expecting. Can the Minister stop the pretence that what is going on is part of the normal budgetary process? Nobody is buying that spin, not even the Ministers of State in government. The Government promised to continue reducing student fees, but it is now threatening to break that promise and increase them by a whopping 50%. This is what is happening here. I ask the Minister to answer the question on this issue and to clarify this is not what is happening.

The Minister does not have to lecture us and the public on budgetary planning. There was enough of that yesterday. What we are talking about here is trust in politics and promises broken within months of them being made. The Minister has repeatedly cited economic threats as a reason to ditch commitments to students and their families, but the programme for Government was written only a few months ago at the end of January. We are not talking about the dim and distant past. Is the Minister really telling us that commitments made a mere five months ago are now to be on the chopping block?

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Government just does not get it. It does not get the immense pressure on students and families from soaring costs. It does not get the level of rising panic at the thought of having to find an extra €1,000, or even more for families with multiple students in college. The Minister spoke at length about the Government's budget process, but what about family budgets? Does he understand household budgets and that they relied on the Government's commitment to reduce student fees? Families made plans on that basis, but the Government is now ripping up that pledge and those household plans. This is at a time when every penny has to be counted to make ends meet. This is causing great levels of stress and anxiety. Where are families and students meant to find that extra €1,000? I am really struggling to understand what the Government is doing and why this fiasco is continuing to run and has not been sorted out. Is it because the Taoiseach is away and nobody else is capable of making decisions on this issue?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Deputy.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We have heard enough bluster on this issue. The Government made a commitment in writing, in black and white, to reduce student fees. Will the Government uphold that commitment?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The time is up. I call the Minister to respond.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Will the Minister answer the question concerning what fees will be in September?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Deputy cannot just dismiss budgetary planning as if it is not a proper part of how the Government operates and how politics should operate as part of-----

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Is breaking promises how the budgetary process operates?

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Deputy just dismissing this and saying we should have ad hoc decisions on measures taken every week is not the appropriate way to run the budgetary process. What I said very clearly yesterday and again today was that we acknowledged the pressure many families and students faced. That is absolutely understood by everyone in the Government.

What we have said we will do around the budgetary process in the coming period is examine the cost-of-education paper, on which the Minister is working. This will inform the ongoing negotiation as part of budget 2026. In that budget, we will take decisions on how we can support continued affordability of public services. A key part of that is further and higher education. We are saying that we will do that within the confines of what we set out on budget day. This is the way annualised budgeting has worked for many years and the Deputy should not dismiss that.

What we have said very clearly is that we will move away from one-off temporary measures. What that meant last year was the measures taken relating to third level fees were temporary. We are approaching it this year in the context of seeing how we can provide continued and permanent changes for next year. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, is looking at that in the context of SUSI grants, reckonable income and the student contribution fee. That is what we are saying to people. It is around budget 2026 that we will set out what measures will be taken for next year. That is how we are engaging in this. It is unfair to just dismiss that by referencing politics and whatever else the Deputy said. That is unfair on the budgetary process. It is important, across every measure in Government, that we set out the overall allocation that will inform tax and expenditure policy for next year. We will engage in good faith with all our ministerial colleagues around their priorities. Obviously, affordability in education is one of them, which is understood fully by everybody in Government. It is through the budgetary decisions we take that we will set out what the fee threshold will be next year. That was the same in previous years when we had a cost-of-living package and a permanent package. What we are saying this year is that we want the measures we take to be taken on a permanent and sustained basis. It is on that basis that we are engaging in budgetary negotiations.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

What will fees be in September? Will they be €2,000 or €3,000? This is the fourth time the Minister has been asked that question so could he give a direct answer to that question? What will students and their families be hit with in September? Can the Minister answer that question? In terms of dismissing things, it seems as if this Government is dismissing what it promised students and their families it would do in the programme for Government, namely, to reduce student fees. It seems the Minister is dismissing the concerns of families in terms of their household budgeting. Anyone reading the programme for Government in black and white and seeing the commitment to reduce fees would reasonably have thought that fees would be going down and not up. The Minister is dismissing that and the concerns of households and families. They need certainty and clarity. The Minister has been asked four times today to provide certainty and clarity on this and he has failed to do so. I am giving him a final opportunity to clarify whether fees will be €2,000 or €3,000 this September.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The programme for Government is centrally important and informs all Ministers in how they negotiate in any budget. What is referenced in the programme for Government relating to students and third level will inform the Minister's budgetary negotiation. What happened in previous years when temporary one-off measures were taken was that they were taken in the aftermath of the start of an academic year. Whatever decisions are made in the context of the budget around reducing the cost of education will be deducted through an academic year if a decision is made on that. This is what has happened in previous years when it came to temporary one-off or cost-of-living packages. What we are saying is that the budget will inform what measures are taken relating to student contribution fees, SUSI grants and reckonable income. Affordability for students is a key priority for the Minister as part of the budget discussions that will take place.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Tá an deis á tapú agam anois córas iarnróid éadroma do chathair na Gaillimhe a ardú. Tá an cheist seo thar a bheith tábhachtach. Is í an cheist i ndáiríre ná an bhfuil an dánacht agus an chrógacht san Aire ceannaireacht a thaispeáint agus glacadh leis an gcoincheap seo chun córas iarnróid éadroma a sholáthar do chathair na Gaillimhe. I am seizing the opportunity today to raise this matter with the Minister as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, although I would have dearly loved to have raised the issue of Gaza as well.

The decision to roll out a light rail system in Galway requires courage, vision and leadership. Does the Minister have the courage to embrace this project and roll out a light rail system for Galway as part of the solution to the chronic traffic congestion in the city? The provision of a light rail system perfectly aligns with the national policy objectives in the revised national planning framework. I refer to objectives 10 and 97 on the requirement for a transport-orientated development approach served by high-capacity public transport in the metropolitan areas of the five cities destined to grow, with Galway being one of them. Moreover, section 2.1 of the revised national planning framework clearly sets out that the four cities, including Galway, will require the potential of all four cities to be realised at an unprecedented rate to create viable alternatives to Dublin. We have any number of policies with which the provision of light rail complies but I will look at climate action and climate change where light rail will actively help to reduce our emissions.

Regarding the cost of not doing something, the Department of Transport very helpfully published a report titled "The Economic Cost of Congestion in the Regional Cities 2022-2040". It states that, at a minimum, on an annual basis, traffic congestion in Galway is costing €35 million. This figure will rise to an estimated €107 million and more in 2040. We are not talking about the cost of fines, lack of productivity, travelling and so on. That report clearly stated that we need a proactive deployment of sustainable transport for the growing traffic congestion in Galway. I am saying clearly on the record that a significant amount of work has been done on this project. A feasibility study has been published stating that it is eminently doable. Regarding light rail on the ground, I collected 24,000 signatures in 2018 begging the Government to do this.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am familiar with the serious congestion in Galway city and the broader Galway region. As the Deputy knows, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has been developing the Galway metropolitan area transport strategy to inform what is possible for the future in the context of public transport but also road infrastructure in the Galway region, in conjunction with Galway City Council and Galway County Council. Part of the development of this metropolitan area transport strategy necessitated the mode-specific analysis being undertaken for a light rail feasibility study and the strategic roads feasibility study. The light rail feasibility study was published by the NTA on 30 October 2024. The backdrop is the ongoing consideration of the ring road, with which the Deputy is familiar.

I know the demand within Galway city for light rail. What we are doing in the NDP is prioritising transport infrastructure more generally. This will involve a serious uplift in investment in transport infrastructure over the next five years and the setting out of a longer term position to provide confidence in the development of public transport infrastructure in our cities, between our towns and within our regions. The metropolitan area transport strategy will help inform what is possible in the short to medium term. I know it is being progressed by the two relevant councils. I am open to that engagement as Minister.

Light rail in Dublin and other parts of the country has been of a stop-start nature. It is an effective way of delivering public transport in urban areas and we need to have a better pipeline of light rail over the longer term. The NTA and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, need to work on that in terms of the respective metropolitan area transport strategies.

There is a lot of interest in the development of the ring road in Galway for its citizens and the people Deputy Connolly represents. There are also people in Galway who want to see light rail developed as an option in the urban sphere. Congestion is a serious issue. When I canvassed in Galway on many occasions last year, public transport and the ring road accounted for probably 50% of the issues raised on the door by the many people I engaged with. As a Government, with our prioritisation of transport infrastructure, we want to make real progress on some of the projects that can be started quickly but also to set out the longer term position on transport strategy and what can be delivered for Galway and the broader west of Ireland region over the coming period.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome that the Government will prioritise transport in the revised plan. There is no sense of urgency when it comes to Galway city. Its growth has been hampered. It simply cannot develop. I do not have time to go into the lack of infrastructure when it comes to basic sewerage facilities. That is for another day and I have raised it before. I am sticking with just one issue today as one part of a sustainable solution. In 2018, 24,000 people signed a petition appealing to the Government to carry out a feasibility study. That took until last year. We cannot grow Galway. It is just a pretence and a mockery to say Galway can grow. It cannot. There is a lack of infrastructure. We then have obligations under our climate action plans. One of the easiest ways, the straightest way, to comply with those obligations is to roll out a public transport system with light rail and park-and-ride facilities. Park-and-ride was provided for in the city development plan in 2004, 21 years ago, and it still has not been rolled out. What we need from the Government is vision and boldness in the best sense of the word to give the thumbs up for light rail.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Deputy, you are well over time.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I will finish on this. The Government should put light rail in the revised national planning framework. There will be a presentation on light rail in the audiovisual room at 3 p.m. I invite everyone to attend.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I think we all share the objectives of significantly improving transport infrastructure for Galway city. The work that has been undertaken around the feasibility study for light rail is important in that context. The National Transport Authority is considering that with the two relevant councils. There has been significant investment in Ceannt Station, as the Deputy knows, to try to improve connectivity for commuters. In Oranmore and elsewhere, there has been investment and upgrades and significant work has been undertaken related to BusConnects in Galway.

I welcome the work that has been undertaken around the feasibility study for light rail in particular. As I said previously, we need to build more momentum to have more light rail in some of our urban areas compared with recent years where its development has been of a stop-start nature. It is an effective way of delivering public transport, as we have seen in Dublin. It will be considered in the context of the national development plan.