Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Senator raises a very important issue. I am happy to provide an update to him. The Funding the Future Framework, published in May 2022, outlines the Government's vision for how higher education will be funded and how this will support students, employers and wider society. At the core of this approach is the maintenance of a dual focus on increasing recurrent funding for our third level institutions to enable enhanced quality of provision while also addressing the costs of education for students and their families.

Budget 2024 secured an additional €65.2 million in core funding under Funding the Future, which combined with the €40.5 million secured in budget 2023, brings the total additional core funding provided under Funding the Future to €105.7 million. This funding will lead to increased staffing levels and enhanced support services for students. It will also expand the capabilities of our higher education institutions to deliver on priority skills needs and lead to the further development of tertiary programmes.

The provision of higher education funding on an annual basis is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy for the Government. It is of course imperative that funding continues to be made available to the Department to support these plans to progress reforms, to implement a sustainable funding model, to improve pathways from further education to higher education, and to address cost as a barrier. The additional €105.7 million provided over the last two budgets in response to Funding the Future, represents the Government’s policy intention to improve the standing of our higher education system internationally and to progressively bring our funding and staffing levels to where they need to be. It is aligned with the intent of Funding the Future that over a number of years further additional core funding will be prioritised through the Estimates process, while taking account of the Government’s budgetary and fiscal stance.

Additional funding has also separately been provided in recent budgets to meet other demands in the sector including demographic pressures and additional pay costs arising from public sector pay agreements. The level of increase, particularly in light of other demands on Exchequer funding, demonstrates the Government's commitment to the sector to enable it to fully realise its potential.