Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and thank him for joining us in the Chamber and giving us his time to discuss this important topic. I thank our colleagues in Fine Gael for bringing forward this motion and giving us the space to share our concerns, ambitions and desires for this important sector that the Minister has taken charge of. I wish him well with his work. It is important not just to the lives of our young people but to the economic and social health of our country.

I acknowledge the progress made under the previous Government. It was my party leader, the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, who included in the Fianna Fáil general election manifesto in 2020 a recommendation to separate higher education from education to give it its own focus and unique time, recognising the need for a dedicated focus on this crucial area. Since then, we have seen improvements in student grants over successive budgets. We have also seen an expansion of apprenticeships and a stronger focus on lifelong learning. I wish the Minister well in his work, particularly in light of the current geopolitical uncertainty and the as-yet-unquantified economic impact that tariffs may have on us. Now more than ever, we need to double down and put further investment into both higher education and the institutions that deliver it. To use the Minister's words, now is the time to skill, baby, skill.

I am very fortunate to be from Limerick, which has a vibrant educational sector. We have multiple institutes of higher education. We have two universities, namely the University of Limerick, UL, and the Technological University of the Shannon, TUS. We have the acclaimed Limerick School of Art and Design, the Limerick College of Further Education and Griffith College. In addition, multiple courses and apprenticeships are supported by the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. That is even before I mention the dozens of Skillnets across Limerick and the mid-west that are channelling funding directly into the SME sector across the region. We have more than 25,000 full-time students in Limerick alone, and thousands more studying in a part-time or evening capacity.

Education is a vibrant sector and is a big employer of academics, administrative workers. It is also a critical component of the economic model in the region. I know from working with big companies across the region that our pipeline of skilled workers is a critical component in their decisions to locate in the mid-west. We have a collaborative approach in Limerick that involves UL, TUS and the Limerick and Clare ETB working closely with employers to design courses that are aligned with jobs. We develop skills specifically for companies in the advanced manufacturing sector, the medtech sector, pharma and artificial intelligence and we design and deliver accredited courses for An Garda Síochána. This collaborative model is really working in Limerick. Some focus and attention should be given to see whether there are learnings from our experience in Limerick that could be replicated in other parts of the country.

Just like other parts of the country, however, the rising cost of education is a huge pressure for young people and families. I acknowledge the reductions in student contribution fees in recent budgets - these were very welcome - and the commitment in the programme for Government to continue to reduce the student contribution fees over the lifetime of the Government. The Minister might give us an update on that. I am keen to hear the work that he and his Department are doing in achieving that objective. I ask that he give due consideration in that work to families with more than one child or dependant in full-time education. I am looking to the future and, like many people of my generation, I am hoping to have multiple members of my household in full-time education at the same time. That is going to place a huge financial strain on many families.

The cost of education is not just about tuition. Travel costs are a big factor. Over the course of the election campaign and in my engagements with students at the doors and with Ronan Cahill, president of the students' union at UL, I heard an awful lot about the growing number of students who are commuting to college due to the shortage of affordable accommodation. On a daily basis, people travel to Limerick from Galway and south Kerry. I even heard about a student who commutes from Dublin daily. I worry for those students. I worry about the impact that this is having on the enjoyment of their college experience, about whether it is sustainable for them and about the fact that it might have an impact in terms of their propensity to drop out. I look forward to an update from the Minister on the work he is doing on this crucial issue of a lack of affordable accommodation for students.