Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister. We are here to have statements and a debate on higher education with the lead Minister in this area of responsibility and expertise. He will have ten minutes to make an introductory opening statement and group spokespersons who have indicated - I have a list of them in front of me - have eight minutes. All other Senators have five minutes. The Minister will then be called on to reply not later than 6.20 p.m., but it may be earlier. Statements will conclude at 6.30 p.m. That is the running order. I invite the Minister to make his opening statement.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chathaoirleach agus na Seanadóirí. It is good to be here with them today. I see the same familiar faces of the spokespersons I know in the area. It is good to engage with them all both formally today and informally as we all work together in the course of the term. I thank them for their interest in the topic. I am grateful for the chance to speak about the priorities that reflect our commitment to inclusion, affordability and excellence within the further and higher education system.

The story of my Department began five years ago when An Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, created it. It was in the Fianna Fáil manifesto coming up to the general election of that year. It is something I was proud to advocate for before I was ever a spokesperson or Minister for it. It was always envisaged as being a driver of access and education but also of the economy, enterprise and the centre of our economic development. As well as being an education Ministry, which it patently is, I also see it as an economic Ministry, leading Ireland's response to global disruption. We are all well aware of the disruption and the challenges, trade winds and everything else that are coming towards us hard and fast. We are leading the response to that disruption through talent, science, skills and education. I am working on delivering sustainable reforms that expand and maximise access and opportunity, enhance quality and support world-class research.

I will begin by talking us through budget 2026, where I have done my very best to match available resources to the best possible return for the sector and to maximise the opportunities available. Let me start with one of the most pressing issues for students and families, the cost of education. Despite ongoing monetary pressures, affecting various cost-of-living measures, etc., that were available in previous years but were not available this year, which made the job of Ministers across the board more challenging, I was still delighted to be able to take a major step forward by securing a ring-fenced fund of €53 million to permanently reduce the student contribution fee by €500, which brings real relief and certainty to over 108,000 students next year. That is in fact the first permanent reduction in 30 years. Of course, I am aware that some students received higher subventions last year and in the previous year, but they were temporary, uncosted and unsustainable one-off measures that were not there on a year-to-year basis. They were not part of the baseline. I have spoken to many students and their families who told me that caused understandable anxiety and uncertainty and gave rise to questions every summer about what would happen next year. I can tell them what is going to happen next year, namely, that those fees have been reduced by €500 for good. I may well bring fees down further as the overall budgetary picture allows me to, but they are going in one direction, which is down, and that is there to stay.

I am also looking at the student grant scheme. It is so important that as well as working on fees we also work on targeted measures to give the most help to those who need it most. In addition to strengthening the student grant scheme, the SUSI income threshold has been raised to €120,000, the highest level in the scheme's history, allowing thousands more families to qualify for support. To put it in context, Oireachtas Members, certainly if they are the single earner in a single-income household, would now qualify for SUSI supports. It is not unreasonable to say that is a high threshold, the highest it has ever been. Everyone at or below it will now see some form of support. Up to 30,000 students living further from home, more than 30 km from their place of study, will benefit from the non-adjacent grant categories and will receive additional maintenance grant support. I have increased maintenance grants across the four base levels - a special rate and the three non-adjacent bands. That means true inclusion and access.

I have also widened the pathways for students with disabilities. I increased the fund for students with disabilities by €3 million, comprising an additional €1 million in higher education and €2 million in further education. Through PATH 4, 195 students with intellectual disabilities are now enrolled across 11 higher education institutions, which is a milestone in building an inclusive system. The disabilities demonstration project, which was launched this year, is a pilot scheme to study, engage and consult in order to understand what is the best policy framework for flexible, appropriate, responsive supports for students with disabilities to help them transition into education, further and higher education and beyond that into employment. That is very much a reflection of our commitment to equity, inclusion and our obligations under the UN conventions and other human rights instruments. Those reforms build on a series of actions across the board, some of which I have outlined. We are also removing fees in further education to expand eligibility and increasing maintenance rates. Funds for disability are up. Mental health supports are up and fees are down. That is very much the direction of travel that I want to continue.

We are all well aware of the challenges of student accommodation in terms of affordable rents and supports for that and also viability in terms of challenging the sector to do more, provide more and incentivising investment in it. Accommodation remains one of the most significant challenges facing students. My Department is working on a student accommodation strategy, which I expect to conclude by the end of the year. It will increase supply, improve viability and address affordability while again giving the most help to those who need it the most and focusing support on a socioeconomic basis to give people in disadvantage additional help over and beyond what might be done on a universal basis.

A VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9% on the sale of apartments is included in the Finance Bill. I am engaging on an ongoing basis with the Minister for Finance to ensure that is maximised to incentivise the delivery of student accommodation. There are an additional 15,000 beds with planning permission in the system that have not yet progressed. This measure, among others, may be the incentive that is needed to kickstart that development.I mentioned already that I have also increased the maintenance grants for the first four base grant cohorts, the special rate and the non-adjacent band 1, 2 and 3 rates, for students living 30 km or more from their place of study. This benefits 30,000 students, who will get additional support of between €200 and €460 per student. This is to reflect the fact that students who are non-adjacent, 30 km or more away from their college, obviously have greater expenses in terms of travel and accommodation. These supports are to recognise this situation and give these students that little bit of additional support. The rent tax credit has also been extended to 2028. I hope this will also be of some assistance.

We are beginning to see some of the projects coming good. Maynooth University’s new 116 beds have now come on stream. I was delighted to be there myself recently to open Teach Uí Bhuachalla. I also turned the sod at University College Dublin, UCD, for an additional 493 new beds. Those units are now under construction. I was happy to sanction €67 million to go towards that project. We have also published the design guide to support the delivery of student accommodation, optimise construction and development and to come up with a standardised set of architectural blueprints so design providers, HEIs, developers and people in the sector are guided. These are reflected in section 28 guidelines to local authorities. This means a set of templates is available to those providing accommodation that optimises the number of beds while providing appropriate leisure and other support amenities. I continue to engage with the Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne, on the rent pressure zone, RPZ, review to ensure students are protected and afforded the maximum protection under the new rules that will come into effect next year.

Turning to pathways into education, I heard several people raise the issue of the Central Applications Office, CAO, system, the leaving certificate model and the points race. I met representatives of a number of student unions before the budget. I also meet them on an ongoing basis. I had a number of consultations with them to understand their challenges and requests. One of the issues that comes up is the CAO system. The issue crystallises around this aspect, but it is really about what happens with the leaving certificate examinations, the results and the points. It is about what the pathways into third level are and whether we should have wider access points and wider subject choices, with specialisation deferred until later in the system. There is a question of whether it should become more of a graduate school option and if we should have more graduate entry into some courses, as we have already, and if we should widen this approach. Things like tertiary degrees are also very innovative. I am initiating work around this reform, the entry points and how this process works. I think this will be beneficial, as will the consultation as it goes on.

I am focusing heavily on research and innovation. I am working on a new research infrastructure fund that will support research and innovation in our universities, across our HEIs and in collaboration with industry, using best practice on a global stage to harness the innovation and talent we have strongly in this country. The apprenticeship system has the highest budget ever this year. An additional €79 million was allocated in budget 2026, bringing the total up to €410 million, which is double what the funding was only five years ago. Registrations continue to increase for apprentices. It is an outstanding path to follow for young people so inclined.

I have much more to say, but I will leave it there for now. I look forward to listening to comments from colleagues.

Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Gabhaim buíochas leis as teacht chun an Tí seo le labhairt agus éisteacht lenár dtuairimí inniu. Fianna Fáil welcomes these statements and this opportunity to contribute to the discussion on further and higher education, research, innovation and science. As the Minister rightly asserted, for us in Fianna Fáil, this area has always been central to our national story along with the belief that education is a great equaliser, the foundation of opportunity and the driver of progress.

Expanding access to education has long been a cornerstone of our vision for Ireland, from the introduction of free secondary education by my fellow Limerick person, Donogh O’Malley, to the expansion of our university system and, more recently, as the Minister referred to, to the establishment of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. This is because as a party we know the value of education. We understand the critical importance of skills development and research and this is why we felt the sector needed its own focus and leadership and a seat at the Cabinet table to ensure it was given the prominence it merits.

We can see the fruits of this ongoing focus on education over the decades through the ever-increasing rates of higher education attainment. In fact, Ireland leads the way in education, outperforming the EU27 average in third level attainment across all age groups. In all but one age group, we are outperforming the EU27 average by 20 percentage points. I will give one example. Last year, the CSO revealed that 66% of all persons aged 30 to 34 had third level qualifications. This is an increase from the equivalent figure of 39% in 2004. This is significant progress by any measure and it did not happen by chance. It is the result of decades of focus, sustained investment and strong policy direction. It is a reflection of the belief we hold dear in Fianna Fáil and, indeed, more broadly in Irish society, that learning should never be a privilege for the few but a right for all.

Building on the focus for higher education and research that led to the establishment of the Department, the programme for Government sets very clear and ambitious targets for the Minister. These include closing the core funding gap that exists by unlocking the National Training Fund and he has made progress this week on this goal. Another target is to develop the framework for borrowing for technological universities and develop a pathway for these institutions to access capital funding for initiatives, including student accommodation. This is dear in my area with the importance of the Technological University of the Shannon, TUS, in Limerick and the important contribution it has made to our regional economy over the past decade and more. Other targets include: providing more training places nationally; continuing to reduce the student contribution fee in a sustainable way over the lifetime of the Government; increasing maintenance grants and reforming SUSI; increasing supports for PhD students to encourage emerging researchers; working with industry and educational institutions to provide more short and microcredential qualifications; and funding graduate research programmes to support economic development and growth.

As the Minister rightly said in his opening comments, his Department is leading the response to global disruption. While much is owed to foreign direct investment, the work of IDA Ireland and the policy direction set by successive Governments over the past number of decades, much credit is owed to those decisions made in the recovery of our economy in the past decade. We must now ensure that the next chapter of our country’s economic history is written by indigenous companies and businesses. We must support them to scale up to be more innovative and to succeed in their efforts to trade into Europe and beyond. The Minister’s Department and skills are at the forefront in ensuring that vision is recognised.

I take this opportunity to welcome what the Minister has delivered in budget 2026. It is the most significant package of permanent supports for further and higher education in a generation. The measures the Minister announced bear mentioning again. There will be a €500 permanent reduction in the student contribution fee, the first since free fees introduced in 1995. The SUSI income threshold will increase to €120,000, the highest ever, extending support to thousands more families. There will be a rise in the SUSI non-adjacent rate by between €204 and €430 from September 2026, which will support students who have to travel or rent to attend college. There will also be an increase in the SUSI postgraduate grant to €4,500 and an increase in the research and development tax credit from 30% to 35%.

This all underscores the determination of the Minister and the Department to keep Ireland, and regions like mine of Limerick and the mid-west, at the forefront of global innovation. It supports collaboration between academia and enterprise and strengthens our reputation as a destination for high-value investment. These are meaningful changes that ease pressure on families, while opening doors for those who might otherwise have been locked out of education. From a mid-west perspective, I broadly welcome the expansion of healthcare places. There are more than 1,100 new spots across medicine, nursing and social care and a 27% increase that will help to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals nationwide.

I also particularly welcome the record €79 million investment in apprenticeships announced in the budget. This is more than double the 2020 level. Apprenticeships are no longer confined to traditional trades and now span technology, cybersecurity, green energy, manufacturing and healthcare. At the Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, we heard a great deal during recent meetings from employers, workers and student representatives on this topic. These contributions have reflected what is going well and advocated for changes and improvements these groups would like to see being made. We look forward to reflecting all this back to the Minister in the coming months.

As the Minister correctly highlighted, however, accommodation is one of the most pressing issues for him during his term.We cannot speak about access to education without speaking about access to accommodation. For too many students and families, finding and affording a place to live has become one of the biggest barriers to accessing further or higher education. I thank the Minister for visiting the University of Limerick again two weeks ago. I believe it was the Minister's third visit to Limerick since he has taken office and we greatly appreciate his commitment and engagement to the sector in Limerick and the mid-west. The Minister will remember that on the occasion of the opening of that impressive students' union centre, the Minister and I were briefed that this is now also home to a breakfast club that the students' union has established to support students who are travelling from great distances on a daily basis. They are commuting to attend university in Limerick because they cannot find accommodation nearby. Due to traffic and bus connections they are often arriving on campus between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. before anything else opens. The students' union at UL has provided a daily breakfast club supporting over 100 students. It is important. I know the Minister was as struck by that as I was and it is important that we acknowledge this reality clearly and honestly. It is difficult, it is expensive and the shortage of accommodations is impacting students' choices about where to take up courses and study.

I will finish by commending the Minister on the commitment he has shown to addressing this issue. I know he is working closely with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on it and I look forward to the publication of his comprehensive student accommodation strategy later this year.

Joe Conway (Independent)
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I join with the Acting Chairperson and with the previous speaker in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to the House. I have only met the Minister once before but on hundreds of occasions I had the pleasure of working with his mother Mary in a couple of educational sectors. During the recess I hope the Minister finds the time to pass on my very best wishes to her. She was always a joy to work with.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I will of course.

Joe Conway (Independent)
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Back in 2014, Waterford County Council and Waterford City Council amalgamated. At the first meeting of that amalgamated council in July 2014, I put a question to the then chief executive, Michael Walsh. I asked him if he could tell the council how many apprentices there were in the new amalgamated council. He said he regretted to tell us that the number was zero. I thought it was a shocking indictment of a local authority at the time. Obviously, things have changed, with a lot of fosterage and good governance by the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and his predecessors. The number of apprentices that we have under the Minister's aegis would be close to five figures, perhaps 9,000. It shows a remarkable adjustment in national planning that we have gone from the situation where we had very little apprenticeship in the Cinderella of the economy where the whole thrust with young people was to get to universities and to become lawyers and doctors and brain surgeons. Of course, a lot of this has borne out the problems we have in providing housing for our ever-increasing population, which is at record figures now. It is on that subject of apprenticeships and the Minister's work that I want to give a little time to the successes and the challenges.

If the Minister will permit, I will look at my notes and I will need my specs for this overview of the apprenticeship model in Ireland. I am just going to have a little scoot through it. The apprenticeship model, as we all know, follows an earn-while-you-learn model, which combines on-the-job training with an employer and off-the-job training in an educational training centre for a duration of two to four years depending on the programme. The eligibility is open to school leavers, career changers and mature learners. Typically, these are employed by an approved employer before starting. When I began to research this, it really surprised me that the qualifications can go anywhere from the level 5 to the level 10 award, which is extraordinary vision in the scheme. There are now nearly 80 programmes that I could assess. These courses enjoy the support of the traditional trades such as electrical, plumbing, carpentry, and motor mechanics but there are also newer sectors, which Senator Ryan averted to, such as finance, accounting technician, insurance practitioner, ICT, cybersecurity, software development, engineering, manufacturing and industrial electrical engineering, hospitality and food, commis chef, butcher, healthcare and social services. The list is quite exhaustive. All the while, the apprentices are paid by their employer. The rates vary by sector and the year of training. Reasonably generous employer grants are available to encourage uptake. Apprenticeship bursaries exist for underrepresented groups and particularly for women in a male-dominated section of the trades. There are no tuition fees for most of the programmes.

According to Arcon Recruitment and SOLAS, the most sought-after trades include electrical and plumbing. A couple years ago, I was mayor down in Waterford. When you are a mayor, you are wheeled out to officiate and do all the presentation things. I was brought along to the South East Technological University and I had the great pleasure of presenting the degrees to the apprenticeship class. I would have to say that it was one of the most memorable occasions of my time there. I was talking to them all and the vast majority of them were going to be, as they said to me, a "sparky". They were all going off into the electrical trade. People who are building houses are telling us about the difficulty in recruitment and they will still say that sparkies are hard to come by.

Looking at the downside, however, it is not all good news and bravado from me, I am afraid. The apprenticeship system in 2025 faces three major shortfalls that I can see, namely, persistent backlogs, underfunding to a certain extent, and uneven access especially in construction and in the rural areas of the country. As of mid-2025, over 9,000 apprentices are waiting to qualify, particularly in the craft and construction trades. Delays stem from limited capacity in training centres and especially for off-the-job phases, which are essential for qualification and certification. Some education and training boards have deferred courses by up to a year despite record enrolments. The impact of this is that the bottleneck slows down the entry into the workforce and exacerbates labour shortages, notably in housing and infrastructure, and it can discourage new applicants. Then there is the question of funding shortfalls and resource constraints. Unions like SIPTU and Unite report that the system is underfunded and overstretched, with insufficient investment in facilities and staff. That is their take on it. Despite a 34% increase in registrations from 2019 to 2024, funding has not kept pace with demands because smaller ETBs struggle to maintain programme quality. Some employers are reluctant to participate due to the lack of financial incentives.

I can see that my time is flitting away and I just want to address the uneven access and regional disparities. Apprenticeship opportunities are concentrated in urban centres, leaving rural areas like parts of Waterford and particularly west Waterford with fewer options. Smaller local authorities such as ours and employers often lack the capacity or awareness to engage with apprenticeship schemes. There is also the inevitable gender imbalance, with women underrepresented in many high-demand trades. This undermines Ireland's goals for balanced regional development, which we talk about a lot in this Chamber, and inclusive workforce planning under the national planning framework. The suggested remedies I am giving as the humble Senator here are ring-fencing the funding for smaller ETBs and rural employers, expanding the training centre capacity especially in construction and ICT and streamlining the qualification pathways to reduce delays and bottlenecks. I hope that my cúpla focail will have added somewhat to the quantum of knowledge and understanding on the targeted outreach and bursaries that will improve geographical equity and gender equality.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister to the floor of the Seanad. I welcome his statements. Indeed, the Fine Gael Party group in the Seanad welcomes the measures announced in budget 2026 that will, obviously, directly support learners across Ireland. I warmly welcome the permanent reduction in student fees and the expansion of SUSI grant limits. There are a lot of pluses in the Minister’s statement and I welcome every one of them, particularly the permanent reduction and SUSI limits. These are important steps that will reduce financial barriers and enable both young people and mature students to complete their studies. The permanent fee reduction signals a long-term commitment to affordability in higher education. Expanding the SUSI grant eligibility and increasing grant levels are a recognition of the reality of modern student life and will improve retention and completion rates.

It is important to be clear about what remains unaddressed. Many student representative organisations and institutions sought a €1,000 reduction in annual student charges, but that specific reduction was not passed on in the budget. The absence of the €1,000 relief that was requested represents a meaningful shortfall for students and their families, especially for those who do not qualify for the enhanced SUSI supports. While the Government's measures are necessary and welcomed, under the programme for Government, the Government committed to making higher education more accessible and reducing the financial burden of fees. That commitment set a direction of travel towards further reduction and, ultimately, the abolition of student fees. While budget 2026 moves us forward in that regard, we need clarity and a credible timetable to meet the programme's promises. I am calling for a clear five-year commitment for all students and families who require certainty to plan their futures. I ask that we convert the positive steps in budget 2026 into a clear timebound commitment that aligns with the programme for Government. I specifically call on us to commit to a published plan to abolish student fees within five years, which will include interim targets for annual reductions and a transparent funding model to achieve that outcome. Budget 2026 is a meaningful step in the right direction. Students deserve more than goodwill, however. They need a credible, funded route map to assist with fees. I welcome the Minister's leadership to make that plan real and honour the programme for Government commitment to abolish student fees within five years.

Earlier this year, I raised serious concerns with the Minister’s office with regard to rumours that were being highlighted to my office by a number of students concerning the SOLAS apprenticeship schemes. We know the success of the apprenticeship schemes run across the country. They are unbelievable. Sparkies are hard to come by. My son is on an electrical engineering apprenticeship at the moment, so I understand and have the life learning skills of having a student going through this course.

I note and compliment the Minister and his officials on their correspondence acknowledging the 2025 funding pressures and the actions taken to avert disruption. Disruption would have happened otherwise. I wish to inform the House that, in the Minister's correspondence, he confirmed that the Department engaged with SOLAS and the ETBs and identified a funding pressure in the apprenticeship budget for 2025. The Minister directed SOLAS to work with Department officials to develop a sustainable solution to minimise disruption to existing apprentices. Craft apprenticeship demand has risen substantially, which everyone knows, welcomes and is delighted with. Registration increased by 35% since 2019, from 5,271 in 2019 to 7,113 in 2024. There has been a rise in total craft apprenticeships from 16,000 in 2019 to 25,000 at the end of 2024. These are significant challenges that the Minister's Department and officials are facing. The Minister prioritised resources to meet those funding pressures. He engaged with the SOLAS board and instructed officials to work with the SOLAS executive to avoid cancellations. SOLAS was directed to work urgently with the ETBs to complete rescheduling for the remainder of the year. ETBs completed rescheduling on a rolling basis. On 11 August, SOLAS finalised the funding allocation for apprenticeships with the ETBs, enabling delivery for the remainder of the year without cuts to wider further education and training funding. The Government's investment in 2024 and 2025 helped unblock the previous backlog in phase 2 and allowed more apprentices to progress through phase 2 and phase 4, reinforcing the commitment to the national apprenticeship action plan 2021-2025. That is fantastic work. I thank the Minister for confirming the immediate measures taken to stabilise the 2025 provision.

To ensure confidence in the apprenticeship system beyond this, I request clarification from the Minister on the following points. What specific provisions have been made to ensure adequate and sustainable funding for apprenticeships from 2026 onwards? Has the Department developed a multiyear funding model that reflects projected growth in apprenticeship numbers? Will future apprenticeship allocations be ring-fenced to protect delivery from broader budgetary pressures within further education and training?

I acknowledge the decisive steps taken to protect apprenticeships and apprentices in 2025 and the collaborative work between the Department, SOLAS and our ETBs. Apprenticeships are not temporary measures; they are a core part of Ireland's skills architecture and economic future. I ask the Minister to provide the requested clarifications and publish the funding roadmaps so employers, training providers and learners can play with certainty. I look forward to working with the Minister in this term and into the next couple of years. I thank him for his work so far.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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Our young people are among the most highly qualified in all of the EU. We have the highest number when it comes to young people between the ages of 25 and 34. That is something to be commended. Unfortunately, our system is not without its challenges. I will address a number of the issues. First, with regard to fees, we have free fees in name only. It is a student contribution charge. It was introduced a number of years ago at €3,000. While it is being permanently reduced to €2,500, for parents who had children in third level last year and the year before, they only had to pay €2,000. For them, it is an increase of €500. It is unfortunate that it could not have been left at €2,000 for another year. Is it the intention going forward to continue to reduce that charge until it is fully abolished? That is something we need to plan for.

As has already been identified, student accommodation is one of the biggest issues facing students at present. We hear all of the stories of the long commutes that students have to make because they cannot get accommodation at an affordable rate close to their colleges. Many of them rely on public transport, which is often not very reliable. Others are paying quite high costs for rent, which results in them having to work part time along with studying. In fact, although working part time, they often work quite long hours which means that their studies suffer. They may end up failing exams or even dropping out because of burnout. We hear of other students sleeping in their cars or sofa surfing in their friends’ apartments. It is just not good enough. It is not enhancing the experience of third level students.

Even with purpose-built student accommodation, the rates students pay can be up to €1,000 per month. Those rates are often charged for 12 months, even though they do not need the accommodation for 12 months. They may only need it for eight or nine months, but they have to pay it because of the shortage of availability of accommodation. The current shortfall is identified as being between 25,000 and 30,000 places. It is predicted that figure could rise to 68,000 by 2035. That is substantial and needs to be addressed.

UCD is probably the college with the greatest amount of accommodation, but it is also probably the most expensive. The UCD village, which was completed in 2021, has three tiers, which were initially called the silver, gold and platinum tiers. The rates charged for each tier increased to a spec that they did not need to be. The tiers have since been renamed to tiers 1, 2 and 3, but the costs attached are still quite substantial. The Minister referenced the investment of €67 million in phase 2 of the village, which is obviously welcome. A concern was raised with me that the cost seems to be substantial, however. It is approaching €250,000 per bedroom on university-owned land. To me, that is extortionate. Charges will end up being high again to try to make up for that cost. I am not sure why the cost is so high.With the tendering process, the contractors are coming in but I think we need to standardise the accommodation. It does not need to be a high spec. We should just make it substantial and appropriate, but something that is suitable for students and good quality without being too expensive. A lot of the student-specific accommodation is provided by private investors. A lot of them are investment funds. They are getting generous tax breaks. They are building to quite an unnecessarily high spec and, therefore, it costs a lot to the end user.

The other issue is the disparity in the borrowing framework for technological universities. Traditional universities can borrow money, often through the European Investment Bank, to build on-campus residences but technological universities cannot. This has been acknowledged for years. The 2018 Technological Universities Act foresaw a borrowing mechanism. In 2021, the Government announced a clear decision to allow it but there is no mechanism in place as yet. The Minister is aware of this. He has been working with the TUs so perhaps he could give us an update on where that is at. Some of the TUs are ready to go if this was put in place. They have their plans in place. They are ready to go to planning, practically. Now, it would still take a couple of years for the construction to be completed but at least there would be an end in sight and they would be able to provide accommodation. Only one technological university has some accommodation at present. The rest of them do not.

In relation to North-South mobility and co-operation, it is good to see that there has been an increase but it is something that we need to look at and increase further. Within the shared island unit, there is the North-South research programme. I would like to see that enhanced and its remit widened to maybe look at education at third level on an all-island basis. There is a disparity between the different assessment structures, such as the A-levels as compared with the leaving certificate. They are quite different. The entry levels for university for people from the South going North and vice versaneed to be worked out in order that it is fair to all of the students. I definitely would like to see more North-South co-operation between our universities and colleges.

On the Irish language, the Minister mentioned, as outlined in the 20-year strategy for the Irish language, that 20% of recruits to the public sector must be competent in the Irish language by 2030. That is only around the corner and we are not near it at present. Only 1% of our third level students receive education through the medium of Irish. Many of our students have had their education to date through Irish, in primary school and post-primary school, and it is extremely difficult for them to then have to try and start learning through English. We need to increase the range and uptake of Irish-medium courses at third level. We need to train students across academic disciplines and third level institutions to be competent to work in Irish, both to meet the educational skill needs of our Gaeltacht communities and our Irish speakers everywhere but also because within the EU our language is a recognised language and because of the 20% public service recruitment target, which is only around the corner. We could learn a lot from the Welsh model because 20 years ago, only 3% of their students were learning through Welsh - my figures could be slightly wrong but they are around that - but now it is 20%. They have done that in the space of 20 years or maybe less. We need to look at something on the same level. Also, third level students have indicated that they would like to see something done in Ireland similar to what was done in Wales, namely, is free language courses within the college, not necessarily to do their course through learn Irish but to learn to speak Irish because there is an uptick in interest in the language at present and we should capitalise on that.

On apprenticeships, I note the Minister stated there is a reduction in the fee. I would like to see that fee reduced until it is finally abolished. Many of our apprentices are working for very small money. They are getting way less than the minimum wage. I heard about a case recently where a young lad - he was in his early 20s because he had done something else after he left school and then went into an electrical apprenticeship - was getting €7 an hour when he started. It might have increased in his second year to €8. I know that when he is qualified, he probably can charge what he likes because there is such a shortage but it is difficult to attract people, especially older people who might have a family or other commitments, into doing apprenticeships if the wages are so low.

On the further and higher education committee, we are looking in depth at apprenticeships. We are all pretty familiar with traditional craft apprenticeships but there is then an uptick in the number of business-led consortia apprenticeships. I welcome the fact the national apprenticeship office is looking at an integrated model for the two but concerns have been expressed that it looks like it is going down the road of the consortium model rather than the traditional craft model. In Britain, they went down that road and ended up having to abandon it. They are going back to the craft model because a lot of students pulled out of that given that they ended up being used as cheap labour and students were not getting the appropriate training that they needed.

Laura Harmon (Labour)
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I wish to share time with Senator Cosgrove.

Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Laura Harmon (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister. It is welcome to have this discussion in the House this evening.

I want to start with a positive story. There was an article in The Echo today about a woman called Annette Donoghue from Cork and she has gone to college at the age of 81 to study Irish heritage and culture in Cork College of Further Education and Training. That was a powerful story and demonstrated the power of lifelong learning, which has to be intrinsic in our education system. People now do not usually have the one career for their whole lives. They often go back and retrain or decide they want to do something different maybe every decade. This is how we live now and our colleges and universities need to reflect on that.

In relation to funding for higher education, I believe the Minister has a huge opportunity to explore how the sector is funded as a whole and to ensure that we can act on the Cassells report and that we have a proper publicly funded model of higher education because we know now that a qualification, be it in further or higher education, is the same as a leaving certificate may have been in the 1980s or early 1990s. It is almost the expectation now that that is the standard educational attainment for a lot of people. Of course, apprenticeships are included as part of that as well in terms of people's choice.

We have the potential for a Niamh Bhreatnach moment. The late, great Niamh Bhreatnach, former Minister for Education, abolished student fees in the nineties. That paved the way for our economic development, and Celtic tiger years as well, in terms of education and global investment in this country. I believe the Minister has this opportunity now, during his tenure, to abolish student fees again. It was disappointing to see that there was not a commitment to permanently reduce the student fee by €1,000 in this budget. I hope the Minister will commit to decreasing it during the lifetime of this Government, as set out in the programme for Government. I was out last night knocking on some doors in Blackrock in Cork city and I was talked to a family. They were saying how they are deeply affected by the cost of living. They are paying €2,000 in childcare and the extra €500 now in fees. For them, the squeezed middle, they are really feeling this. It is being felt by people as an increase, as opposed to a decrease, on last year.

In relation to housing, I welcome the fact there will be a new student accommodation strategy. It absolutely needs to be delivered on by the end of the year. The sooner we can implement it, the better. Technological universities want to be able to borrow funding. They want to be able to acquire their own accommodation. There are 106,000 students attending technological universities and there is only 0.4% of available on-campus accommodation for those. We had the president of Munster Technological University, Professor Maggie Cusack, in front of the Oireachtas further and higher education committee recently and she said that she believes that housing is the biggest barrier to accessing education in this country. That is a pretty stark statement as to where we are at with housing. There needs to be more joined-up thinking between the Department and that of the Minister, Deputy Browne, in terms of housing. There need to be proper protections for students who are living in digs as well. The rent-a-room relief scheme is obviously welcome but it cannot be just plugging the gap in terms of the availability of accommodation. More purpose-build student accommodation needs to be built in this country. I have introduced legislation to clamp down on predators who advertise rooms in exchange for sex. We know that 5% of international students either have been directly offered or have seen these advertisements. It is welcome that the Deputy Lawless's colleague the Minister for Justice is including that in an upcoming Bill. We absolutely need to make sure that that is outlawed and that they feel the full weight of the law.

Student poverty is real. According to a University College Cork students' union survey, 28% of students said that they have gone to class hungry. I welcome the fact the Minister is looking at the thresholds and that he has made progress there. That is going in the right direction in relation to grants. I know that is at the forefront of the Minister's priorities.On the sector itself, I know the Irish Federation of University Teachers has identified through a survey that 36% of those working in universities say they are in precarious employment. Only 8% of them said they had written contracts. Only 15% of researchers said they were on permanent contracts and 60% said they had unmanageable workloads. This affects the student experience as well as the staff experience. They would say in their own words that higher education is chronically and structurally underfunded. We know that public spending has decreased by 40% in relation to income since the financial crisis years. How will we plug that core funding gap? When will that be done?

I think there was a missed opportunity to abolish the apprentice fee. I know my colleague, Senator Cosgrove, will speak about that.

For every euro spent on further and higher education, there is a return for our economy overall.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I will talk briefly about apprenticeships. The Minister said in his opening address that it is great to see much more investment in apprenticeships and further education and training, in particular. I worked for a time in Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board, MSLETB, in a training centre so I can see the level of support that students are getting.

My first Bill as a Senator relates to the inclusion of apprenticeships under the minimum wage. The Minister said in his opening address that there has been an uptake of 75% in apprenticeships since 2020. There has also been a drop-out rate of 20% in the past three years. A lot of this is due to on-the-job training. People are simply not able to afford to live.

Someone addressed the committee for further education and training recently. His name was Ben Friel. I heard him on the radio speaking about some of the difficulties that he is facing in having to pay for tools. He said it is especially difficult for apprentices, who have to pay for tools and take into account the cost of accommodation and the cost of living. In a wealthy country at the moment, someone starting off, being paid a wage, trying to live away from home, trying to include travel costs and having to buy their own tools while earning €7.76 per hour is not acceptable. I do not know how anyone is supposed to live. Many people are taking on a second job. I would love support when I bring forward the Bill in December. I hope it will get cross-party support. It is not a huge ask that apprenticeships are included, at the very least, in the national minimum wage. I would love to see us move to the living wage, but at this stage I hope we move to the national minimum wage.

I add my support to an ability to borrow for the technical universities. I know there is a shortage of accommodation in the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, in Sligo, as there is across the country. That institution has worked closely with Sligo County Council and has secured a site. All it needs is the money.

Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister to the House and look forward to engaging with him. I know he will bring a lot of thought to one of the most exciting briefs we have.

I am going to go into a couple of issues. I will start with a piece the Minister knows, which is that higher education plays a crucial role in shaping not just the careers of the individuals who move through it and the economy, but also the society. It is one of the ways we engage. It is the space for the ideas we need for the future, which will be challenging and where we will face hugely difficult global questions, as well as national questions. Ireland can and should be playing a key role in that regard.

One of the important things in terms of getting the best from higher education is investment. The Minister will be aware how far behind our European peers we lag in that regard. We must also ensure that we have the diversity we need in higher education and that those in higher education have the security to be able to do the work and to think about challenging and creative ideas. Many years ago, I launched a report called Living with Uncertainty. It looked to some of the key areas in precarious work, right across Irish society. This was approximately eight years ago. I was surprised that higher education emerged as one of the main areas of precarity. Since then, I have learned an awful lot more. The Minister will be aware that, back in 2023, the Seanad unanimously passed a motion that I put forward calling on the Government to engage specifically with the Higher Education Authority, universities, higher education institutions, trade unions and other organisations to look at regulations around the use of fixed-term and part-time contracts and contacts of indefinite duration, and to consider legislation to ensure that those employed to teach earn a living wage and there is minimal use of the hourly contract approach. The statistics from the Irish Federation of University Teachers show that 36% of workers consider themselves precariously employed. Of those who are on these short-term, nine-month contracts, 61% are not getting paid for the periods between terms. They are kind of disappearing out of the system and not getting that continuity. Another 31% work on an if-and-when basis.

When you are in that level of insecurity, it does not just stop you making plans for your life or make it impossible for you to get a mortgage or make it hard event to rent, it also means that you are not secure enough to do long-form or frontier thinking, which forms the building blocks of new ideas. Innovation is often framed as something that lands as quick ideas with start-ups. Innovation often comes from years and years of expanding what we understand, which creates the space for what new things might be possible. Building relationships in research is much harder when people are going year to year on contracts. It also affects diversity. Those who do not have the safety net of family or other money, those who are coming from diverse backgrounds and those who have children, particularly women, are more likely to leave higher education and go elsewhere. We lose wonderful people. This is an appeal to the Minister to address these areas, which should have been addressed, frankly, when the HEA Bill and the research Bill went through, but can still be and should be addressed.

I will move to some other areas of that role and make another appeal. I will discuss public-public partnerships. I met the former Minister of State, Mary Mitchell O'Connor. There are all these rules around public-private partnerships. I once submitted a parliamentary question asking about public-public partnerships and was asked if I meant public-private partnerships. For public-private partnerships, there are memorandums of understanding, MOUs, and all of this discussion. Public-public partnerships are crucial, especially when we look to things such as climate change and consider what we have seen in, for example, south-south exchanges. A delegation from South Africa, including the higher education minister, was here last week. There is huge scope for collective work with public investment. If the Covid-19 pandemic taught us anything, it was the crucial role of public research, and so much research is funded publicly, being available for public benefit and for the public good. The partnerships we can have across the world, not just within the European Union, are crucial in that regard.

I will talk about partnerships within the European Union. I have long been a champion of Horizon funding. There were many positive things within it, including the drive for gender equality. The Athena SWAN programme came from Horizon. However, I am very concerned that, as the successor to Horizon is being negotiated, there needs to be a strong voice for the ethical in that conversation. We know that, in July, the European Commission proposed suspending Israel from the Horizon programme due to the increasing humanitarian disaster but it failed to reach a majority at that time. Israel has been one of the largest beneficiaries of Horizon research funding. A total €1.3 billion came from the EU Horizon research programme 2014 to 2020 and a further €1.1 billion has come since 2021. Some of that funding has gone, for example, to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. A sum of €2.7 million was given to Israel Aerospace Industries, a major defence, intelligence and weapons systems manufacturer that advertises combat-proven technology.It is advertising weaponry and technologies of war that have been used in Gaza in breach of international law and basic humanitarian decency.

Consultations for the next round of Horizon Europe funding are ongoing. The consultation began in September and the deadline for inputs is February 2026. I urge the Minister to be a strong voice on this issue. We need the majority in relation to suspension from the existing programme, but the negotiating of the new programme must start from a presumption that we do not enter that programme in a context where we cannot be sure of how the research into these technologies will be used. Will it be used to further our collective humanity, by addressing issues like climate and others, or will it be used to inflict misery on our fellow humans? It is still possible to suspend for the 2028 to 2034 period and it is possible to shape the next Horizon Europe programme in a way that is really effective.

My final point is one I promised I would mention. I was very happy to be at the launch today of the global citizenship education report from the Irish Development Education Association, IDEA. The Minister will be aware that there is huge potential for global citizen education in higher education, not simply for those who study international affairs but in terms of global citizenship as a perspective right across many disciplines from the sciences through to the arts. Supporting that kind of connected, joined-up thinking from those in higher education is a real opportunity. IDEA's report includes a list of ideas from youth work focus to research funding and educating higher education policymakers. I know the Minister will look with interest at the report and its strategic plan. Crucially, this is an area whereby we can help to create the ideas people for the future. This applies not just in higher education but also in further education. Those who come back from life experience to re-enter education need to acquire skills but they do not necessarily come just to be trained for specific jobs. They come in with life experience, which can be absolutely transformative for particular disciplines.

Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I apologise that I missed his opening statement as I had to attend another meeting. Most of the points I wanted to raise have been mentioned by other speakers. It goes to show there is a common theme and the Minister is very much aware at this stage of the key focus for people. It is hard to believe the Ministry is a mere five years old. When we consider the concerns and issues raised by colleagues and the size of the Minister's workload, on which I compliment him, it is hard to believe his Department did not exist five years ago. It is even harder to believe that when it was established five years ago, the commentary was that we were only creating jobs for the boys with another Ministry. Sometimes, we must try to see the woods from the trees. This is such an important sector that I do not know how we got so far without having a dedicated Minister.

We are covering a lot to do with apprenticeships at the higher education committee at the moment. Therefore, there is no point in my duplicating that discussion here today.

I compliment the Minister on the €500 reduction in third level fees. There was a muddying of the waters as to the permanent nature of that reduction. It is not a temporary measure; that €500 cost is gone for good and it is the beginning of much more to come. Fair play him. He got a hard time over it but he stood tall. He came out the other side and is on the right road now. I compliment him on that and on the extension of the income thresholds for the SUSI grant. The commentary is about the squeezed middle and the people who got nothing in the budget. However, that extension is worth a lot to many families, perhaps not this year but, if they have a leaving certificate student in the family, they will gain from it next year. I am not here to clap the Minister on the back but it is important to acknowledge he is going in the right direction. Of course, there is a lot more to be done.

This really will sound like I am here to clap him on the back but I also welcome his initiative on the National Training Fund by way of the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025. For too long, that money was just left to accumulate. The Minister has taken the initiative and has plans for it. The Bill is currently on Committee Stage in the Dáil. When it comes to this House, we will not be found wanting in engaging with it. It is vital that the Bill is brought over the line and that the Minister gets his hands on the money and can start investing it. It must be invested in infrastructure within the higher education system. My colleague Senator Dee Ryan and I met with representatives of the universities on these issues. Technology and science have evolved so fast that third level institutions are left with laboratories and technical facilities that are outdated. There must be a massive input into the infrastructure. Before even discussing building student accommodation or new premises, there is a lot of infrastructure that needs upgrading. Artificial intelligence will play a massive role in education as we go forward. A massive capital investment is needed in the technology that will be required by the entire sector. I welcome that the Minister is freeing up the NTF. I hope it will be put to the very best uses to maximise the resources it can provide.

I have previously mentioned something that is a bit of a bugbear of mine. We talk about accommodation, transport costs and fees. The Minister needs to pull heads together to look at timetabling. I know families who are to the pin of their collar paying for four years of accommodation and fees. When the timetable comes out in October, their son or daughter has something like one lecture on a Monday, two on a Tuesday, none on a Wednesday, one on a Thursday and four on a Friday. There are four-year courses that are being dragged out to take four years. That is for the financial gain of the institution and it is the families paying for it. Let us consider the saving to a family if a student could do a four-year course in three years. That is a 25% saving on accommodation, transport and fees. It is quite doable.

That point was hammered home for me at the weekend when I read about a lecturer giving one lecture a week and being paid €175,000. I recognise that institutions may be contractually tied into an arrangement for previous employment but reading that hammered home the issue. The Minister needs to put a group together to examine this matter. It is so frustrating for parents to pay out for accommodation for their son or daughter 100 miles away, whether in Limerick, Galway or wherever, only to telephone their child and hear he or she had only one lecture that day. It is costing parents a fortune to have their child going to one lecture, then going into town and visiting the library. This situation can be changed. The duration of many courses could be reduced by 25%. If that were to happen, it would be a massive game-changer when it comes to the affordability of third level for the families involved.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister once again to the Chamber. Like the previous speaker, I will not spend my time clapping him on the back but nor will I kick him. If he is a success in his Ministry, we will all benefit. That is how we must look at it. Budget 2026 shows that he listened to what people were saying and he delivered where he could deliver. As Senator Dee Ryan said, he put a mechanism in place in respect of student fees that will enable sustainable delivery. I hope he will answer what other speakers asked about giving a clear path as to where that will go.

As I said, the Minister listened. I welcome the funding for medicine and nursing education, which will deliver 1,100 additional places, or an increase of 25%. That increase is much-needed in our economy at the moment. I noted the provision for 20 additional dentistry places this year. I especially welcome that because it was one of the first issues I raised in this Chamber back in February. There is a shortage in capacity for people with medical cards to access dentists. I hope the Minister will continue on that path. I welcome that he has listened to people in respect of these measures. Earlier this year, Senator Boyhan and I tabled a joint Commencement matter on the lack of dental hygienists. There are only 20 places available in Ireland for dental hygienist trainees. There is huge demand for their services. Trained hygienists are travelling abroad and not coming back. An expansion in training places will alleviate pressure on dentists. The dentists being trained now will be able to be targeted in the services they can deliver for people in our constituencies. Dental hygienist training is a big sector and I hope the Minister will look at it next. The next area is apprenticeships. The National Survey of Apprentices 2024-2025 stated there were 28,434 apprentices in 2024. Budget 2026 has allocated additional funds of €79 million, enabling an additional 12,500 apprenticeships by 2030. That is once again an example of the Minister listening to what has been said in this House, in the Lower House and on the ground and delivering on that. I mentioned after budget 2026 that it allocated €130 million to house adaptation grants for older people. It allocated €140 million for retrofitting social homes. As we know, both of these grants take time to process and complete. That is mainly down to the lack of skilled tradespeople on the ground able to do that particular work. In the Generation Apprenticeship progress report 2024 and plans for 2025, statistics show huge progress in apprenticeships and the availability of them. However, I note that capacity in carpentry and joinery places is only increasing by 8%. Places in plastering, which is a key skill in retrofitting and insulation, are only increasing by 3%. Permanent places are only increasing by 13% for the new heating systems. I looked a few moments ago and industrial insulation is down 25%. Wind turbine maintenance technicians are down by 71%. There is a capacity issue and demand out there. I welcome the sectors mentioned here where there is potential for apprenticeships moving forward. The Minister sent a letter to me on 2 May 2025. He should not worry because this is not bad. He stated, "Solas and my Department will continue to work with GRETB to support ongoing consideration of current and future FET provision for the Roscommon and wider region to ensure that appropriately scaled infrastructure is in place to meet the needs of learners." Senator Joe Conway mentioned regional balance and delivering apprenticeships where they are needed most. I welcome the opportunity for the Minister to meet with the GRETB, me and any other representatives interested to see if we can agree on a plan that might deliver much-needed apprenticeships in places like Roscommon, one of the few counties without such a centre. It is regional balance, and it would help the costs for people doing the study. I also highlight that the important thing with apprenticeships is the opportunity. The difference between apprenticeships and a third level course is the opportunity to earn while you learn. That is the real thing we need to push.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for being here. It is good to have him, and he is welcome. We have talked about higher education. I want to talk about the human aspect of it and lives that have been transformed, challenged and shaped through higher education in our country. I believe our universities are more than lecture halls and libraries. They are places where ambition meets access and where the next generation of Irish citizens is formed. I was elected by the graduates of Trinity College, which itself is a cornerstone of intellectual life and a symbol of what can be achieved when education is allowed to flourish. Trinity has produced leaders in science, business and politics. Last week, I was there with the Minister to launch the strategic review. I was sitting in the exam hall. He was an undergraduate, then a postgraduate and now is a Minister in the hall where he was no doubt nervous doing his exams in the first place. It shows the potential of what entities and institutions like Trinity College can do. It has an outreach programme called the Trinity Access Programme, with which I am familiar through my homeless work. It has a commitment to inclusion and works not only to diversify the student body, but it opens doors for younger people in education. No matter what their background or bank balance is, their lives can change. That is the kind of Ireland we need to focus on, where a child from a disadvantaged community has the same equality and chance to succeed as a child of privilege. I know education remains one of the biggest divides in our society.

I will give an example of two guys the Minister met. They arrived at my homeless work in the Lighthouse a number of years ago looking for help. They had no education. They had no level of education. We got them into a college in Dublin to do a level 5. Unfortunately, they were living rough, so they were studying in McDonald's and they both failed the level 5. They had to repeat the whole year. I asked their permission to ring their lecturer, and they allowed me. I rang the lecturer and told her these people were living in adverse circumstances. I asked if it was possible for them to be allowed to repeat the module rather than the full year. I knew that if they were repeating the year we would have lost them. She said that if they cannot stand the heat they should not be in the kitchen. I went onto LinkedIn and found Dr. Joe Collins in South East Technological University and told him the story. I said that these guys could kick the ball out of the park if given the opportunity. He put a challenge to me and said he would back their education and give them a chance if I could try to get them accommodation. I did my part, and we got them accommodation. The two guys went and did their degree. They did their Masters degrees, they did a second Masters degree and were awarded an academic excellence award by the previous Minister for Education. It showed me that opportunity in education can transform lives. One of those guys recently bought a house. Nobody can afford houses anymore, but this guy did. It showed that education has transformed his life. That is the power of education and belief. It is also the power of the other supports necessary.

My colleagues mentioned rent for students and supported grants. It is impossible to get accommodation as a worker, never mind as a student. We are pricing people out of education, not through education alone, but through the likes of supported housing initiatives. Even if you look at the Funding the Future report it highlights a serious shortfall in core funding for our institutions. We need to look at that, but we need to look at supporting the individuals. That is the true measure of where education can make a difference in lives changed and not just in numbers published. At the Trinity event the provost spoke about the huge shortfall in its own funding. In order for institutions to be supported to take in students from disadvantaged backgrounds we need to focus on that. We have amazing institutions in Ireland like UCG, UL or DCU and all the way along. They should be places where young people like those I have mentioned should not only dream of education, but where they can take advantage of it.

I am confident the Minister has a vision, and I am confident he will bring it to pass. Education is one of the greatest equalisers and we need the barriers for people who have been in generations of poverty to be lifted. We need to make sure it continues, and I thank the Minister for his support of what we are doing in the homeless community.

Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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Before moving to our final speaker, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and his guest to the Seanad. They are welcome.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I can call him Minister now. The last time he was in this Chamber, I referred to him as Minister even though he was Chair of a committee. He might remember it because I did not recognise him. I always knew he would be a Minister, so I congratulate him. As he knows, I advocate a lot for people with disabilities. As somebody with a disability I benefited enormously from the opportunity to go to college in a time when you had to really work hard because very few with disabilities, and certainly very few with vision impairments, got to go to college or university. That situation has sadly not changed dramatically. While the technologies and so on have improved, unfortunately the numbers per head of population of visually impaired and blind people getting to university are not getting to the level they should. I was delighted to be part of launching a bursary and I have run fundraisers to fund a separate bursary run by Vision Ireland to fund so many students per year. I think it is a grant of €1,500 per year as a grant towards Saturday work because many of them cannot get Saturday work. If they did, it would compromise their ability to study and pass their exams.I would like to see some sort of task force put in place to look at people with sensory disabilities and why the numbers of deaf people, blind people and people with disabilities in further education are not improving. Our universities are accessible. They are wheelchair accessible and the lifts, libraries and so on are accessible but, sadly, we are not seeing the numbers going to college that we should be seeing. The HEAR programme is very welcome.

I am conscious that I have very little time. There is an awful lot more I would like to say but we need to look at paid graduate placement programmes for people with disabilities to prove to industry, business and so on that, once they get the opportunity, they are very capable of doing the job. I wish the Minister well. I really believe he is going to be a transformative Minister for further and higher education. I wish him the best of luck.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all of the Senators very much. I had a prepared speech but I am going to set it aside because it would be far more useful to reply to the contributions made in the course of the debate and to engage with the different points that were made. There was a lot of commonality in the contributions, which makes that easier.

I thank Senator Dee Ryan for the reminder that Donogh O'Malley was from Limerick. I have no doubt that the Senator will also go on to great things in the fields of education and politics. Donogh O'Malley led the way, followed by Lemass and Whitaker. That was the beginning of the construction of the knowledge economy we so rightly prize today. Senator Ryan also made a number of points regarding the National Training Fund, as did many other speakers. Senator Paul Daly met with the IUA and other stakeholders and the point was reaffirmed that it is imperative to invest in infrastructure and to implement Funding the Future, the Government response to the Cassells report. I am doing that through the National Training Fund. A Bill in that regard passed Second Stage in the Dáil just last week and will now move swiftly to Committee Stage. I expect it will make its way here in the near future. That is very important and it is something we are very much working on.

I will pass Senator Joe Conway's regards on to my mother. She was my original educator and also worked in education for many years. It is good to hear that she and the Senator have that friendship. With regard to apprentices in the councils, I heard the story the Senator told regarding Waterford City and County Council. He was rightly shocked that there were no apprentices at the time he inquired. We have an action plan for apprenticeships in the public sector. We should lead by example. If we are going to encourage and call upon private companies to hire apprentices, we need to be doing the same. We have an action plan as to how to do that, which I brought to Cabinet just recently. It is growing and we are getting there but we have a long way to go. There are a number of apprentices in my own Department, including a digital marketing apprentice. As the Senator rightly said, there are now many different types of apprenticeships across many fields that might not even have been considered many years ago. That is certainly coming through. The Senator also referred to underfunding in respect of the backlog at phases 2 and 4 of apprenticeships. That is being addressed. I have worked that through. Clearing that backlog did require additional funding but it is now progressing.

Senator Kennelly welcomed the permanent reduction in fees. I thank him for that. It is certainly very positive. It is permanent and is now constant in the baseline forevermore. A number of Senators asked about where we go next. As I said in a recent press conference, there is no limit to my ambition but there is a limit to my resources. I will make a general comment across the board. We have heard various calls, all of which I agree with. We must honour the pay deals that have been negotiated. We are also talking about Funding the Future, research and innovation funding, student accommodation, increasing grants and thresholds, disabilities and mental health. These are all things I have addressed in this budget. I will go as far as I can on the fees each year but there is a significant cost to doing that. This year, when I had less than €300 million in new money, €110 million would have been expended on a €1,000 reduction. What should have I cancelled? Would it have been the mental health measures, which cost €1 million? Would it have been the changes to the thresholds, the targeted maintenance grants, the pay deal, Funding the Future or student accommodation? There are choices. Every choice has an opportunity cost associated with it.

This budget was the first of what I hope to be a five-year term. I will work to expand on these measures every year and to make college more affordable but I firmly believe this should be done through a combination of measures. We need targeted interventions such as the maintenance grants, raising the thresholds and increasing funding for students with disabilities as well as universal measures such as fees cuts. I say these are universal but really they affect middle- and higher-income families because lower-income families do not pay fees at all because they are covered by SUSI. That is particularly true now, when the threshold is up to €120,000. Some families that would have paid €2,000 last year will get paid €2,000 because the thresholds have gone up. A family with an income of €119,000 will have the €500 permanent cut that is there for everybody but they will also have the new €500 fee grant because the threshold is €120,000. This year, that family is paying €2,000, which is the same as they did last year. They are getting there in a different way. There is a different sum to get there.

I would like to do a number of other things, some of which we discussed in this House last year. Earlier in the year, Senator Dee Ryan brought up larger families where there are multiple siblings in college at one time. There is a number of other things I am working on and trying to pilot but some of them take time to process. It takes time to design the policy intervention and get it through. In short, there is a number of things I would like to do around student supports next year, the year after and for as long as I continue to serve. I welcome the engagement from this House and from the Members because it is in these exchanges that we come up with ideas.

A few colleagues mentioned the abolition of fees. That is not in the programme for Government. The programme for Government, which is my bible and guides everything I do, talks about a continued reduction, which I have started this year. That does not mean we will not get there. I cannot look forward to the next five years because we do not know what the fiscal situation will be. We do not know what kind of shocks or black swans will arise. We had three black swans in the last five years. Nobody could have predicted that. In the last Government, the Minister, Deputy Foley, brought in free schoolbooks and free school meals. They were not in the programme for Government so, just because it is not there, it does not mean it cannot be done. The yardstick I work to is the programme for Government, which commits to a continued reduction. It also commits to continuing to increase targeted measures such as those I have spoken about, SUSI grants, the thresholds and so forth. Among the other points Senator Kennelly made, he raised SOLAS and apprenticeships. I have addressed that backlog and secured additional funding to clear it.

To respond to Senator Tully, I mentioned fees. We talked about the ambition in that regard a minute ago, although the fiscal reality is that we can only do so much. Every euro we spend on one thing is a euro we cannot spend on something else. On student accommodation, as the Senator rightly said, we do not need bells and whistles and frills in every single student accommodation development. We need to make them more affordable. I completely agree. In June, I published the student design guide. That provides a template. It is based on architectural consultation. It is on a par with Oxbridge, the Ivy League in the United States and the Nordic universities. It is no way a yellow-label solution. It is a practical solution that seeks to optimise the number of bed spaces and things like shared lounge spaces and common areas. The output is high-quality but there is a standardised design, which should make it more efficient for developers, builders and architects to get to work and maximise the number of beds available. That is very important. In addition, 30% of those beds are ring-fenced for SUSI recipients. That is important for equity.

A number of people mentioned the borrowing framework. I am working on that. To be honest, there is a challenge around that because, under legislation and the statutory framework, a traditional university can borrow off its own balance sheet but, because of how the legislation is structured, technological universities borrow on the State books, which brings EU state aid rules into play. Various different qualifications go with that. Approval is needed from the Departments of Finance and public expenditure. Other checks and balances get loaded onto that. It is more difficult. It is something I am acutely aware of. I have probably met all of the presidents of the TUs. I am working with my colleagues, the Ministers for Finance and public expenditure, to advance a proposal. I hope to see progress on that very soon, by the end of the year. It is not simple, however. I ask the Members to bear with me on that and to be conscious of the issues.

On the Irish language, I attended BIPA on Monday last week and met some Welsh colleagues who talked about the work they had done on the Welsh language. It is a good model to follow and it is something I will be engaging on with the committee on the Irish language.

On North-South interactions, just yesterday the Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, Caoimhe Archibald, and I jointly launched the first all-island apprenticeship with Accounting Technicians Ireland. I was proud to be able to do that. It is a 32-county model. The learning outcomes, curriculums and examination process are synchronised across the whole island. I hope to do a lot more of that. That is the first of many. We also fund a number of research projects through the shared island initiative on an all-island basis.

Senator Harmon spoke about Funding the Future. I reiterate my commitment to that. The National Training Fund legislation has now gone through Second Stage in the Dáil. That is coming through. I have also commissioned research on the impacts of different student support interventions. It is very useful to get that feedback, whether on fees, grants, more innovative measures.

Under apprenticeships, Senator Cosgrove spoke to the cost of equipment. In this year's budget, I have allocated a relatively small amount of money, €500,000, for a pilot around equipment placement for students or apprentices who have to purchase a lab coat, a tool or an instrument or who have to spend a week in the Gaeltacht. There are all sorts of things people have to do. There is a small amount of money there for a pilot scheme to look at the needs students have, the different expenses that arise and whether there is an equitable way we can provide funding to those who need it most. That is something I am very mindful of.I have also commissioned a piece of research on the impact of different interventions so that we can understand as many levers that we can more around the cost of education, what levers are the most appropriate and what will deliver which results.

On the sex for rent Bill. I am familiar with that and the work of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. When I was chair of the committee, we did a piece of work on that. It is important that this is tackled.

Senator Cosgrove spoke to the apprenticeship piece and the borrowing framework.

I know Senator Alice Mary Higgins is gone now, but I listened to her with interest. I met the South African Minister Manamela and his delegation. I had them in my office at the time. I also met his counterpart, the Minister for innovation, when I was in South Africa for G20 recently. It was a very good interaction. Senator Higgins made a good point about needing space and time to think innovation through in terms of research. It comes dropping slowly. The point was well made. I note the points made about Horizon as well.

I thank Senator Paul Daly for his comments and support. There were some hairy moments. In any Department, there always will be. I do my very best to deliver the best package with the resources available to me, which, unfortunately, are finite. The NTF Bill is going through, as are the apprenticeships. He made a really good point about timetabling. We talk about utilisation of facilities. If we have labs, ETB buildings and apprenticeship schools, they are sitting idle for half the day or for one of the days. My own daughter recently graduated. There is often one class on a Friday for an hour. Students may be commuting 90 minutes each way to get up and down for that one-hour class. Students may be juggling a part-time job as well, not to mention going to the library and all the other things such as having a social life. It is a real issue and I am going to commission a piece of work into the utilisation to see if we can do better.

Senator Scahill talked about the 1,100 additional places and dentistry, and he is right. I was very pleased last week to be able to visit RCSI and I have funded it for 35 additional places in dentistry. It uses a particular model there where the trainee dentist gets going on week two or week three on actual dummies and mannequins, unlike traditional models where it is all book learning for year one or two and then going to year three. It is a different way of delivering it. It is a very modern school there. I was delighted to be able to fund that and support it in that. We need to continue that across other fields. I would be happy to visit GRETB with the Senator. I was in Mervue at the start of the summer. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, has been down as well. I would be happy to take up that invitation at some stage.

Senator McCarthy is gone, but I am very familiar with his work. I visited a school in the Trinity access programme just last week for maths week. The school is in challenged circumstances in the Pearse Street area. I met some of the students and talked about maths and maths week. We did some kind of maths magic, which is a fun way to engage their minds in it. I recognise Senator McCarthy's work. He mentioned the Bobinac twins. I know them both. I met them at the Senator's various functions locally, but they are a really great example of how education can lift all and really elevate. They are wonderful young men doing really great work.

I thank Senator Martin Conway for his contribution. I have increased the fund for students with disabilities by €3 million this year. I am delighted to be able to do that. There is different additional funding that goes with the rest of it. I often think of David Blunkett, who was a Labour Party Secretary of State in the UK. He travelled by train to Westminster from his constituency of Sheffield every week. What was really remarkable was that he went on to be Home Secretary and a number of things. He was visually impaired.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I had him in here one time. He is a great guy.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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That is fantastic. I would have loved to have met him. He is sort of an icon. What was really fascinating about him was his battle on the council in Sheffield in the seventies and eighties. When he got to be Home Secretary he had a certain level of support. It was even more remarkable that he was able to cut through the feuding and challenges we all have coming through local government. He is a remarkable man and has a remarkable story. I always think of people like him when I am making these assessments. I was very pleased to be able to allocate additional moneys into those funds. Of course, there was an additional €1 million for mental health in the budget as well.

To reiterate and as was said, education has the potential to be transformative. My vision is of an economic driver and an equal enabler to enable equality of access and opportunity and, through that, drive the economy. I thank Senators for the opportunity for the debate and for staying for it. It is useful to have the interaction. I know they do it in here, but I ask them to please continue to approach me with ideas, thoughts, suggestions and critiques when they need to. My door is always open.