Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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537. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of reducing the third-level student contribution also known as the registration fee by €500; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38055/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The student contribution was introduced in higher education institutions with effect from the 2011/12 academic year and replaced the Student Services Charge. 

While the student contribution now stands at €3,000, it is important to recognise that there has been no increase in the student contribution charge since 2014/15 and that currently in excess of 60,000 students have all or part of the student contribution paid on their behalf by the State via the Student Grant Scheme.

The estimated net cost to the Exchequer if the student contribution charge was reduced by €500 in the academic year 2021/2022 is c. €40.9m.

These calculations are based on the number of students that qualified for free fees funding in the academic year 2019/20, take into account overall projected increase in student numbers and factor in the resulting estimated reduction to my department's Student Grant Scheme budget.