Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Budget 2024 contains a package of measures to support households with the cost of living. These cost of living measures include the provision of one off funding to reduce the student contribution fee payable by higher education students that are eligible for the free fees initiative (FFI), in academic year 2023/24, by €1,000.

Net of students that avail of a 100% student contribution support through SUSI, it is estimated that this additional level of support towards tuition fees in 2023/24 may benefit up to 94,000 students at a cost to the State of circa €91.9 million net.

The final number of beneficiaries will be dependent on the number of students eligible for the Free Fees Initiative and 100% student contribution support through SUSI during the academic year.

In terms of statistical breakdown by county, as the Deputy may be aware, free fees eligible students are a subset within overall full time undergraduate students. While the Higher Education Authority (HEA) collect data on the home county of full time undergraduate Irish students enrolling in higher education institutions, neither my Department nor the HEA, compile data on the home county of free fee eligible students within the undergraduate cohort. Details of the number of beneficiaries of the Budget 2024 measure under reference by county or region are therefore not available.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's office has clarified that the question is

To ask the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to detail in tabular form the number of students from each HEI that benefitted from the Student Assistance Fund for the 2022/2023 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The number of students by HEI who benefitted from SAF for the academic year 2022/23 in tabular form is as follows.