Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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851. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will increase the core funding for higher education institutions and ensure that it is index linked going forward; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15701/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of Higher Education funding on an annual basis is part of overall expenditure management and budgetary policy for Government. As such, indexing does not apply.

In 2025 the planned recurrent grant allocation for the sector totals €1.667 billion. This is an increase of more than €541 million, or 48%, compared to the 2019 outturn in the year prior to the formation of my Department.

This additional funding was provided to advance various measures including sector sustainability in line with the Funding the Future framework, to provide additional places in key skills areas and to meet demographic demand. It also includes funding to meet public sector pay agreements.

To address the query on delivering core funding increases into the future, I draw the Deputy’s attention to the Funding the Future framework. This policy supports the sustainability of higher education institutions in alignment with strategic priorities defined in the framework, alongside efforts to address the cost of education.

In line with this policy, we have already secured significant additional funding for the sector in the last three Budgets. As of 2025 we will have allocated an additional €164.4 million under the Funding the Future policy with a further commitment of €100 million from the National Training Fund in the coming years. This multi-annual commitment offers a clear path to realising the additional funding envisaged in the policy.

I will be advocating for continued exchequer investment in future estimates processes to deliver on priority commitments, including on priorities such as healthcare places and tertiary programmes.