Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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812. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of officials within his Department in analysing alternative ways of funding third level education in lieu of the current 'student contribution' model. [27242/25]

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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876. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how the national training fund will be used to support enhanced core funding for higher education over the period to 2030. [27309/25]

Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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882. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of officials within his Department on the reform of the funding allocation model for Higher Education to ensure the model aligns with Government priorities and adequately underpins sectoral reform, as set out in ‘funding the future’. [27315/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 812, 876 and 882 together.

The Funding the Future framework published in May 2022, outlines the vision for how higher education will be funded and how this will support students, employers and wider society. The framework identified an amount of €307m as representing the quantum of increase in core funding required to deliver enhanced performance, strategic reforms and strengthened quality of outcomes.

Over a number of years, additional core funding is being prioritised through the Estimates process in order to deliver on the increased level of funding identified in this framework and to improve system capacity to respond to national priorities.

Over the three budgets since the publication of Funding the Future, an additional €164.4m has been secured in Exchequer and employer funding with a commitment to deliver a further €100m per annum by 2030. The €164.4m figure includes €58.7m that was secured in Budget 2025. The planned additional investment in higher education includes €650m in core funding that will be invested from the National Training Fund surplus between 2025 and 2030. This will see the annual core funding for the higher education sector increase by €150m per annum, by the end of the multi-annual investment period in 2030. It is anticipated that further additional exchequer funding will be secured in future estimates processes to deliver on commitments, including on priorities such as healthcare places and tertiary programmes.

The System Performance Framework 2023-2028 sets out parameters under which designated institutions of higher education identify their contribution to the achievement of institutional and national strategy, as appropriate to their mission, scale, location, and strategic plan.

It is the third iteration of the framework and the first to be developed since the passage of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022. This current framework facilitates diverse institutions to set individual strategic objectives in conjunction with the Higher Education Authority (HEA), while contributing to national priorities.

Four-year performance agreements have now been put in place with each institution, and the HEA will ensure monitoring and annual reporting through a strategy and performance dialogue process. This is intended to provide robust evidence on institutional and system health and inform the development of national policy.