Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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406. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for reimbursement of overpaid student contribution fees to students and their families for 2025-2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56091/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that I have secured funding in Budget 2026, to permanently reduce the Student Contribution charge by €500. This flat rate reduction will reduce the rate from €3,000 to €2,500 and applies from the current academic year (2025/26).

It is anticipated that this Budget 2026 measure will benefit around 108,000 undergraduate students and 14,000 apprentices, who will see up to a 17% pro-rata reduction.

The overall application of the reduction will be administered with the assistance of the relevant higher education institutions (HEIs). In this regard, my officials have written to the HEA in recent days to advise the authority of the Budget 2026 adjustment and of the requirement for the relevant higher education institutions to make the necessary changes to their financial systems.

There may be some instances where students have already paid the full €3,000 student contribution prior to the Budget 2026 announcement on October 7. Where such cases arise, higher education institutions have been requested to refund the excess amount as soon as practicable.

I have been advised that higher education institutions will communicate with their students directly on the overall process that will be in place in each institution.