Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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279. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of third level fees in each of the years 2024, 2025, 2026; his plans to reduce fees; and the timeframe in which such will be delivered. [29147/26]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous bodies responsible for their own academic affairs, including the development of relevant curriculum, determining tuition fees and student numbers on individual courses. Tuition fees can vary depending on a variety of factors, including the type of course and the method of provision.

My department does not maintain a schedule of the tuition fee rates that may apply for the thousands of courses that are offered across various higher education institutions each year. Therefore, the data requested by the Deputy is not available. The Deputy may however wish to note that each higher education institution maintains a schedule of the various fees that apply at individual course level. These schedules are available for review on their respective websites.

The Deputy will be aware that first time students undertaking a full-time undergraduate course may be eligible to have their tuition fees, exclusive of the student contribution, paid on their behalf via the Free Fees Initiative.

As part of Budget 2026, I introduced a permanent reduction of €500 in the Student Contribution charge. This flat rate reduction has reduced the rate from €3,000 to €2,500. This is the first permanent cut since free fees were introduced in 1995. It is expected to benefit around 108,000 undergraduate students with a further 14,000 apprentices benefiting from up to a 17% pro-rata reduction.

Students can also apply to SUSI to be assessed for fee grant supports. In 2024/25, approximately 65,000 students had their fees paid in full or in part by SUSI.

Looking ahead, I will continue to consider all options available to me to improve the overall student support framework and meet our Programme for Government commitments.