Back to School, Further and Higher Education and Special Education: Statements
Dail Éireann — 2020-09-03
============================================================

Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I was not aware of that but I am more than happy to respond. If I do not get to all the issues in the brief time I have, I will write to the Deputy, if that is okay.
The House has, on all sides, been in an almost "Father Ted" mode of asking whether there is anything to be said for another committee. The Cassells report came before an all-party committee, which decided it would be worth having an economic evaluation. Before the existence of my Department, that economic evaluation was commissioned, with input from the European Commission. It is due back, I hope, in early 2021, and I will not be found wanting in acting then. I will be informed by it but not necessarily led by it. I do not want students to be starting their working lives levelled with significant debt, and that is the approach I will bring to that.
On SUSI reform-----

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2020-09-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:48:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2020-09-03