Third Level Fees
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Shane Moynihan (FF), Dublin Mid-West

I ask for some consideration by the Minister of the possibility of exploring joint approaches with other Government Departments. When we see great people achieve greatness in their disciplines, we take credit for them and take pride in those people being Irish citizens. It would be great for people like these constituents we have dealt with who have an aptitude for things like ballet and will represent Ireland in the international arts environment, if we were able to say the State played a role in supporting their love of their vocations and in them developing the skills and doing the training they needed to excel on the world stage. It is about reviewing the criteria for SUSI grants, especially if there are niche courses like this for which there are no equivalents in this country. Consideration should be given to what kinds of supports could be made available. If it cannot be done through the SUSI angle, will the Minister look at partnering with other Government Departments or State agencies like the Arts Council and the creative Ireland programme, not only for things like ballet, but for other specialist art and performing arts we are all familiar with in our constituencies? We all take pride in them when they excel but we must ensure the State has played a role in helping them to do so.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23