Third Level Fees Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12 ============================================================ Eoghan Kenny (LAB), Cork North-Central I appreciate that. The Minister will be acutely aware of the level of concern among families and students to the news that there is a possibility that the incremental decreases in student contribution fees will not go ahead. The Minister mentioned that this must be done in a financially sustainable way, which is something that is not spoken about perhaps in the media or by other spokespeople. The Department might be financially sustainable, but why should students or the Department cover the cost for other Departments that are not so financially sustainable? That is not good enough. It is not acceptable to students. I do not doubt the Minister's bona fides on this and I am sure he would love to be able to decrease the student fees or even get rid of them altogether. A financially sustainable way of decreasing fees should not mean students have to bear the brunt for the Department of education's overspending every year. --- 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/2026-05-12/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-12