Third Level Fees
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

The Deputy makes the point well. I will not comment on collective Cabinet decisions, but I hear what the Deputy said. It is very fair. For my part, I attend to pursue a multitude of options to further support students. These include making progress on fees but also a number of other options in areas such as maintenance grants, funding for students with disabilities, mental health supports, the student assistance fund, accommodation support through the non-adjacent grants and so forth. As I mentioned to Deputy McGettigan a few moments ago, we will be publishing a paper that sets out the different options available to us, along with the costings of each one. This year, for the first time, I commissioned, through the new economics policy under my Department, an impact assessment that tells us what the benefit of each measure will be on particular cohorts and how it will be of assistance and progressive in reducing the cost of education. I assure the Deputy that I am committed to continuing the work of the programme for Government in full, including the fee reductions.

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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