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

I assure the Deputy and the House that I will make the case in the budget negotiations to secure the maximum possible package for my Department for the benefit of students, apprentices, researchers and all the people within and for all the good reasons the Deputy articulates.
I expect the cost of college paper to be available in June or early summer, and certainly it will be with us before the summer break. It has been commissioned at the moment. It derives from the cost of college event, which we held with students and other stakeholders, and it will also draw upon information meetings with a number of groups, such as AMLÉ who I will meet in the morning, and many other groups I meet on an ongoing basis. When the paper is published, I will inform the relevant spokespeople.
I also welcome any collaborative input from spokespersons on education in the House as to the opportunity cost because it would never be possible, even if we had plenty of time, to do everything. Choices will have to be made. I would welcome a debate and formal discussion. The intention of that paper is to put the choices out there with the costings of this but not that, for example, and to take an in the round view on what is the optimal approach.

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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