I find myself fundamentally in agreement with the Deputy. To be blunt and honest here, we had to start somewhere and we started at the €3,000 fee. Any student linked to the €3,000 undergraduate fee benefits from the €1,000 reduction. Do we want to do more? Yes. Do we need to do more in respect of part-time students? We absolutely do for the reasons the Deputy has said. There are many people in society with a variety of backgrounds who will either need to access education in a part-time or blended way or it will sui…

Yes, I can, and it will be replaced in 2023. The first priority, and it has to be my first one, is to get building student accommodation. There are a number of sites and universities that have planning permission and land today and I need to get those projects built. It has not been possible to build them, and I do not mean to say this in a critical way of them, for whatever one may want to call it, be it market failure or lack of viability. We need to make a State intervention to get these projects moving. I inten…

It is important to note that my Department allocates recurrent funding to the HEA for direct disbursement to HEA-designated higher education institutions. However, as autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding is a matter for the individual institution. As is clear from the actions already taken in the cost-of-living measures outlined in the budget, my Department is monitoring the issue of stipends and the views expressed by students and other stakeholders. With that in mind, as an immediate and t…

I do not want to pre-empt the review but my instinctive view is in line with the Deputy’s in terms of this idea of a recommended minimum stipend. That is something that would be quite helpful because the more one looks into this issue, the more one realises there are so many different and diverse ways in which stipends are funded. There are the ones directly funded through my own Department’s agencies, there are the ones funded through public funds from higher education institutions directly, through the block gran…

This is an important issue for the well-being of our students, the next generation of leaders and some of our best and brightest. It is also an important issue from the point of view of the competitiveness of our country, a knowledge-based economy. I want to look at the stipend but, in any review, I want to look at more than the stipend, as the Deputy is suggesting. I think there are legitimate issues around how a PhD researcher or PhD student is classified within the university. I am not suggesting that there is a…

I agree that the technological universities have the potential to enhance progress in the delivery of national and regional priorities significantly, bringing higher education into the regions while creating institutions that are mandated by law to interact with local business and local industry on the development of courses. They also place an emphasis on matters like inclusion, access and serving the needs of their local populations. Their potential includes access to higher education, research-informed teaching …

I agree with that and I look forward to visiting the National Maritime College of Ireland later this year with Deputy Stanton and exploring how we can work together to offer support. I thank him for keeping in touch with me regarding this subject. When we talk about the technological universities, I very much believe they are equal to but distinct from the traditional universities. This is important; they are equal and there is parity of esteem. They are universities and it is possible to get any one of the whole s…

This should not be the case. I will look into this issue and revert to the Deputy with the figures. We have topped up, for want of a better phrase, the student assistance fund in recent weeks with the €8 million announced. I will respond directly to her regarding this matter. Turning to Deputy Stanton's contribution, I am eager that the technological universities collaborate internationally, and the area of blockchain technology is an interesting one. I will get a note for the Deputy regarding where these collabora…

I thank Deputy Aindrias Moynihan for raising this issue. To be honest about this issue, and it is important to be so, the Government's decision in the budget we announced links the €1,000 reduction to the €3,000 fee. The way I explain this in my own mind, therefore, is that if people are eligible to pay the €3,000 fee, they are then eligible to get the €1,000 reduction. This will benefit in or around 94,000 or 95,000 students between now and Christmas. We all welcome it, including the Deputy. There is an issue with…

Truthfully, I do not have the information here. If I do, I cannot come across it now but I will get it for the Deputy. He has made a fair point. I agree with his analysis that there are many students attending a whole variety of institutions that are not publicly funded but who may need assistance. This could be in terms of the cost-of-living crisis or in respect of other issues that can arise from time to time, in the context of the fund for students with disabilities, SUSI student grants and the like. I have clea…

The Deputy has rightly highlighted the work that remains to be done in reducing the cost of education. The Government that we are a part of - my party, the Deputy's and the Green Party - is the first to reduce college fees in about 27 years. It is a first step and it is not the only step we intend to take together. It has to be seen in the round. There is a reduction in the €1,000 fee, which is once-off. There is a permanent reduction of €500 from next year and an increase in the postgraduate supports so that more …

I thank the Deputy for the question and the short answer is that it is established. It is important that when you have an announcement in the budget, you examine how you will translate that into implementation. As part of the budget, I was delighted to receive a significant cost-of-living package for third level students. Some €143 million will be spent between now and the end of the year to reduce the cost of education for students and their families. That is in addition to the public transport fare reductions for…

There has been close engagement. I want to thank the HEA, SUSI, the Irish Universities Association, IUA, the Technological Higher Education Association, THEA, and the higher education institutions themselves for their assistance. We have had engagement with all of them and it is an important point because this is not money being taken from the colleges; it is the Government providing taxpayers' funds so the colleges can give that money back to students and their families. That process is in place. In addition to th…

On PhD students, we will fund the IRC and the SFI for those stipends. I expect those stipend increases to be paid between now and the end of the year and I will get Deputy Colm Burke a detailed note on it. The Deputy will also be pleased to know that 4,809 students in Cork will benefit from the additional student grant payment on 16 December. As Deputy Dillon rightly says, 1,736 students in Mayo will benefit from the additional payment on 16 December and I know that will help. Deputy Dillon is right that we are onl…

I think you should.

I will respond.

It falls within my remit. I have some information for the Deputy. I assure her that none of the student levy money has in any way been lost. Her colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, raised the issue with me yesterday. I spoke with the chair of the governing authority today on the matter. I hope a satisfactory solution can be found. It is an autonomous decision taken by the governing authority. I hope that the student centre can be delivered. The student levy has not been used or lost.

I am very happy to get information on any specific cases the Deputy has come across. From the Government's perspective, the situation is very straightforward. If a student is levied with an undergraduate registration fee of €3,000, the fee has now fallen to €2,000. If the fee was paid in full, which approximately 20% of students have done, they get a €1,000 rebate. For those who have not paid the fee in full, €1,000 will be knocked off the outstanding amount. If there are any issues the Deputy wants to bring to my …

As Deputy Conway-Walsh knows, we are pursuing a new policy in regard to student accommodation. For the first time as a State, we are going to invest in getting under way projects that have been stuck and building college-owned affordable accommodation. We will update the Cabinet committee on housing on this next week. I am meeting representatives of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, this afternoon on it. As the Deputy will know, we took a number of cost-of-living measures in the budget, such as the first reduc…

For all the changes and amendments we have made to this Bill, this is just a simple spelling mistake. I request that the Chair would direct the Clerk in accordance with Standing Order 196 to make the following minor correction to the text of the Bill on page 80, line 25: to replace the word “reprsentatives”, which is misspelt, with the appropriate spelling of the word “representatives”.