James Lawless
Kildare North · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I am always open to feedback. The academics and authors of that report are entitled to their views, as are others. I just do not share all of their conclusions. As the Deputy said, the consultant spending was before my time. A lot of it was before the Department even existed.”
“More broadly, and this is something I think there is great potential to do more on, we are also promoting modern methods of construction, MMC, so we can embrace 2D or 3D models where they are either partially assembled off site and then brought to the location or almost fully assembled and the finished kit is brought into place.”
“In the energy space, that includes a commitment of €10 billion to enhance the grid capacity, because we need to be able to transit the energy as well as generate it, the workforce and the talent to do that - everything from retrofitting to green energy technicians and renewable energy engineers.”
“The capital funding envelop available to me is the mechanism through which I fund these projects, which is significant with €4.55 billion allocated across my Department for capital projects. SETU is the relevant institute in the south east, and it has multiple campuses, including a presence in the Xcelerate Centre at St.”
“I will recap on some of the measures I have introduced already because it is important to put them on the record again. In the previous budget, I was pleased to introduce the first ever permeant fee cut for students since free fees were introduced almost 30 years ago with a €500 permanent reduction.”
“Exactly. That is why we have a record €4.5 billion commitment across the sector. Regarding student facilities, there is the likes of the bundle 2 PPP programme which enhances student facilities on university campuses across the country.”
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“I thank the Deputy for his continuing interest in the Cavan project as well as others. More generally, on the Department's capital ceiling over the last period there is a dedicated capital envelope, which the Deputy referred to, that amounted to €300 million for the further education and training sector, FET. Available funding has increased again from a low base of €6 million in 2018 to €107 million in the current year. That is a very significant multiplier of the available funding for the FET colleges and the FET system. Funding for the FET capital projects is distributed through SOLAS under a number of different funding streams. There are 70 small- to medium-scale projects being progressed at the moment.”
“The Deputy referred to the cost of transport and travel for students who are commuting, often because student accommodation may not be available to them. On those costs, we have the student Leap card and fare discounts have continued this year. They were part of the budget negotiations by me last year in my previous role. That is very important for students. There are other issues such as materials, the cost of laptops, books and so on. There are other types of support, whether it is support through fee subsidies, maintenance grants, support for accommodation or the provision of those services directly. It is multifaceted but I am certainly very aware of those challenges.”
“I totally agree. I will raise some of the progress we have made in recent years and which is continuing again this year, from this September. On the cost of education, the threshold is one part of it, and an important one. The SUSI grant system is one part also. There are other factors such as student accommodation, which I am working on. I hope to publish a strategy on student accommodation this summer. This will address student accommodation in a consistent way with a uniform template, or a set of templates, available for student accommodation builds. That has not been there in the past or it has been somewhat ad hoc . It is something I have asked the Department to focus on and produce that template, which will then assist with further student accommodation being made available.”
“There are other supports. There is the new part-time scheme for part-time students that was not previously available. This is now in place and I extended it to other courses recently. I am examining many other levers as well to ensure no student is priced out of education and no student is unable to access education because of financial barriers. The vast majority of students who need support should be getting it and if they are not, I want to hear about it, and change the system so they can get assistance.”
“I know the Deputy's commitment to North Kildare and to our shared constituency. I agree that education is absolutely a core part of that. Education, talent, skills and investment in people is the core of our success economically as well. That is why we, as a nation, have achieved everything we have. It is because of our investment in education from the early days of the State. It is something I continue to commit to and continue to advance. As I mentioned, the threshold now for some level of support is up to €115,000 for a household. That is significant progress. It is the largest increase since the creation of SUSI and it underlines the commitment to inclusion. This will ensure students in need of financial assistance are not disadvantaged with the rise in incomes. That is significant and will kick in from September.”
“On the Deputy's specific question regarding the threshold, the special rate of maintenance threshold will increase from €26,200 to €27,400 this September. All other maintenance and student contribution grant thresholds will increase by 15% so there is already quite a significant increase coming this September. The postgraduate fee threshold will also increase to match the new 100% student contribution threshold, which will now be €64,315. That means a household with a net income of up to €115,000 will still benefit from grant support.”
“Ultimately, we do not want one cohort of students to be deprived of services and support because we have changed something to benefit another cohort. We need to make sure the approach is consistent, coherent, fair and progressive. The paper I intend to publish will be based on engagement with the sector and with stakeholders. I held an event in Croke Park earlier this year at which I met with multiple different stakeholders from the educational sphere. I met access officers, student's union representatives, people taking up various different courses, people from disadvantaged sectors and spokespersons for people who traditionally have struggled to attain the education they wished to attain. All of those voices will be heard in the discussion.”
“I have already been engaged very intensively on this and I intend to publish an options paper in the near future that will identify the costs and potential impacts of various policy options. There are multiple different levers within the grants system. There are thresholds, monetary amounts and different types of support that can be made available. There are also different types of grants, including fee grants and maintenance grants, and, as Deputy Paul Lawless mentioned earlier, there are also adjacent and non-adjacent rates. There are a number of moving parts and I have tasked my team with coming up with a matrix of all of those parts so that we can see the impact of moving one lever on another lever.”
“I thank the Deputy for the question. I am committed to increasing the supports available to students and to addressing the costs of education for students and their families progressively over this year and the coming years for as long as I am privileged to serve in this office. It is important to say that all proposals made regarding education expenditure, including student grants, thresholds, limits, awards and so on, are considered annually in the context of the budget. It is in October that these discussions will take place for real. They are already under way and well advanced but that is the time at which decisions will ultimately be made and communicated.”
“I have met the Minister for Health on the matter and we have had bilateral meetings on it. I have also met with the Minister for disability, Deputy Foley, and others. We have a Cabinet subcommittee that meets very regularly to progress the matter. It is an all-of-government priority. It is essential. As Deputy Currie has mentioned, placements are a challenge. My Department and my team can provide the courses and the education but the HSE and the different workplace settings need to offer placements to match. One cannot work without the other. That is an ongoing challenge.”
“I thank Deputy Connolly for his support in my visit to Galway last week. He is a great advocate for the college and works closely with the team. I believe he is a former student. That was a very good engagement. I agree with both Deputies on the real need to examine all options and all levers at our disposal to increase the number of disability workers. These include Springboard. I believe it could include apprenticeships and I have asked my further education teams to look at options to address this demand within that system along with more traditional higher education provision. A great deal of work is being done. Just this week, my officials had another official-level group engagement with different Departments. Deputy Currie asked what engagement is happening with other Departments.”
“I recently asked the HEA to run an expressions of interest programme. The Higher Education Authority put out a call to the universities to see which universities were placed to offer further provision, increasing the output of therapists across all of the different healthcare disciplines. That is going extremely well. We have had very positive responses to it. I intend to update the Cabinet subcommittee on that. I may return to that in my next supplementary response.”
“I mentioned some of the places we have provided and we intend to provide further places in these areas. There are also agreements regarding healthcare provision with Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast resulting in a further 389 places over the last two years. I visited Queen's University Belfast over the Easter break and met the president, Ian Greer. I also met some of the students from the Republic who are attending courses there. I am told they are excelling in their fields. They were certainly great ambassadors for the scheme. That provision from the Northern universities is welcome. We are also engaging with stakeholders across the sector to determine the number of additional places for 2025. We have provided multiple additional places already - numbering 1,000 last year - but I want to keep on providing further options.”
“These include 15 additional places on the speech and language therapy BSc programme at the University of Galway, 40 additional places for occupational therapy at the same university and 15 additional paediatric medicine places through the Galway BSc programme. I have to acknowledge that Galway is playing its part. There are also ten additional physiotherapy places at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. It is a work in progress. We continue to examine ways to increase the throughput and output of therapists of all types in the system.”
“Last week I announced a new pharmacy course in the University of Galway, which will start this September. There is a new dentistry programme in the Royal College of Surgeons that is also available for this September. Further expansion across medicine, pharmacy and veterinary will come on stream in 2026. We are expanding the number of professional healthcare courses that are out there, and across the country as well. That builds on existing progress, with nearly 1,000 additional places created in health and social care programmes in recent years. Further additional places were provided for this September.”
“My officials and I are working closely with other Departments to support workforce planning responses by creating additional places in areas of acute skills need, ensuring a pipeline of qualified graduates for our health and social care workforce. More generally, my Department has a skills matrix and looks to the future to assess what skills are needed at particular times for different economic and societal goals and challenges. We have that skills framework and skills planning ongoing anyway, but we certainly have a renewed focus on the health and social care workforce at present. That work has been ongoing. A recent joint memorandum committed both Departments - the Department of Health and my Department - to funding the expansion of key healthcare disciplines, including therapies.”
“On the disability framework and the challenge posed, this Government wants to support people with disabilities in the fullest possible way to allow them to live the most meaningful and impactful lives as possible, and with as much support from the State as possible. This fundamental goal is writ large in the programme for Government and the entire Government is committed to delivering on it. Indeed, the Taoiseach has convened a Cabinet subcommittee, which is meeting regularly and of which I am a member, to address this societal and State goal. I put on record my commitment, as have all my colleagues in government, to the supporting this important issue.”
“It is quite a complex system in terms of how the grants are considered, whether a student is eligible, what other income is there and what other payments they may be in receipt of. I do not know whether the particular case the Deputy mentions would satisfy one of those disregards. It may do; it may not. Certainly, it would with luck. However, every effort is made to ensure that when a student receives financial support towards their educational journey from other sources with the intention of helping them to achieve an educational goal, it is not punitive in terms of their subsequent support. We would not want to have one robbing Peter to pay Paul; they should be combined. If the Deputy wants to advise his constituent in the first instance to consider appealing if they have not already, he should look at the details of it.”
“They have a phone number which can be accessed as well. There are a number of different ways in which SUSI will respond to individual cases. It may be appropriate for the Deputy's constituent who wishes to make a case with regard to mileage to consider an appeal as well. It is up to the individual student and family, but that is something could be looked at. In terms of the inheritance, the Deputy stated that the amount was modest. I do not know what the figure is - we can look into it in due course - but there are several different disregards in the system, such as holiday income, bursaries and grants from other sources. A number of different disregards are included.”
“I have listened to what the Deputy has said and I have taken note. He might want to follow up with me on that case as well. The first thing I would say, before I and my Department get involved, is that the student should consider appealing if they have not done so already. Indeed, I would advise any student who feels they have been wrongly denied a grant, or not had their correct level of grant funding applied, to access the appeals mechanism. I would refer any student who is dissatisfied to the relevant website, studentgrantappeals.ie , because there is a whole framework in place there. There is a 30-day window for such cases. I am not sure how far on this particular case is, but it might be of interest to the House in general to be aware of that facility. There is also a support webline, support@susi.ie .”
“We are keen to continue to allow people have those opportunities at any stage in life to find their new path forward. In terms of the individual cases, the Deputy mentioned two that I noted. The first was around a student who left - maybe dropped out - halfway through the year. Then he mentioned what sounds like a very unfortunate individual who checked Google Maps and found that the other calculations did not seem to accord. If the Deputy wants to bring those cases to my attention after the session or if he wants to write to me on them - I will not get into individual cases on the floor of the House and I do not have the details - I would be quite happy to look into them and see if we can progress anything in the background.”
“As with all these things, there is a balance because unlimited funding for continuing to change courses might be desirable from a societal point of view but economically unsustainable. There has to be some tipping point. I have some sympathy in this regard because I changed course. I studied maths originally, but I ended up studying law. I did it part-time, by night, while I was working in town. I came across to lectures every evening after work. Therefore, I have sympathy for people who end up pursuing second careers and different course options. It is a good thing to do. The day of the job for life is gone and people now end up pursuing many different paths through life and, indeed, change and retrain. Reskilling, upskilling and lifelong learning is a core objective of my Department to support.”
“We saw the launching of a new platform, Skillnet MMC Accelerate, which is a website that allows those with an interest in construction careers to consider a breathtaking range of options and follow through on that interest by clicking through different courses, different study options and different apprenticeships to see how they might play out. I credit the organisers and those involved in that platform. I would like to see those type of platforms applied to many other sectors across the board. This is an example of what can be done and what is being done already. The Deputy spoke about students who may take on a course and find halfway through that it is not the right course for them. In the programme for Government, we have committed to examining second-chance applications.”
“There were a couple of options raised and I will try to come back to the Deputy on each of them. Career guidance and counselling is something I tend to very much support and I am keen to increase the provision of it. As we know, it is extremely difficult for students, typically at a young age, to make choices that may have implications for their entire life journey after that. There is a bit of a pressure point around how to make that decision at the right time very quickly. However, I intend to support that area in terms of further support for career guidance and for counselling for the burgeoning schools. Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and I attended the Mount Lucas national construction skills hub.”
“I do not expect that they will be consequential in terms of the numbers but there may be updates before the end of the academic year. It is fair to say that the vast majority of students who applied did receive funding. A small number were refused because they were ineligible and were not able to progress their applications, and a much smaller number again, 58, had those grants revoked. I hope that is of interest and assistance to the Deputy. Those are the figures for County Mayo.”
“I intend to continue to review it to see whether we can expand it to the maximum possible number of students. I turn now to the specific questions on the Mayo cohort. As of 15 May 2025, for the academic year 2024-25, some 2,655 applicants from Mayo were awarded a grant by SUSI for either a full-time or part-time course; 415 applicants from Mayo were refused a grant by SUSI for either a full-time or part-time course; and 58 applicants from Mayo had their grant revoked for either a full-time or part-time course. Those are the figures as of 15 May, a couple of days ago, and they may change as we come to the end of the academic year because, over the course of an academic year, there can be changes with individual students for different reasons.”
“It provides fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. This includes specified in-person courses and blended or hybrid courses, and its aim is to provide additional flexibility in respect of course provision to students who may be socioeconomically disadvantaged. Many students find the part-time option far more possible because they are able to continue to work and look after other commitments. The part-time course is a very attractive option for many people for that reason and it is only right that it should be supported through this fees scheme. That was not previously the case but it is now. As I said, I have recently expanded the provision and I will continue to examine the scheme because there may be other courses that fall outside it.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 11 and 33 together. As the House will be aware, the main support available to assist students with the cost of attending higher education is the student grant scheme. Under the scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. In other words, there is a set of rules around the scheme, those rules govern the eligibility for it and, in turn, the students progress. That continues to be applied. There is also a part-time scheme for specified undergraduate courses that is now available. It commenced for the first time in September 2024 and I recently expanded it to more courses.”
“There is already a stand-alone TU sector student accommodation programme and ATU Galway is part of that. In terms of the submissions that are being made, the HEIs usually drive projects that come to the HEA and my Department for approval. They are considered and any submissions made will be advanced. I am very keen to address this because I am conscious that it is a real issue for many students.”
“It is not unusual for student accommodation to be used for other purposes during the summer months. Most of the higher education institutions do that themselves. It is part of the challenge of finding a solution. I want to see the maximum available beds for student accommodation based on a formula that works, first and foremost, for students. Many of the higher education institutions look to use student accommodation as a revenue-raising tool in the summer months, and I understand they are financing their activities on that basis. Ultimately, the focus should be on the student. Deputy Connolly mentioned ATU a couple of times. ATU Galway is participating in the technological sector student accommodation programme. The overall standardised design is a work in progress and there is an overall strategy.”
“Student accommodation beds are being provided but I want to see more of them, or as many as can be introduced into the system through public and private channels, so that we have a good supply of accommodation to students and a good choice available to meet the very evident demand. It is worth noting that, as of this week, 71 beds are being advertised on the rent-a-room scheme. Digs accommodation is still a very popular option that many take up. There are currently 71 beds available in Galway.”
“We are probably veering into questions for the Minister for housing rather than me. I am not aware of the seven-storey buildings the Deputy talks about. There are already 1,891 purpose-built student accommodation beds on campus in the University of Galway. The latest figures tell us the university accommodation is oversubscribed, however, as it has received more applications per bed than there are beds available. Additional accommodation beds were provided last year in Dunlin Village. The Deputy may be familiar with it. It provides 674 purpose-built student accommodation beds. In Queen Street, 300 new beds are being developed. The most recent data from last month tells me that 1,739 new purpose-built student accommodation beds have been built in Galway in the recent past.”
“We will continue to work with universities and other higher education institutions. I intend to publish the student accommodation strategy later this year.”
“The second tool is the use of enhanced supply and demand data to inform planning and investment decisions, so we can see the different patterns in different regions. The third is the technological sector student accommodation programme to support regionally balanced, institution-specific delivery models. That is under way as a separate programme. The fourth tool is a national student accommodation survey, which is designed to capture the lived experiences and needs of students across the country. We might well guess some of the issues and hear from our constituents and from representations made to us by various bodies, but the survey will have an empirical analysis that will better inform demands in this area, where the pressure zones are and what needs to be applied in different areas.”
“One of the most significant barriers students face today is the cost and availability of accommodation, if they can get it in the first place. My focus is on delivering targeted and effective interventions that promote equitable access to higher education across the country. This means addressing the challenges that may prevent students from progressing to or through third level education because of the difficulties outlined. Four key tools are being deployed to address student accommodation. The first is the development of a standardised design approach to improve efficiency and reduce costs. That is something my Department is working on and I will publish it this summer. The intention is to have a standard design akin to the second level school programme.”
“I had the pleasure of visiting the University of Galway last week. I met the chair, the president and the students' union and we had a good discussion on this and many other matters. I admired the fine quadrangle and had the opportunity to inspect some of the research projects around the campus as well. It was a really worthwhile visit to see the really good work being done there. Regarding student accommodation provision, access is a central concern. Access and supports are important to ensure that students can avail of higher level education and that they can do so in a way that does not involve long commutes or living in cramped accommodation, which will be an enabler to them. I am very aware that these are barriers for many students.”
“Regarding the retention rate, there are many reasons for students dropping out. Mental health may often be one but there is a variety of other reasons. The non-progression rate fell slightly in 2021-22, from 13% to 11%. I do not have the figures for the most recent years but it is beginning to go in the right direction. There can be complex reasons that students do not progress. It is not only to do with mental health.”
“If we consider some of the ratios, one counsellor for every 1,000 students was the suggestion from the International Accreditation of Counseling Services, IACS, to which the Deputy referred. There are different views about that report as to whether that is the optimal way to measure ability and whether that is the right metric but I certainly note what the Deputy is saying. The national student mental health and suicide prevention framework, which I mentioned, has identified that in an Irish context, there remains a need to develop a public indicator. The questions are what the correct indicator for us in this system is and how we can manage and ensure that adequate provision is being made for different students. This work is ongoing with the HEA at the moment to see what an appropriate metric in our system is.”
“A screening tool that is being developed selects the most appropriate person-centric interventions for students with mental health presentations. This tracks the well-being outcomes of students who engage with the service. A national health and well-being assessment tool has been developed to enable institutions to implement and progress the healthy campus charter and framework. There is also an ongoing review of the national student mental health and suicide prevention framework. A lot of actions are being taken and a lot of good projects are under way. These are meaningful and impactful for the individual students, as well as for the host institutions. Ultimately, the institutions retain autonomy as to what other projects they may wish to implement.”
“Some examples of the types of projects being supported through that funding include the national student counselling database implementation project. This facilitates the identification of trends in the mental health needs of students attending student counselling services. It measures and monitors what trends are coming through from access to counselling services and identifies areas for further attention. There is a platform called Togetherall, which provides 24-7 peer support. Psychological counsellors in Higher Education Ireland are being supported in their work, through the higher education institutions. Research and co-ordination around suicide and self-harm is being performed on an ongoing basis.”
“Institutions can also draw resources from other areas within their overall Exchequer and other funding sources. A number of other funds are available to them, which I might return to later because there is quite a list. I will refer to those when I hear where the Deputy's next question is going.”
“They are entitled to do this because they are independent from the perspectives of management and governance. They have been advised to distribute the funding in support of specific student-facing areas, such as the recruitment of additional student counsellors and assistant psychologists, head of service posts, training and awareness raising. We can offer advice, but they ultimately retain discretion over how the funding is allocated. The majority of new posts created through this funding have been counsellors, reflecting the capacity-building phase of the implementation of the framework. Over recent years, there has been a mixture of core funding and once-off Covid support funding, but as of 2020, €5 million annually is being allocated on a recurrent, sustainable basis. I mentioned that over that time, €32 million has been allocated.”
“I appreciate the Deputy raising this important issue, as the mental health and well-being of our third level students is a matter of deep concern and ongoing priority for this Government. The Government and my Department remain committed to enhancing mental health supports across the sector. My Department has allocated a total of €32 million to support higher education institutions in meeting the mental health and well-being needs of students since 2020. This funding supports institutions in directly meeting the needs of students through counselling services as well as delivering the national student mental health and suicide prevention framework. As autonomous institutions, the exact disbursement of the funding is a matter for each institution depending on its own prioritisation of needs.”
“It is part of the wider base and I will elaborate on that further over the coming months, but I intend to use the national development plan as part of the springboard for those projects.”
“I thank the Deputy. I intend for the funding to support the entire sector. The Deputy mentioned some figures. I would also be a bit concerned by the current level of our research and development spending as a percentage of GDP. We need to increase that. The private sector is spending a lot, so public sector spending needs to increase. That will be reflected in what I am hoping to achieve through the national development plan, in terms of increased infrastructural spending across the research and education ecosystems, further and higher education and the entire tapestry. That is the building block that everything else is based on, if we have those systems right.”
“I visited the CÚRAM research centre at the University of Galway last week. It has achieved a 12:1 return. For every euro the State is spending, therefore, €12 is being recouped in terms of the wider economic impact of the research and the economic benefits of it. We should do it for its own sake but it also produces demonstrable returns for investment in education and research.”
“I agree with Deputy Cummins. We are very much on the same page on this. With regard to talent from abroad, I want Ireland to be a welcome place for scholars but that includes supporting our own - the people already here - and attracting more. The best-in-class research and innovation, STEM and humanities studies all work best when people collaborate at every level, including internationally, so that we have a fusion of the best minds. It is not recognising borders, barriers or arbitrary rules that other jurisdictions might be currently raising, which I do not agree with. We must be that safe haven and promote independent thought, academic freedom and integrity. As well as it being the right thing to do, there is a significant economic uplift to that. We see money spent on research and innovation, for example, usually has a 5:1 return.”
“That will mean an additional €150 million per annum will be included in the core funding to universities, which is a really significant move. This, of course, stems from the Funding the Future framework, which was published in May 2022. It followed the Cassells report from a few years earlier, which identified options available to put higher education on a sustainable footing and examining different options for our core funding for the universities. That is now progressing. It is in the programme for Government and is a commitment we have made. It is something I have already advanced in my first few months in office and, as I said, I have Cabinet approval to now progress that further through legislation, which I hope to bring before the Houses at the earliest opportunity.”
“To answer the Deputy's second question, yes, I will commit to increasing funding in education. I have announced that already and brought this before Cabinet where I secured approval to do so. The National Training Fund is a €1.485 billion pot of moneys which is collected through employer levies to support training and educational needs. There is a need for legislation to unlock that fund because the fund, as it is currently construed, has a particular set of categories under which it can be spent. I wish to broaden them to include core funding for the higher education institutions among other things. This requires a minor legislative change but that is a Bill I intend to bring before the Houses this year. I am currently working on drafting heads of Bill with my Department and legal teams. I secured Cabinet approval for that recently.”
“The question is to find a balance that is not overly onerous or unreasonably attainable which safeguards the underlying resources that are ultimately available to other students and families and must be managed in that regard. There are other funds in addition to SUSI that are available for students who might be in financial difficulty. We have the student assistance fund to support students both full time and part time for different exceptional needs. We have PATH 5 which is a new access pathway into third level education, particularly for Traveller or Roma communities. We also have accommodation and grants for students in disadvantaged areas. There is a number of different funds which can support students in difficulties even beyond the SUSI system.”