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 Teachta Ní Raghallaigh. Supporting students with disabilities is a key strategic priority for me, for my Department and for the Government. Indeed, we have a Cabinet subcommittee on disability which I sit on. My Department has taken on a number of actions through that because it is something we are determined to address across all of Government. The National Access Plan identifies students with disabilities as a priority target group for subvention and supports. I spoke to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, and others in the House about targeting supports. It is important that we target resources at those most in need. That is a fundamental principle we should adhere to.”
“Things like modern methods of construction can be embraced which, as well as being more productive, also bring the employment opportunities to a more regional level because there can be factories developing modern methods of construction in a regional, rural location which are then shipped off to a building site in the big town or the big city without the worker having to commute every day. It addresses the gender balance in the workforce and things like that as well because it permits women with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities to work on a site like that because they may not be able to travel to a traditional construction site. It is beneficial for many reasons and is something we will continue to progress.”
“There is a real skills shortage. It is a factor of success because we are at almost full employment in the economy. Recently my Department produced a labour force modelling report which looked at our construction skills needs. I am working closely with Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on the development of that report. That showed we need to continue to grow our pool of skilled tradespeople from our craft trades right across the board - all the skills we need to build the big infrastructure projects we aspire to develop over the course of this term which are funded through the national development plan. For almost the first time we actually have funding. What we need is an intermesh between the labour force and the skills to deliver. There are a number of ways we can do that but primarily it is through skilling and training our people.”
“With regard to funding and capital for the Cavan area, with the relocation of the army barracks Cavan Institute received €5.3 million in funding in 2023. The centre of excellence for supply chain logistics was completed in September 2024 with €207,000. There is a minor capital works application in the pipeline at present for Cavan town. There are also electrical works, roof works and other ongoing and emergency works. The college of the future campus on the Cathedral Road is progressing and I am glad to be able to inform Deputy Smith and the House that I was successful in progressing it to the next stage of development. It is at pre-tender project design planning, procurement and supply stage and I very much hope to be in a position to update Deputy Smith and the House on further progress on it in the near future”
“To pick up on Deputy Smith's remarks about Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology, I had a meeting on it as recently as yesterday. I am really excited about it. Going back to the wider question, I will do everything in the programme for Government to the best of my ability but I will do other things. The Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology merger was not in the programme for Government but I am doing it anyway. It is something that is very important and I am very excited about it. The all-Ireland dimension is huge. Deputy Smith is a big supporter of the all-Ireland dimension, as is Deputy McGreehan. We were at a function yesterday in connection with it. It is progressing and it is a very important milestone.”
“One project that might be of interest to Deputy Smith is the college of the future in Cavan. I thank him for the invitation to visit Cavan Institute recently. I still wear the top with pride; I was presented with a sporting jersey which I wear on my runs every week. The Cavan Institute is very much one of the projects I look forward to seeing progress in the time ahead. I might come back to it in a supplementary reply.”
“There is also the energy revolution with offshore wind and all of the opportunities that come with this. There are also healthcare and therapy needs, and we are scaling up the provision of courses for nine different occupations. Additionally to this, the research and innovation aspect of the Department has received significant funding. Before Christmas I launched the €750 million INSPIRE research framework programme, which is fundamental to our knowledge economy, the ideas that we generate and how we succeed, innovate and remain competitive in a very robust and changing world. These are all significant capital projects. I was delighted to be able to secure these moneys and we have published the sectoral plan for the Department which provides a detailed breakdown.”
“As part of the national development plan review, which was conducted last summer, I secured for the Department a capital allocation of €4.55 billion over the next four years from 2026 to 2030. This is significant and it is almost double what it was previously. It is the largest budget in the history of the Department. It is aligned to the overall capital envelope of the NDP. Part of this is because the Department's activities are so aligned with the whole-of-government missions, such as infrastructure needs to roll out housing for our people, the metro, transit, grid upgrades and water upgrades. The Department will train the tradesmen to do these jobs through the apprenticeship paths and programmes. There are also all of the skills that go with the digital agenda. We are entering an AI age.”
“It is worth recapping and restating that 80% of households, if we look at the ESRI income distribution chart, will now benefit from SUSI grants. The question is whether we will continue, and we will, with flat reductions, but the 20% of top earners are the ones who will benefit most from ongoing fee reductions. I will do this but I will also do things that support those in the 80% and the 20% at the bottom because it is socially just to do so. Deputy Ward raised the issue of fees. His party in the North recently had an advertisement about student fees being £4,800. This is two and half times more.”
“I am not sure where the mention of abolition came from. It certainly was not in my party's manifesto. I never promised it to anybody, not once in this brief, and not once in the campaign did I or my party promise this. I do not know what other people might have done. It is for them to speak about that. I am not aware of any such promise in any manifesto. What my party promised to do was to address the cost of education and this is what we are doing aggressively. We are going full steam ahead on it. This is why I have introduced a range of measures. The €500 permanent cut is the first of its kind. There is the fee subvention for households with an income up to €120,000. The student assistance fund is being increased. All of the basic layers of maintenance grants are being increased.”
“The combination of the flat cut of €500 and the student subvention cut of another €500 on top means that effectively it is the same thing. As much as I can, year on year I will continue to reduce the figure. There are many other aspects to it, such as the cost of accommodation, the cost of travel and the cost of books. I have engaged with student unions across the board on this in terms of their needs and there is a range of measures. The minimum thing I will do in every aspect of my brief is to follow the programme for Government. Deputy Ward can take it as read that I do my very best to follow the programme for Government in its fullness. I also look to go beyond it. For example, reaching the families that I mentioned is not in the programme for Government but I want to do it.”
“I was also one of those parents, not this year but in recent years, and I will say I did not need that support. I will be honest about it. Those on an upper income, such as Members of the House for example, are in a privileged enough position. Having said this, I have extended the threshold and Deputy Ward will now benefit from the €500 cut. Presuming his income is the TD's income we all have, he will benefit from the €500 subvention. This means the fees will be €2,000, the same as they were last year. It is arrived at through a different formula but it is the same thing. It is a little bit fairer and more progressive because it is based on means, albeit the means threshold is at €120,000 now, which is the highest it has ever been.”
“I am of the view that we should be progressive and target these funds. We should look at investing moneys in the sections of society where they are really needed and where they will make a lifelong difference. That is why, as part of the budget, I invested in mental health and disability supports and increased all of the maintenance grants for the first five basic layers. I also increased the student assistance fund. We give help to everybody but we should give the most help to those who need it most. That is a fundamental principle of social democracy and social justice. I would welcome the Deputy's comments on that at some stage.”
“That is the first permanent reduction in fees since free fees were introduced in 1995. It is significant and I am proud to have been able to deliver it. That fee reduction will benefit around 108,000 undergraduate students. A further 14,000 apprentices will also benefit, as will postgraduate students. In addition, I have increased the income threshold for grant applicants to €120,000. As I said earlier, there are Members of this House who could now benefit from that. The new threshold reaches into the middle income bracket and, I would suggest, even a little bit beyond. Some 80% of households are now eligible for at least some form of SUSI intervention, whether in respect of fees, maintenance or both. I would welcome debate as to where to target further moneys. Further moneys have been pledged.”
“The Government's commitment is set out in the programme for Government. It is no more and no less. The programme for Government commitment is to reduce the student contribution fee in a financially sustainable manner over the lifetime of the Government. Budget 2026 was my first opportunity since taking up office to begin delivering on that programme for Government commitment. I did so with an immediate permanent reduction of €500 in the student contribution fee. That became effective straight away. Students are benefiting from that in the current academic year. That flat-rate reduction is universal. It is not means-tested and is available to all students, regardless of income. It has resulted in the base-rate fee reducing from €3,000 to €2,500 for the current academic year.”
“You walk away with a qualification that can be increased and augmented over time. The reason a student living at home is not considered to be independent is that they do not necessarily pay rent, although I appreciate that they make a contribution in some cases, although not all. They also benefit from certain supports that are not provided to students living in an independent residence. I take on board the point on the prospect of modular homes and the planning system. That is progressing and it is something we need to look at to see what its knock-on effects might be.”
“Lifelong learning is at the core of everything I seek to do in the Department. It is one of the reasons I brought the proposal for a national skills observatory to Cabinet last week. This dataset will enable future labour force needs to be forecast and emerging occupation trends to be modelled, predicted and met well by the education and training systems. Just last Friday, I attended a Skillnet event in Dundalk with my colleague, the chair of the committee, Deputy Erin McGreehan. We saw at first hand how Skillnet working with local employers can be extremely useful. We also have microcredential courses. These are short courses that can last six weeks or six months and can be offered online, through a hybrid model or in a local centre. Those microcredentials can be stacked upon one another.”
“I appreciate it is difficult, particularly at a time when housing needs are not always met and people are living in the family home by necessity rather than necessarily by choice. It is a difficult situation intergenerationally as well. A number of improvements have been made to the scheme. The eligibility thresholds have increased by about 15% across the board. The student contribution was permanently cut by €500, which could contribute towards affordability. In addition, all the non-adjacent grants have been increased. The student assistance fund has also been increased to an historic high. Various other supports for things like disability and mental health were also brought into the system through the recent budget.”
“I think an Teachta O'Connell is standing in for an Teachta Roche. I acknowledge that he raised this issue with me during Questions on Policy or Legislation earlier in the week. It is an important issue. This is a universal scheme. Means testing of reckonable income is applied to students on an equal basis. I will recap the rules that pertain to mature students. A student is considered to be independent or mature if he or she has attained the age of 23 at the start of the calendar year and has not ordinarily been resident with his or her parents from the previous 1 October. By contrast, if students are living in the family home, they are assessed as dependent students. I know the Deputy is asking whether it is correct for that to be the case.”
“I will mention too, because I think it is relevant in terms of the wider supports, that the student assistance fund, which the Deputy might be aware of from his students union time, is a broad-based fund at the discretion of each individual access officer or welfare officer in the colleges. It is a pool of money worth €19.3 million. That is there and I increased it again coming into the new year. That is for things like books, the cost of materials, rent subvention if necessary, food, travel and medical costs. There is a relatively wide list and it is not prescriptive. Significant trust is rightly given to the access officers or welfare officers in each college to make a call when they have a student coming to them for assistance. They can judge and I think they get that call right.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with the Deputy. Many of the thresholds are now so high and some of the benefits are so broadly available that maybe people have not realised they are eligible for them. I did launch a communications campaign in the national media last summer as a result of that to make people aware. Deputies may have seen it running across national radio and TV. That did actually drive an increase in applicants, which I was glad to see because we devise these schemes so people can avail of them. That is the whole point of having them. I agree with that and we will continue to do more of that as well.”
“One thing I intend to explore in the upcoming budget is whether, in the case of larger families with a number of children in the household attending college at one time, there is a measure we could take to ease the burden on them and whether that is a factor or criterion we could take into account. I am pursuing that at the moment to investigate for this year's budget.”
“In any social democracy, where do we draw the line and where should income levels and thresholds be? We are at a situation now where the threshold to avail of the minimum form of a grant is €120,000 per household, which means 80% of households in Ireland are eligible for at least some form of SUSI grant intervention. To the Deputy's broader point about how we draw the line, and there are a number of lines as you go through the graduated system, I mentioned to Deputy Charles Ward earlier that there is a disregard for mica scheme payments. There are also disregards for disability payments and bursaries, for example, the 1916 scheme. I think there are several dozen of those because I signed a statutory instrument last year to give effect to them. The many disregards should go some way towards making it easier to hit the thresholds.”
“In particular, in terms of targeted measures, that additional money allocated to people on non-adjacent grants is real money into their hands, additional money that I expect will support them significantly in making the costs add up. I also increased the student assistance fund. That is a discretionary fund available through college hardship officers. I am increasing thresholds as well. The threshold to avail of the various grants has increased now to €120,000, which means Members of this House, for example, can benefit from a SUSI grant, which would not have been the case historically.”
“I was very mindful of that, so the distance is down to 30 km. As to what supports are available for students facing accommodation pressures, commuting costs and so forth, I have increased all the non-adjacent grants this year - the first five levels, from the base grant right through - some by €350 and some by up to €420. Every single non-adjacent grant for students living 30 km or more away from their college has increased this year. I have also increased the postgraduate contribution fee. That means that postgraduate students have €500 less to pay this year. I have increased the subvention to the student contribution fee more broadly, in a universal fashion, which means there is a €500 permanent cut to student fees across the board.”
“I am very familiar with the challenges of commuting from Kildare to various colleges. I have two daughters, one attending Maynooth and one attending UCD, both of whom recently graduated, and I have seen the commute, the grind and so on. The Deputy and I have worked together on improving public transport on many of those services. When I came to review the grants this year, I was mindful of non-adjacent students, that is, students who live 30 km or more away from college. The Deputy will appreciate, representing as we both do a commuter-belt constituency, that non-adjacent previously meant 45 km and it is now 30 km. Just because we are close to a college, be it UCD or any college in the city centre, does not mean it is easy to get there, put simply. That is because of congestion, commuting and so on.”
“When I came into office I allocated a further €2.8 million to it to continue for this year and last year, the intention being, having done a second phase or second tranche of funding, and all going well, and it has done very well, to look then to mainstream that and put it onto a more permanent, sustainable footing. As I said, I intend to bring a memo to Cabinet in the near future on that note. I hope I will have good news to share with the Deputy in the House at that stage.”
“I will address the UDL piece first. I thank an Teachta Connolly. I know Deputy Ó Cearúil is taking this question in his stead. Deputy Connolly has invited me to a UDL conference in University of Galway later this year, which he is involved in arranging and which I very much hope to attend. That will be a very important milestone in rolling out UDL more widely and discussions about this issue. In terms of mainstreaming our permanent funding, this was, to an extent, a new pilot programme when it was introduced in 2022. It was funded until, I think, 2024.”
“The courses are typically between one and two years in length. I hope this does not need to be said but I will just say it anyway. The courses are free and there is no charge for participation. There was a significant consultation across many Departments. The National Learning Network, SOLAS, the Irish Universities Association, the inclusive national forum, Down Syndrome Ireland and many others were also consulted in devising the courses and the allocations.”
“Yes, that is fair. I think 193 students are enrolled in PATH 4 phase 2. The original target or expectation was that it might hit 160 students, so it has gone well beyond that, which I am delighted to see. They are running across 11 different programmes. I will not list them out but there is a reasonably good spread geographically and they include the technological universities and the traditional universities right across the board, with multiple institutions participating. The way in which those courses or colleges were identified and chosen followed a competitive call for proposals. The Deputy asked how this was decided. There was a PATH initiative under strand 4 whereby an independent expert panel was commissioned to say which of these applications should be supported and, following a competitive call, these 11 were chosen.”
“Universal design means making sure that buildings, courses and how we navigate them internally are geared towards students with various different disability types in mind. The programme also enhances opportunities for the engagement of students with intellectual disabilities to fully participate in courses in a way that suits them and from which they can fully benefit. A total of €5.8 million has been allocated under PATH 4 since 2022. Some €3 million was allocated in 2022 and I was pleased to bring forward last year a further €2.8 million for the period 2025-2026. To date, that funding has been introduced on a phased basis year by year and is something I hope to mainstream. I plan to update my Cabinet colleagues on proposals in that regard to make the funding a permanent feature of the system.”
“I thank the Deputy. The PATH 4 programme is extremely important. I am very proud of it and the Taoiseach is very supportive of it as well. We have discussed it directly in Cabinet. It supports the goal of enabling all learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, to avail of higher education. I have visited a number of PATH 4 locations, including in Cork - I think it is called the field of dreams. I have been to the Trinity centre for people with intellectual disabilities. Each one is remarkable in terms of the participation, enablement and autonomy it provides students who can avail of the service. I am keen to continue to support the programme. The two phases of PATH 4 aim to strengthen universal design for all students.”
“However, if a student is placed, for example, in a local facility in Carlow, Kildare or wherever it happens to be, they are more likely to stay there. It is critical that during their training students are exposed to different practice types. I have discussed with my colleagues on the Cabinet subcommittee the need to rotate placements so that a student has exposure to many different fields rather than just one and is more likely to return to that field. They can be difficult and stressful environments in which to work. We need to encourage our graduates to go into those sectors when they leave college. I agree with the Deputy that we also need focus on retention measures.”
“I have explored that and my officials are actively exploring the apprenticeship route. There is also the recognition of private learning where somebody has worked in a related discipline and rather than starting on day one in year one they could come into the system midstream or at a more advanced stage, if we take into account their prior learning. The issue the Deputy mentioned in respect of CDNTs is a common one. She referred to Carlow CDNT as having vacant places. A placement often determines where a student progresses long term in their career. A student who has a placement in a private practice, for example, may be more likely to stay with that practice and in the private sector long term.”
“Without that, people will not complete their courses. Some colleges have told me they have or can make capacity for additional places but they need a guarantee from the health system that there will be placements when people get to the relevant time in their course. I have engaged with the HSE and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this. It is a critical gap or challenge in the system.”
“We are very much on the same page. I will give the Deputy a list of courses that have been identified in consultation with the Ministers for Health and Education and Youth and myself. Occupational, therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians, radiation therapists, radiographers, medical scientists, podiatrists, social workers and educational psychologists are on the list. That is not to say that there will not be further courses within that but they were the courses identified for the first round of expressions of interest. The Deputy mentioned CNDT groups, which I deal with in my constituency at a local level. I can provide training courses through the system, and have done and will continue to do that, but they need to be matched by placements in the HSE and health service.”
“This is an all-of-government priority. As I said, I am happy to be able to deliver an additional 478 places in the first round. I have many more rounds to go, and I continue intend to continue to grow that workforce.”
“From that first response, starting in September an 478 additional places are being created across the different therapies. There is a second call under way at the moment. The first call asked colleges with existing course provision through schools of nursing, therapy, medicine and healthcare whether they could increase the number of places on their courses. That call has now been completed and, I understand, 461 places have been created, rising to 478 over the next year or two. The next call asked colleges that do not currently provide those sort of courses and do not have schools in the relevant area whether they are in a position to provide such courses. For example, Maynooth launched a school of nursing which did not exist this time last year. That is one among many colleges that will ramp up its provision of different therapies.”
“This is an all-of-government priority in terms of meeting the disability needs of our people. We made a decision at a Cabinet subcommittee early in the term that my Department can increase the number of therapists coming through third level and into the workforce. An interdepartmental working group is working with the Ministers for Health and Education and Youth and will examine the number of places we need to fill. We have produced a list of the occupations with the most critical skills shortages in terms of disability and health care supports. That has led to a first-round call. Having worked with my colleagues to identify the particular therapies and occupations that were most critically needed, I made a call, through the HEA, to third level providers to ask what colleges were in a position to meet the call and demand.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, opened the new sports facility adjacent to the ATU campus, which is a big win. I increased the mental health budget. The Deputy referred to ring fencing but I try not to be prescriptive in terms of telling colleges how they award that funding. There is significant discretion for access and welfare officers. I also increased the student assistance fund to just under €20 million this year. Again, there is discretion. The Deputy knows very well the situation around defective blocks. I expect colleges to have regard to that. Local knowledge will be important.”
“To reflect on the educational opportunities in Donegal, the Deputy's constituency, and I know he is a proud Donegal man, the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, and Deputy Gallagher have also made representations to me on many of these matters. I launched the veterinary school in ATU Letterkenny recently. It is great. There will be 40 vet places in the north west, primarily for large animal practice. This was badly needed because students had to go to either the UK or Dublin and many also travelled to Poland previously. Some did not come home so this is important. I also visited the ETB in Killybegs with Deputy Gallagher and saw some of the supports it has put in place, in particular around the fishing community and changing lifelong learning there as people adapt to different skills. There is a lot of investment going into Donegal.”
“I also increased all the non-adjacent grants so any student travelling beyond 30 km will now benefit from that, some by up to €430 or €350, depending on the band. I did likewise for postgraduate courses and apprenticeships, which are equally important. All those figures have been addressed and brought down through increased subventions.”
“More broadly, in terms of supporting students and families, particularly on lower income levels, my focus has always been on targeted supports. While I have introduced universal measures on fees, and I will continue to do so, my focus is on ensuring that, for people who are on the verge of missing out and would not experience college otherwise and for vulnerable families and people who may be the first in their family to access third level education, the focus of student supports is to get those people elevated into a situation where they can make that leap. At the moment, some of those students just cannot make it, which is a tragedy. I want to target measures to help students do that. To give an example of that, the student grant was increased this year.”
“Effectively, it is disregarded and will not be taken into consideration in assessing. That is good news and very positive. There is a means test in the system for all. Other things are considered as part of that but in the Deputy's particular case, the defective blocks scheme remediation payments will not be taken into account as income.”
“I fully recognise the distress that has arisen from defective concrete block situation in the Deputy's constituency and in other constituencies. The Deputy may be aware that I met some members of his group. I have not had a Ministry directly relevant to the issue but at the MacGill Summer School two summers ago, I sat down with some of the group's councillors and we had a very good discussion. It really brought home to be the trauma the Deputy and his people are experiencing due to that. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that payments under the enhanced defective concrete block grant scheme constitute a grant for a specific purpose which has been put in place to support homeowners to remediate their dwellings, and we know how that works. That will not be classed as reckonable income for a SUSI application.”
“I have the figures for those who cited estrangement on their application form. In the 2023-24 year, it was 184 students; in 2024-25, it was 165 students; and in the most recent year, 2025-26, it was 213 students. When I said it was a couple of percent, I exaggerated. It is 0.19% of total applications. However, that makes it even more pertinent that we address it. There might be a tendency to say it is a very small number but if is very small, let us fix it. That is my view. I welcome submissions and inputs. It would be very constructive if the Deputy or AMLÉ or other Members of the House were to share their thoughts on that in a way that protects taxpayers' money, involves a robust process that is fit for purpose and has checks and balances, while ensuring that students who are estranged are supported appropriately.”
“Applicants can declare on their application form that they are irreconcilably estranged and a specialist team works on those applications. Sometimes student unions and others will say this or that document was not accepted. I am told there is no prescriptive set of documents. It is case by case; it is discretionary. It may be a court order, although it does not have to be, a letter or a form.”
“The trauma-informed view is extremely important. Having chaired the justice committee in the previous term, we saw many examples of trauma and how it led into addiction and triggered a certain path in life. I fully support a trauma-informed approach. It is one of the reasons I committed additional funding to the mental health budget in higher education institutions this year. On mature students, to recap the rules, a student can be assessed as independent if they have reached the age of 23 on 1 January of the year they start and have not been ordinarily resident with their parents from the previous October. As such, if a student is outside the home and is aged 23 years or over, they can apply. For the avoidance of doubt, there is an estrangement option within the SUSI system.”
“That funding did not even exist until recent years. I increased it again in the latest budget. There are a number of discretionary measures and in many cases they are not means tested, so the estrangement issue does not apply, but I get that it is difficult. I am continuing to engage with student unions on this. If it is any comfort, although I know it is of no comfort in the individual cases, it is a very small percentage of applicants, a couple of percent, who are refused for reasons of estrangement not being proven. I might come back to the detail in the supplementary response but that is a general observation.”
“That is not an easy one, and I am very mindful of the need to support any students who find themselves estranged from their parents. I have had individual representations made to me by Members in that regard. How do we ensure that we do not broaden support too wide such that every student suddenly becomes eligible? Effectively, we would see the millions of euro in student supports referred to by Deputy McGettigan mushroom into several billion. It is a difficult one to get right. Having said, a number of the measures that I introduced in the last budget do not actually involve a means test. The €500 permanent reduction in fees, for example, does not require any means testing. There are a number of other benefits available such as the student assistance fund, which now stands at €19.3 million, an historical high.”