112. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to clarify his recent comments regarding the student contribution fee, and if he will give clarity on how much students and their families will be paying in September 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37646/25]

Sentiment score: 0.22

The Minister has spoken in great detail about the various supports that exist for students, but the issue people want clarity on and need to know about is the question of how much the student contribution will be in September. The reason they are asking that question is because of his comments on "This Week". He opened this Pandora's box, and he has the capacity to close it if he so wishes. He was not helped by the contribution of the Tánaiste and his liberal briefings across media over the past number of days suggesting he was going to do something. That has actually compounded the confusion. Parents and particularly students need to know how much they will pay in September. It is not okay for the Minister and his colleagues to spend the next three months saying it is the normal budgetary process and they cannot talk about this. He needs to give people clarification. He opened this question. He needs to answer it.

Sentiment score: 0.06

The Minister is right. I was in government when the cost-of-living measures in the area of the student contribution were agreed. That is why, whereas there is a lot on the programme for Government I am critical of, I welcomed the commitment in there to continue to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government. I took from that the clear meaning that every student in the country took, which was that this was a process that would see further reductions. What the Minister announced was a full-on increase of €1,000 that students are now dealing with. He talked about trying to be up front and honest. We then have to deal with the situation of his coalition colleagues. The Tánaiste is giving this broad stage wink to students like he will look after them in September. It is not fair to create this level of confusion. The Government has created the confusion, and the Minister can clarify it. It is not fair to ask people to wait three months.

Sentiment score: 0.14