Student fees will ‘revert' to €3,000 this September after three years of ‘once-off' reductions, says minister
Further and Higher Education Minister James Lawless has said that fees will 'revert' to what they were before such measures were applied.
Speaking to RTÉ's This Week, Mr Lawless said: 'The indications are that there won't be a cost-of-living package this year, so all of us, in any walk of life, has to play the hands we're dealt.
'If I don't have a cost-of-living package, I can't do those kind of measures that were done last year.'
Mr Lawless said the 'once-off' supports were 'very clearly described as once-off at the time' and 'are not being provided for as it stands because there's no cost-of-living package being made available'.
'That may change coming into the budget. It's a matter for the finance ministers more so than myself, but, you know, that is what's coming,' he added.
He said the contribution fees paid by many students will 'revert' to what they were before such measures were applied.
The contribution fee can vary based on a student's eligibility for grants, but the maximum rate is €3,000.
'Fees will reset, as with energy costs, as with the welfare system, as with every other means-tested payment across government, will revert to what it was before cost-of-living packages,' he said.
'If there is no cost-of-living package, there's no cost-of-living subsidy. If there's no cost-of-living subsidy, rates revert to what they were before that.'
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Mr Lawless said 'instead' measures that expand the grant scheme to higher thresholds will be considered along with other grant supports.
He said the Programme for Government, which commits to reducing the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government, also states that both the reduction of the fees and the 'financial burden on families and students' would be done in 'a financially sustainable way'.
'I can't cherry-pick the Programme for Government, I have to implement it in full,' he said.
'Is it financially sustainable in a circumstance where we don't have any cost-of-living package to put resources into one-off measures? I think the clue is in the name, they were one-off measures.'
Mr Lawless said he still intends to 'wind down' the contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government.
He is also currently in discussions with Housing Minister James Browne in relation to the reforms of Rent Pressure Zones.
While they are working on a way to 'carve out student-specific accommodation from the RPZ rules', he said it is more difficult to define what privately-rented, off-campus properties could qualify as student-specific accommodation.
'I think it's relatively straightforward to work on rules for student-specific accommodation, where we have apartments on campus or in and around campus provided for the student population. That's relatively straightforward,' he said.
He said there is a need to 'work out the balance' in relation to incentivising the delivery of such accommodation.
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