Students in line for permanent fee cut as Coalition parties move on to budget battle over welfare payments
Further and Higher Education Minister James Lawless will now push for budget measures to reduce the €3,000 annual fees for college students by several hundred euro permanently.
Students will also be in line for more targeted measures, with disadvantaged students set to get greater support with paying their college fees.
Permanent cuts to college fees will be seen as a win for Fine Gael, after the party clashed with its coalition partner last week after Fianna Fáil minister Mr Lawless initially poured cold water on the prospect of reducing fees.
In previous budgets, college fees fell by €1,000 due to a temporary subsidy introduced in cost-of-living packages.
However, the Government had signalled there would be no cost-of-living supports in Budget 2026, and that they would also end the €250 energy credit to help reduce household bills.
This weekend, Mr Lawless insisted he would seek 'discounts to the student contribution fee'.
'I am going into the budget negotiations this autumn seeking the very best possible outcome for students and their families, of course by seeking discounts to the student contribution fee, and in line with our Programme for Government commitments, but also by examining complementary, targeted measures which can be very impactful for cohorts like larger families or the 'squeezed middle',' he said.
The Kildare North TD also hit out at Tánaiste Simon Harris, by saying families have faced 'uncertainty' in recent years as 'support schemes were, by design, temporary and not guaranteed year-on-year'.
I feel it's important that I'm straight with people
Mr Harris had cut fees on a temporary basis when he was further and higher education minister, but these were not put on a permanent footing.
'I feel it's important that I'm straight with people, and that whatever I do in this budget is there to stay — repeatable, costed and sustainable,' Mr Lawless said.
He also told Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan, the party's spokesperson on further and higher education, that the Government is 'committed to reducing the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government, in a financially sustainable manner'.
Mr Lawless called on Sinn Féin to provide a 'costed, evidence-based appraisal', prompting Sinn Féin to accuse the minister of being 'tone deaf'.
The latest Sunday Independent/ Ireland Thinks poll shows most people believe cuts to student fees should apply to all students and not just those on lower incomes.
Most people also believe the Government should cut fees further after previously cutting them by €1,000.
But Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are set to clash on weekly welfare hikes for the unemployed, with Fine Gael believing people who 'refuse' to work should not be 'rewarded'. The party instead wants lower increases — or none at all — for Jobseeker's Allowance, with higher rates for pensioners and the disabled.
I've never been into the characterisation of people on welfare
However, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he does not like 'drawing distinctions'.
'I've never been into the characterisation of people on welfare. I've never been into those politics,' he said.
The Taoiseach instead spoke about 'turning the dial' on child poverty.
'We do have to make priorities. In terms of how we allocate, my view is that we have, over the last two years, committed to doing something significant on child poverty, to turn the dial around on child poverty — and that's where I would like to see a targeted set of measures emanating from the Department of Social Protection,' he added.
His comments stand in stark contrast to those of Mr Harris, who said he believes there is 'merit' to get rid of 'uniformity' in rising all welfare payments — such as Jobseeker's and the pension — by the same weekly amount.
'Roughly speaking, the equivalent of €1.20/€1.25 on every social welfare payment is roughly the equivalent of reducing college fees by €1,000. So budgets are all about choices,' he said last week.
'I'm not convinced that you need to see as significant a rise in the dole as in the pension, at a time when our country is in full employment and when there's lots of supports out there for people getting into work. There's other supports out there for people who can't work for very many good reasons.'
Chair of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee, Fine Gael TD John Paul O'Shea, previously called for 'vulnerable groups' to be prioritised over the unemployed. Proposals to have smaller increases to Jobseeker's than to pensions were rejected by previous governments.
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