Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 February 2026
389. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost in 2026 of reducing all undergraduate third level fees under the free fees initiative to €1,500 from September 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11046/26]
View answer392. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost in 2026 of reducing all undergraduate third level fees under the free fees initiative to €1,500 from September 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11060/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 389 and 392 together.
I propose to take PQs 11046/26 and 11060/26 together.
The Deputy may be aware that ahead of Budget 2026, I published an annual options paper on Reducing the Cost of Education. This can be accessed at: [www.assets.gov.ie/static/documents/cf68a0db/Funding_the_Future_-__Annual_Options_Paper_on_Reducing_the_Cost_of_Education2.pdf]
The annual options paper outlines various costings for flat rate reductions in the student contribution, ranging from deductions of €100 to €3,000. Prior to Budget 2026, a €1,500 reduction in the student contribution fee was estimated to be €158.6m. However, the Deputy will be aware that I secured a permanent €500 reduction in the student contribution fee in Budget 2026 which was estimated to cost €52.9m. Therefore, the net additional cost of reducing the student contribution by a further €1,000 would be an additional €105.7m on top of the cost of the Budget 2026 measure.
The €105.7m is the net additional cost of bringing the student contribution down to €1,500 from September 2025. The cost of this measure in September 2026 is very much dependent on revised demographic projections for the academic year 2026/27. However, the cost is likely to be of a similar magnitude to that of 2025/26.
