Minister Lawless ‘hopeful’ student fee intervention will kick in by ‘early 2026’

The Higher Education Minister has moved to clarify that he hopes his efforts to reduce student fees will kick in in early 2026.

Minister James Lawless had said on Sunday that a cost-of-living package will not form part of Budget 2026, meaning the temporary drop in the student contribution fee would “reset”, costing an extra 1,000 euros per academic year.

Opposition politicians criticised the mooted increase and asked the Government to give clarity to parents ahead of the upcoming academic year.

Mr Lawless called RTE’s evening Drivetime programme and said he wanted to replace temporary reductions in the student contribution fee with a measure “on a permanent basis”.

He said he currently does not have the budget to do that, but would “fight” his case as part of budgetary negotiations in the coming months.

“The student fees… are usually paid in two instalments, there’s a September instalment and there is a new year instalment,” he said.

“So I would be hopeful that whatever supports I can gain in the October Budget would kick in at the start of the next year.

“So I don’t think, and I have to be honest with people, I don’t think there is any formula that can get the September instalments addressed or can get the September measures addressed other than what is already there, and there is a lot of good support already there.

“But I would be expecting that whatever interventions I can succeed in negotiating in the Budget in October will become applicable in the early new year and that may very well be the second instalment of the student contribution fee.”

Speaking on RTE’s This Week programme on Sunday, Mr Lawless had said the fees would “reset” to what they were three years ago.

The student contribution fee was at 3,000 euros before the inflation crisis, and was reduced by 1,000 euros as part of Government measures to help people grapple with inflation.

He said: “If I don’t have a cost-of-living package, I can’t do the type of measures I did last year.

“The once-off supports – and they were very clearly described as ‘once off’ at the time – 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, I suppose it is a matter for the finance ministers more so than myself.”

Mr Lawless said he intends to “wind down” the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government, but said “it is complicated”.

He also said there are too many versions of the SUSI grant (Student Universal Support Ireland) and said there is a “desire to reform it” so that it is more effective.

Students whose households have a joint income below 100,000 euros can apply for a grant through SUSI to secure a further 500 euro fee reduction.

He said a cost of education paper would be assembled and published this summer.

The programme for government states that the coalition will “continue to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the government… in a financially sustainable manner”.

Maeve O’Connell, a Fine Gael TD for Dublin-Rathdown who is a former lecturer, said it was “reasonable” for parents to assume that third-level fees would not be going up due to the commitment in the programme for government.

She told RTE’s Liveline that it was “very early stages” in the Budget process and said there was no guarantee that this was the Government’s final position.

“I will certainly be raising this week,” she said of parents’ concerns about whether fees would increase this September.

Labour Senator Laura Harmon said Ms O’Connell’s remarks “directly criticised” Mr Lawless and asked for clarity to be provided to families.

“Yesterday, Minister Lawless made it clear that increasing student fees is still very much under active consideration. Yet today on Liveline Maeve O’Connell is attempting to say this hasn’t been confirmed,” Ms Harmon said.

“This is not just a communications blunder – it’s a political failure. It is incredibly unfair to leave students in limbo.”

The Social Democrats’ Jen Cummins said Mr Lawless “dropped a bombshell” on students and their families.

“Fianna Fail and Fine Gael need to get their act together, end this phoney war and live up to their commitments to students. This speculation, about whether fees are going up, must now be brought to an end,” she said.

People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy said Mr Lawless’s suggestion of raising fees was “shocking”, and called for third-level fees to be abolished and for student accommodation to be made affordable.