I see the former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was comparing the Tánaiste's policies to my policies at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting yesterday. I hope the Tánaiste will take him outside and have a quiet word and get that knocked on the head. The Tánaiste will get me into terrible trouble with my comrades.

Under this Government, thousands of students are literally surviving on rations of dry toast, dry cereal, a cup of coffee and skip dinner. How could it be otherwise when we have the highest student fees in all of the European Union and we have students forking out €700 or more per month just for a box room. The scenes at UCC yesterday when 131 students queued at a student union food bank should cause the Tánaiste and his Cabinet colleagues to blush if they had any shame. What will the Tánaiste do about the crazy rents being imposed on students and the crazy fees on their backs also?

I acknowledge the fact that many students are struggling financially, whether due to the cost of rent, utilities, food, fees or other items for which they have to pay. The main way we assist students is through the student grant system. More than 75,000 students receive a grant. The grant levels are under review in the budget. In recognition that some students are facing real and serious hardship, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, has doubled the student assistance fund to €17.2 million. In recent days, he has allocated €596,000 of this to UCC to assist it to assist students who are in real financial need.