The student accommodation crisis is making equal access to third level an impossibility for many students throughout the country. Access to third level should not depend on where one’s home place is or how wealthy one’s parents are. Anything less than full access for all students is discriminatory, bad for society and bad for our economy. I express solidarity with all those students who were out protesting today. I hope the Tánaiste listens to their voices. What actions will Government take to make sure that they have somewhere they can live while they are accessing third level colleges?

As I mentioned earlier, we hear the voice of the students who have been protesting today. Students are being affected by the cost-of-living crisis just like almost everyone else in our society. We are helping by increasing the student grant and making more people eligible for it, reducing the cost of student fees, reducing the cost of public transport and, crucially, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, is intervening to unlock some of the purpose-built student accommodation projects that have been delayed. There are 600 or 700 under way already - there is one in Galway, for example - but there are many in the pipeline that need be unlocked. The Minister is acting to do exactly that.

I have just come from Trinity College where there were thousands of students, postgraduates and staff members in one of the biggest protests I have seen there for many years. The protest is part of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, national walkout. There are similar turnouts across the country. To be honest, students do not accept that the Government did anything significant for them in the budget. They are absolutely furious at the extent of fees, student poverty and the student accommodation crisis. They are insulted by the €500 given to some PhD students when researchers are working for less than a minimum wage and paying enormous fees. The list goes on. Something needs to be done in addition to what was done in the budget. The Government needs to get rid of the student contribution fee, address the student accommodation crisis and help PhD and postgraduate students.

I hear the voice of students today. I understand that they are being affected by the cost-of-living crisis, as are most people in our society. What was done in the budget was significant and should not be dismissed in the way the Deputy has dismissed it. What was done will be worth hundreds of euro to some students and thousands to others. There is a €1,000 reduction in the student fee and €500 next year. We intend to build on that in the years ahead. More students will qualify for the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant. There will be a 10% increase - 14% in some cases - in the new year. Some 15,000 more students will qualify for the grant. There will be a 50% reduction in public transport fares. Major efforts are under way by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to get more purpose-built student accommodation on the campuses of our third level institutions. That is significant, but it is not the end of it. It is not our only response – there will be more. To dismiss it as nothing is not fair.