Married couples in my constituency on decent but modest incomes are contacting my offices in frustration following confirmation from SUSI that their children are either not eligible for grants or fees or, if they are, are just entitled to the bare minimum. I am dealing with one case where one parent is a council employee and the other a civil servant. They have always instilled a profound work ethic in their children, they have always paid their taxes and they have never asked the State for anything in terms of welfare. They now find their eldest child is only entitled to a SUSI grant of €500 because of the Government pay rise paid to all civil servants. While that is a very modest pay increase, and a welcome one, it has pushed their son over the income threshold. This is an unfair situation and has put a financial strain on this couple. I am asking the Minister to commit to extending the SUSI income thresholds for families like the one in the case I mentioned. These families are looking around and they see with frustration there are other categories of students, such as students who arrived here post the invasion of Ukraine, who are accessing free fees. The situation is terribly unfair and there are many civil servants around the country whose families are affected in the same way due to that modest pay increase.

I thank the Deputy. I do not think we should compare or pit any student against another. It is important every child has access to education and can progress. It is important also to acknowledge that a huge number of young people can access grants - there has in fact been an increase over the years in the number of young people who can access SUSI - but also the investment that has gone into higher education to reduce the fees for those attending college or university. Obviously that has a positive knock-on impact on parents who are supporting their children. There have in the past been reviews looking at the boundaries. There is unfortunately always going to be someone who is on the wrong side of it, but every single year the Government has done more and more to allow, support and encourage more students into higher and further education. I have no doubt this Government will respond and act in the same way.