Before I begin, I want to say how very sorry I am to hear of the death of Brother Kevin Crowley. I offer condolences to everybody who loved him. Brother Kevin's work at the Capuchin Day Centre is the stuff of legend. He really was a champion for the poor and for everyone who fell on hard times, without judgment and without exception. He lived for others and he absolutely changed lives. We will all feel his loss very greatly. Ireland has lost a great son. Indeed, his beloved Cork has lost a true legend. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Yesterday, I was contacted by a mother at her wits' end. She has two daughters in college. She told me that she and her husband were just about able to cover the costs of that. She talked about the pressure they were under to pay for the accommodation. She likened it to a second mortgage, so this mother could not believe her ears when the Minister, Deputy Lawless, announced that the Government would hike up student fees by €1,000. She asked where in the name of God did the Government think she and her husband would find an extra €2,000. Thousands of students and their parents are in the same position with the worry, stress and uncertainty of having to come up with that money.

Yesterday, my colleague An Teachta Pearse Doherty twice asked the Minister a very simple question about what students and their families would be asked to pay. Will it be €2,000 or €3,000? Twice, the Minister refused to answer. When asked by reporters yesterday whether a fee hike was coming, Micheál Martin was dismissive. He talked about budgeting processes instead of being upfront about the bills students and their parents would face in a few weeks. He was clear on one thing, namely, that there would be no cost-of-living package. Obviously, the fees are going up.

The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, could not have been more cavalier. He said that if he was the parent of a child going to college today, he would do what happened last year, the year before and the year before that. He would pay in instalments and see where the budget brought us to. How out of touch can you get? We are not talking about a few quid here. We are talking about €1,000 per student. That is a lot of money for families. Parents cannot take a wait-and-see approach. They and students need to know now what they will be paying. The Government is making the choice to hike student fees at a time when working people and families are under pressure with soaring prices, hit left, right and centre with increases in the cost of food, energy bills, childcare, petrol, diesel and, as the Government well knows, rent. Prices are through the roof, yet now the Government wants to add a €1,000 hike in college fees into the mix.

That is the flippant and casual attitude of a Government that has no problem reinstating big pay packages for top-brass executives at bailed-out banks or doling out cushy pay increases for its record number of Ministers of State, but pleads the poor mouth when it comes to students and their families. It is a tale as old as time when it comes to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Caithfidh an Rialtas a bheith ionraic le mic léinn agus lena dteaghlaigh. Cad a bheidh mar tháille coláiste acu i mí Mheán Fómhair? An mbeidh costas €2,000 nó €3,000 air?

The Minister needs to be upfront with students and their families. Dancing on the head of a pin, dodging and refusing to give a straight answer is, frankly, not acceptable. I will again ask the straightforward question and I would like an answer, please. When students are paying their fees for the 2025-26 academic year, will the cost be €2,000 or €3,000?

I thank the Deputy for her question. I first want to echo what she said about Brother Crowley. Ireland has lost a wonderful person, someone who brought incredible care, humility and service to support the most vulnerable in our country. We thank him for his tireless work. May he rest in peace. I offer condolences to all of his family.

In response to the Deputy's question, I acknowledge there is still pressure in the daily lives of many families and costs are still high. What we said at the time of the formation of this Government was that, as part of the process around budget 2026, changes would be made in a sustained and permanent way. That covers all policy areas across government. In the context of further and higher education, the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has engaged, and will continue to engage, with students and the stakeholders in that sector. That will form the basis of the options paper on the cost of education, which will inform his work and the negotiation as part of budget 2026. That specific detail will inform him about what is possible and how he wants to prioritise the different measures that can be taken on a permanent and sustained basis.

The Deputy referenced the measures that were taken last year or the previous year. Those measures were taken on a one-off temporary basis as part of a cost-of-living package. We are approaching budget 2026 by trying to take measures that can be made on a permanent basis. Work around that is happening across the Government, with different Ministers setting out their priorities in the context of the budget negotiation process. I will be engaging with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, in that context following the summer economic statement and the publication of the national development plan.

One element of the cost for students is the student contribution fee, but other elements can help the affordability for students. Those include the grants from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, income thresholds and reckonable income when it comes to the wider grant system we have across the further and higher education sector. The work the Minister is doing now in developing the options paper on the cost of education and considering what are the best measures he can take in the context of budget 2026 to support students and households will form the basis of his discussions on the budget.

We have said that the work over the coming weeks will inform the overall allocation, which will be made available in the context of current expenditure. However, we have had a series of interventions over recent years. The average rate of expenditure increase has been 9% in recent years. We have uncertainty around us and need to be careful about the broader economic and budgetary context. That is why we are undertaking careful work within the Government to set out what is possible in terms of the interplay between current and capital expenditure and the changes we will make from a tax perspective.

As a Government, we are saying that the measures we will take for 2026 and onwards will be taken in a budgetary context. We are not taking ad hoc decisions in early July when there is a process to be undertaken. That goes for all my Government colleagues, across the board.

We are cognisant of the pressures that families face, including in respect of third level fees but also in respect of the cost of education at primary and secondary levels, the continuing cost of childcare and the cost of a whole range of services. We want to strengthen public services and make them more affordable. That is the medium-term expenditure framework that we will set out in the coming weeks. That will form the basis of the broader negotiation.

The Minister said a lot there but did not answer the question. He is the Minister for public expenditure and this is a straightforward question. Will the cost be €2,000 or €3,000? On the basis of what he is saying and according to the logic of his presentation, I assume the cost will be €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, has announced an increase in student fees to €3,000. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, needs to stand up and confirm that. People are waiting for confirmation. Will it be €3,000? People have to budget for that. They cannot just produce it out of thin air.

The kind of logic presented by the Minister strikes me as particularly perverse. In order to bring down the cost of education, the Government is going to hike the cost of student fees. That makes no sense. What does the Government have against students?

Thank you, Deputy.

The Government is going to hike up the cost of their rent-----

Thank you, Deputy McDonald.

-----and is now going to hike up their fees,-----

Please, Deputy, time is up.

-----but the Minister does not even have the decency to be clear about it.

The Minister to respond.

I ask the Minister to confirm-----

Deputy, please, you are way over time.

-----if students will pay €2,000 or €3,000.

What I have said very clearly is that the outlook will be informed by what we agree as part of budget 2026. This is the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin when it comes to third level fees. In the North, the then Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, was not at the time ruling out hikes in student fees.

There are no increases in the North.

She then said that she had to work within the context of the financial position. It is the same for this Government when it comes to budget 2026.

Will it be €2,000 or €3,000?

When it comes to all policy-----

Jesus, surely the Minister can answer a question as basic as that.

Deputy, please. There is hardly any need.

Mother of God.

All decisions we will make for next year will be made in the budget.

The Minister does not know the answer.

So, in September.

Deputies, allow the response.

They will be done and concluded in the budget process. That is the same as has happened in previous years. That is the context. That will inform the outlook for 2026.

That is most unhelpful to families and students.

That is the same for all policy measures.

That is very unhelpful.

It is decided in the budget.

Students are coming back in September, not next year.

They get the message.