Students will see a further permanent reduction in their college and university fees in this year’s budget, the higher education minister has said. That’s down,” Mr Lawless said. It was a cost-of-living measure and it was always going to end,” Mr Lawless said. “There were comments made on talk shows, which maybe if people just paused and reflected for a moment, they may not have made,” Mr Lawless said. “If our goal is to attract more people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds into college, increasing grants is a good intervention for that,” Mr Lawless said.

Source: Irish Examiner January 02, 2026 20:30 UTC