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Higher education minister James Lawless (FF) and Tánaiste Simon Harris (FG)RollingNews.ie

College Fees

Tensions brewing in coaltion over scrapping of temporary €1,000 college fee subsidy

Minister Lawless says it “is not a policy decision”, but rather a “statement of financial fact” to say the measures were temporary.

10.10am, 1 Jul 2025

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TENSIONS ARE BREWING within the coalition over student fees, which will not be subject to any blanket subsidies this September, like they had been last year.

Higher Education Minister James Lawless from Fianna Fáil told RTÉ’s Drivetime yesterday that provisions have not been made for another €1,000 fee reduction, despite calls from students’ unions.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste Simon Harris, who has previously been the higher education minister, said there’s a “bizarre narrative” taking hold that the absence of a cost of living package means the government won’t help reduce the cost of living.

Lawless says it “is not a policy decision”, but rather a “statement of financial fact” to say the measures were temporary.

“The last couple of summers we’ve gone into September [and] students and families have been unsure where they stood. They haven’t known whether they had fees covered or not covered,” said Lawless.

“There was a once-off temporary subvention … Those measures expired.

“The budget that was done for this September has no provision for any kind of subvention.”

Student unions, who describe the apparent fee hike as a betrayal, have accused the minister of dodging accountability by announcing this in June, when many representatives are finishing up or just starting their roles for the year.

Responding to the accusation, Lawless said: “I did say to them the last time [we met] that there’s no cost of living package this year, so this is going to be difficult.”

“I want to see what can we get on a permanent, costed basis so that whatever is done in this budget, which will be later this year, will actually be there to stay.”

He added, however, that he does not have any budget to include temporary reliefs right now.

“The budget for this September was set last October. I wasn’t the minister at the time,” he said.

Students often pay fees in two installments – one in September and one in January. Lawless said he’s hopeful that any supports included in the October budget will kick in by the new year.

Harris told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that he still wants to see fees phased out gradually.

“I think in the last few days there’s been kind of a bizarre narrative taking hold that if there’s not a cost of living package, that the government can’t do anything on the cost of living. That’s simply not true.

“We have to move back to regular budgets, but of course that budget can include measures to help people with cost of living.

“I’m very clear on the programme for government commitment that talks about reducing and phasing out. That’s what I want to see progress on. But I want to do that in a disciplined way in terms of engaging with our colleagues.”

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College Fees
Higher Education
James Lawless
Simon Harris
Students’ Union
Third Level Fees

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