Alan Dillon

that has been delivered, it's baked in now and I think that matters.

But we also understand the challenges that families are facing and it's not just around the cost of fees, it's the cost of transport, the cost of

rent, the cost of actually going to college.

So we have introduced a number of measures.

We see now that there's a higher grant around SUSY, particularly for students who are further away from college.

We've also widened the eligibility threshold for those to access SUSY.

couples or households who are earning up to €120,000 can qualify.

And that certainly brings in a lot of those hard-pressed middle-income families.

Well, certainly I would support Maeve in this area.

I think we do need to incrementally look at how we can reduce the cost of college fees.

And indeed, it is a programme for government commitment, notwithstanding the conversations and the budgetary discussions with Deeper and the party leaders.

And I suppose we do await the outcome of this over the next number of months.

Well, I think the first thing to say, David, is that the current EU temporary protection directive is being phased out in March 2027.

And therefore, as a government, we are preparing for this transition out of temporary protection and doing it in a very managed and careful way.

I think the worst thing to do here would be to leave people, especially Ukrainians, with uncertainty until the last minute.

And indeed, what we're trying to do is do it in a way that gives people clarity.

It gives them options, but it also gives them time.

We're nearly 12 months out.

from when this will be implemented or maybe 10 months and there's around 16,000 people currently in stay contracted commercial accommodation so they'll receive advance notice and support to move into more independent living and separately there's around 46,000 people who actually are being supported to the additional recognition payment with host families or households who actually have

So I suppose their payments will be reduced incrementally in Q3 2026 later this year and phased out then in March 2027.