Fórsa has welcomed the announcement of a €307 million increase in core funding for higher education. But the union warned that the absence of a timescale for the spending could delay meaningful changes on the ground.

Announcing the package earlier this week, minister Simon Harris ruled out the introduction of student loans and said the SUSI grant system was being revied to provide more support and higher grants to reduce students’ costs.

The union met the Minister for Further and Higher Education following his announcement earlier this week and heard further details of his plans for increased expenditure.

The head of Fórsa’s Education Division, Andy Pike, said the decision to increase core funding for higher education was long overdue.

“The minister also said future funding for higher education would not be based on increasing costs to students through introducing student loans.

This is very welcome news given the fact that Government estimates that the cost of living for students increased by 25% over the last ten years and is set to increase further due to inflation,” he said.

Mr Harris said further changes would be made to the SUSI grant system to provide more support and higher grants to reduce students’ costs. Student grant eligibility could also be extended to part-time and post-graduate students.

His department says the review of the grant system will also seek to maximise benefits for underrepresented groups like Travellers and students with disability.

The minister also outlined an aspiration to reduce student registration fees, but gave no timetable for achieving this.

The €307 million increase in core funding will be used to lower staff student ratios, increase quality outcomes, end precarious employment and increase student access to education.

In return, the sector will be expected to implement new student access policies and improve the quality of teaching and learning. A working group with union representation is to be established to oversee this process.

Following the meeting, Andy outlined concerns over the lack of a timetable for realising the funding increase.

“This will lead to concerns that it may be a long time before institutions see any meaningful change to their core funding. However, the commitments to use exchequer funding not student loans to finance higher education are very welcome and would be any additional beneficial changes to the SUSI grant scheme.

“The minister has set an ambitious agenda that our members will now expect to be delivered in the next budget if not before,” he said.