The Young Greens - Óige Ghlas welcome the new €500 cut in third-level student fees and will continue to call for further measures to address the Cost of Living crisis and barriers to third level education.

Starting or returning to college is an expensive time of year. This new student grant of €500 is a permanent reduction in the €3,000 student charge for students in families with up to four children, on an income of €62,000 to €100,000. The income threshold is higher if there are more children. Our concern is that there are many families who are eligible who are not aware of it and we want to highlight that it is not too late to apply.

To receive the benefit, which comes in the form of a grant, students have to apply to state agency Susi. It is estimated that up to 40,000 students may be eligible and 9,600 grants have been awarded so far. We encourage students and families to check their eligibility. If you aren’t sure if you are eligible, there is a handy ‘eligiblity checker’ on the SUSI website.