Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has said that he is considering either reducing or scrapping the €3,000 annual student contribution fee paid by third level students.
This follows comments by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar earlier this week in which he said that available money should go towards the "core funding" of higher education rather than to cutting fees or expanding grants.
However, speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Mr Harris said he believed both colleges and students needed help and that the €3,000 fee was on the table.
He said that for a family with two college students the fee could amount to €24,000 over four years.
On training retrofitters, Minister Harris said that places were available at two centres of excellence but, that there was a problem in getting people to come forward for training.
For those already in the construction sector, he said the training could be as little as "a day-and-a-half," and he urged more people to avail of it.
