The cost of providing third level education will increase in the short term as a result of COVID-19, the Higher Education Minister has warned.
However students are being assured fees will not increase over the next number of years.
A plan outlining how colleges and universities can reopen in September will be published this month.
Minister Simon Harris says fees will not be looked at until the budget in October.
"We're not going to be able to have everybody on campus the same way they were pre-Covid, that's not the way this virus works as well."
"Things like fees and supports for students are things that myself and Minister Collins will work on in the context of the budget in October."
"Our immediate priority now must be getting people back into learning, getting colleges back open and getting as much face to face time as possible."