Graduate tax, what next - a hospital operation tax?

Posted on January 15, 2011 at 08:09 PM

Labour Youth responded to the Hunt Report on Third Level education this week by reiterating the long-held view of the Labour Party in Ireland that Third Level education should be funded through taxation. Third Level fees were abolished by former Labour Party Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach and one of the recommendations of the Hunt Report is their re-introduction. Proponents for the reintroduction of Third Level fees say things like “many parents can afford to pay, so they don’t need free fees”.

It is true that top earners – many of whom have children in Third Level education – can afford to pay something not only towards their own children’s education, but to the education service in general, and this should be done through taxation.

Education is not just an individual need, society needs our young people to be educated. The future of our economy depends on it. The only way we can meet this social and economic need is by ensuring equality of access to Third Level.

My own father who worked in Third Level education at a time when there were fees (and later when fees were abolished) met with young people whose parents could not, or sometimes would not, make a contribution towards their sons’ or daughters’ fees. As registration fees continue to increase this must be an issue for a growing number of young people today. In another press release this week my colleague Ruairi Quinn notes that the undergraduate charge rises to €2,000 in September and that part-time and postgraduate students continue to pay fees.

I am also against the notion of students paying for their education through some kind of deferred payments loan, or graduate tax. To me this is definitely a disincentive to students from lower-middle and low income backgrounds. To paraphrase former Labour MP Tony Benn, will we next be asking people who have used the health service to pay a ‘health tax’ for the rest of their working lives? Even worse, operation loans?

I welcome the Labour Youth statement. I have met many parents who are worried about increased registration fees and the possibility of the re-introduction of fees or the introduction of some kind of deferred payment model.

http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/129485169612568919.html

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