Labour will fight tooth and nail to stop reintroduction of third level fees
Issued : Monday 11 August, 2008
Statement by Ruairi Quinn TD
Minister for Education and Skills
The Labour Party will oppose tooth and nail any plans by the government to reintroduce fees for third level education.
Over the past few weeks we have heard a steadily rising chorus of calls for the reintroduction of fees, from university presidents and others, and it appears from comments made by Education Minister, Batt O' Keeffe that the government is now about to capitulate to the pressure.
The abolition of third level fees was one of Labour's most significant achievements in government. The abolition of fees opened up third level education to tens of thousands of students from low and middle income families.
At a time when we want to encourage more students to enter third level, it would short-sighted and short-termist to respond to the funding crisis by imposing what would essentially be a tax on those hoping to get a degree.
Even if fees were initially only applied to what are called 'better off families', it would be only a matter of time before threshold levels were dropped and the vast majority of families would again be facing fees. Given that fees for many courses would now be more than €6,000 per annum, their introduction would simply make it impossible for many families to send their children to third level.
We accept that universities and I.T.s are serious funding problems, but every sector of the Irish education system is facing similar financial difficulties. Part of the problem at third level is that while the abolition of fees greatly increased the numbers opting for further education, government funding did not match the increase in numbers.
The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs recommended that 32% of our workforce should have a degree or third level qualification by 2020, compared to 20% today. We certainly will not achieve this target if fees are reintroduced.
ENDS CONTACT RUAIRI QUINN @ 087-2621946
