No to College Fees

education is a Right not a Privilege

 

 

 

 

 

 

The re-introduction of these fee's would lead to a drop off in numbers attending university and would only serve as a disincentive. Ireland has always had a reputation as a being a land of "Saints and Scholars" the re-introduction of fee's would completely undermine the true spirit of Irish educationalism.

As Deputy Michael D Higgins has stated "The fundamental difference between Labour's position and that of the present government is the priority we in Labour gives to the requirement of citizenship defining the relationship between state, economy and society. Any plan to reintroduce third level fees would create a further roadblock to the creation of a more equal society. Minister O'Keeffe's claim that fees would be restricted to those earning more than €100,000 is a Trojan horse. We know from information given by the previous Minister, Noel Dempsey, when he floated a similar idea that fees pitched at this level would bring in only around €15m. It would cost more than this to set up and run a system of means testing. Parents and students know that even if fees were initially introduced for those earning these sums, it would be only a matter of time before the threshold was dropped and the vast majority of families would again be facing fees."

Universality in our public services in Health and Education is what is needed to tackle this issue. Labour Youth believe that universality in our health and education system is the most equitable and just way forward. We should have a system which is free at the point of access and a system which is based on equality of access. If this Government were to actually spend our public finances in a fiscally sensible way we wouldn't be in this predicament. One of the most important investment's a country can make is in the education of its people.

Our Education system should be based on MERIT NOT MEANS.

 

Listen to Michael D.Higgins speech at a recent protest outside the Dept of Education