Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan has pledged to cut the €3,000 student contribution fee by €500 if the Labour Party is returned to government.

In a speech last night, she said the reduction would come into force in 2017, along with extra funding for higher education, to help meet the cost of growing numbers of students.

Ms O’Sullivan’s predecessor, Ruairí Quinn, was bitterly criticised for increasing the student contribution charge, despite pledging to freeze the fee in advance of the last general election.

While she acknowledged this increase, she said the move was one of the “many difficult economic choices” the Government had faced over recent years.