Madam, - I'm sure some of the parents who will pay approximately €38,000 to put a child through four years of college (according to the Bank of Ireland Life/schooldays.ie survey reported in your edition of August 7th) will not be too pleased to read, on the same page, that a group is to discuss the possible return of third-level fees.
While James McDermott (Opinion, same day) is correct to point out that universities are underfunded, he should realise that we already have a graduate tax for "individuals once they hit a certain elevated income bracket": it's called income tax at the higher rate.
The State gets a lot in return for making the investment of paying fees for students. For example, there has been much discussion recently about health insurance risk equalisation, which is a policy that is greatly helped by the fact that young graduates who pay for private insurance effectively subsidise those in older age groups.
College fees would be an extra burden on parents, but also, it should be remembered, on students where money from parents is not necessarily forthcoming. There would no legal obligation for parents to pay for children of university-going age.
Given the funding crisis at third level, talk from the Minister for Education about further cuts is disturbing. This is not a problem that has emerged suddenly. It is the culmination of a decade of inadequate investment in the third-level sector, despite the boom years. The usual Government excuse that current problems are down to the credit crunch definitely does not apply here.
The removal of third-level fees in the 1990s was a pinnacle of Ireland's economic recovery. When such a positive initiative is in danger of being revoked, it's a true sign that we have regressed to the abyss of a recession. - Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNEDY,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.