Students and their parents cannot wait until October’s budget to find out how much the student contribution charge will be for the upcoming academic year, the Dáil has heard.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore told Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe members of the public believed a promise in the programme for government about reducing college fees “and they have been betrayed”.
Ms Whitmore was speaking as the controversy over whether students would have to pay €2,000 or €3,000 in September was raised in the Dáil for the third day running. The student contribution was €3,000 but was reduced to €2,000 as a temporary cost-of-living measure and then rolled over for two more years.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy said Mr Donohoe was the fifth minister who had failed to clarify what level of fees would have to be paid. He said Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers had not been able to do so.
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“Between you all you cannot answer the most simple question,” he said.
Mr Lawless sparked the controversy when he told RTÉ radio on Sunday that without a cost-of-living package in the budget, students would have to pay €3,000 “as things stand”. The issue has sparked divisions between Coalition partners Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
In the Dáil on Wednesday, Mr Lawless said he was “fighting within the resources available” for “the best possible outcome” within the budgetary process.
On Thursday, Mr Carthy said the “same question that’s being anxiously asked in kitchen tables all around the country” was whether the fee would be €2,000 or €3,000 and that an answer was needed.
Mr Donohoe, however, outlined that 143,000 students and their families benefit from free fees while 60,000 benefit from lower fees. He said there was further investment in student facilities and in helping to improve the quality of education.
He said “budget by budget, we make changes that we believe are affordable” and the Government will adopt measures that are affordable, “that we know we can fund, that we know we can build upon”.
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Mr Donohoe said Mr Lawless, Mr Chambers and himself “are very clear” that following “temporary measures” when inflation was “so high”, they were looking at “other measures that can make a difference”.
Ms Whitmore said: “I’m really astonished that you think it is okay to tell families, ‘wait until the budget and we’ll clarify matters for you’. That is four months away and families cannot budget like that.”
The Minister said “those families also have other needs and issues” they want progress on and Government has to make affordable and sustainable decisions.
Mr Carthy called on the Minister to “come down from your ivory tower and answer the question” about fees.
Mr Donohoe told him the difference between those in Government and Mr Carthy is “we are interested in solutions rather than sound bites”.
