Latest news with #thirdlevelfees
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Opposition called for clarity over third-level fees. Chambers of Commerce gave them anything but
The Opposition's clarion call was clear. The Opposition wants clarity. That's simple enough. Or maybe it isn't. You see, it isn't that simple. Or maybe it is. READ MORE So what is happening with the third-level fees this year? Have they gone up by €1,000 with the removal of a substantial Government subsidy? Or are they going down, as was promised in the programme for government? Can they go up and down and stay the same all at the one time? Are pronouncements about third-level fees from the Minister for Further and Higher Education and the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and various TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael confusingly all over the place, or is everyone saying the same thing but in different ways? A new academic year is barrelling down the tracks and people are carefully budgeting for it. Most had not envisaged a hefty fee increase until the Minister for Further and Higher Education, James Lawless , confirmed at the weekend that a €1,000 reduction introduced three years ago to offset cost-of-living increases is being scrapped. While the cost of living shows no sign of slowing down. The ensuing consternation marched in high dudgeon to the Dáil on Tuesday. But the Taoiseach had fled to Japan. And the Tánaiste was hiding out at a debutantes ball in Áras an Uachtaráin where new ambassadors were presenting themselves to President Higgins and the Irish diplomatic whirl. This was no bad thing. These pressing questions requiring total clarity related to matters of a fiscal nature, so no better man to take Leaders' Questions in their absence than the Minister for Public Expenditure and former Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers. Jack had all the answers. On the back of an envelope, in turgid detail, wrapped up in jargon-laced mandarin-speak. Where was the clarity? Haven't a clue. Maybe Jack's envelope had a see-through window on the front of it. Chambers of Commerce managed to refer to this 'envelope' at least half a dozen times while still not saying definitively if the student fee for this year will be €2,000 or €3,000. All that Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty and Labour's Ivana Bacik and Cian O'Callaghan of the Social Democrats wanted from him was clarity on the fee situation. Instead, Jack droned on about fiscal stationery. Clarity. 'Just to put this issue to bed,' said Pearse. Not much hope of that, with the Government's Humpty Dumpty approach to explaining things. Taoiseach Micheál Martin touched upon the issue of third-level fees on his visit to Japan. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images As Mr Dumpty once famously said: 'When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.' Suddenly, it all made sense to Ivana Bacik. When she listened to Chambers of Commerce talking about envelopes and parameters and medium term expenditure strategies, she realised he was taking an 'Alice in Wonderland approach' to providing clarity to students, parents and Opposition TDs on the fees question. 'Because what I think you said is that people may think this is an increase, but really it's a reduction.' Which he may well have been saying. Naturally, parents and students are worried about having to find an extra €1,000 this year for fees, but honestly, there is nothing to worry about because once everyone has 'engaged around the envelope' ahead of Budget 2026, this may not turn out to be the case. Meanwhile, far away on the other side of the world, Jack's leader and mentor, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, was also explaining what may happen with third-level fees which will be due in September. 'It's early days in the sense that a lot will depend on the envelope that's agreed – in other words how much are we going to be spending this year on current expenditure,' he said in Tokyo. Why are you blaming Donald Trump and attacking students? — Pearse Doherty Back home, Chambers of Commerce was throwing further light on the fees confusion by introducing Trumpty Dumpty, who is also very good at moulding words to mean whatever fibs he chooses them to mean. Jack didn't mention Donald Trump by name but Pearse Doherty and Cian O'Callaghan knew who he was talking about. So how much will be the fee be this year? The Minister was on firm ground here, albeit standing 'against a backdrop of a huge level of economic uncertainty'. He said ominously: 'We are one week away from the July 9th tariff deadline and the Exchequer returns due to be published next week will give a point-in-time indication of the broader economic position our country is in.' Why drag Donald Trump's tariffs into this discussion about sticking an extra €1,000 on the student fee at the last minute, they asked? 'Why are you blaming Donald Trump and attacking students? This is a double whammy,' fulminated Pearse. Cian wasn't buying that line either. 'Did you only discover the economic risks and threats posed by the Trump Administration after the election?' he wondered, pointing out that Trump was already in power amid growing fears of a threat to our economy when election promises were made about third-level fees. Now that the election is over, trying to use those fears 'as an excuse for breaking promises doesn't cut it with people', he said. Jack tried to reassure parents and students by giving a lot of examples of measures already introduced to help the latter financially as Opposition leaders kept trying to find out if a €1,000 fee increase is imminent. What he could say is that the Minister for Further and Higher Education is going to 'engage with everyone across the Government around what is possible within the overall envelope'. We will set out an envelope in the coming weeks — Jack Chambers But there will not be a one-off cost-of-living measure in the next budget. On the bright side, the Coalition is 'working on the medium-term expenditure strategy and also working on what targeted, sustained supports we can bring and give to families to make public services more affordable, to support families when it comes to higher education and the cost of education more generally.' This is all part of a broader discussion. 'That's how annualised budgeting works in this economy.' Things are moving fast. 'We will set out an envelope in the coming weeks,' said Chambers of Commerce. Apparently it might be here by the end of July and then all the Ministers will starting engaging around it. But will there be a €1,000 increase come September? That's what the Opposition wanted to know. Any chance of a bit of clarity? Obviously, caution is required. 'And it is within that context that we are negotiating Budget 2026 and what I would say to families is that we'll agree an envelope that will be available for changes around taxation and current expenditure and, indeed, the uplift we want to give to capital in the economy. That will form the basis of our discussion with all ministers as to what changes we can make for Budget 2026 …' Pearse was defeated. 'I just asked about fees,' he said forlornly.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Third-level fees causing tension between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
Good morning. The Taoiseach is swanking around the land of the rising sun. There's a heatwave in Europe . And at home there's a bit of a tension convention between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over third level fees . The Fianna Fáil Minister for Higher Education James Lawless is in Fine Gael's bad books after suggesting that third level fees may rise by as much as €1,000 a year as the cost-of-living supports in recent budgets come to an end. Lawless has actually been talking about this for months – we reported on it back at the start of April – but as the budget maneuvering enters a more active phase, he returned to the subject in recent days. Third level fees of €3,000 a year have been reduced by €1000 by cost of living supports in recent years. Get rid of those supports – as the Government is pledged to do – and fees must go up, Lawless reasons. READ MORE But Fine Gael, ever attuned to many hardships faced by middle Ireland, is wondering out loud how you can fulfil the Programme for Government pledge to cut the cost of third level education by, er, increasing the cost of third level education. The situation was sufficiently grave to warrant a voice note from Tánaiste Simon Harris to Fine Gael TDs last night. 'The budget will be agreed by Government with key input from the party leaders. But it does need to help families with the cost of putting a young person through college,' Harris told his party. Expect this to be put to him when he takes leaders questions today. * Budget matters are also up for discussion when the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) visits the Budget Oversight Committee today, where Ifac chairman Seamus Coffey will tell the TDs and senators that the Government is on course for €2 billion of unbudgeted overspends this year – and that's just in current spending, not to mind ballooning capital projects. The finding is among a number of criticisms and warnings that Ifac is likely to make. The Government is currently preparing its summer economic statement, a key budgetary document that will indicate the parameters for spending increases in the October budget. The council will urge the Government not to continue with the pro-cyclical budgetary policies of recent years, which saw billions of euros in giveaways to voters announced on budget day, as well as longer term spending increases. 'Given the economy is in a strong position, it does not require support from budgetary policy. Standard economics suggests the government should support the economy when it is weak, but show restraint when the economy is strong,' Coffey is expected to tell the committee. Budgetary restraint, of course, in a time of plenty for the Exchequer, is a hard political sell. * The Cabinet meets this morning, sans Taoiseach, and the agenda features a number of housing related memos. As Harry McGee reports, the Government intends to establish a league table of how local authorities are performing when it comes to building social housing, which will be useful for blaming someone else. * Dublin has a new Lord Mayor . He is Ray McAdam, a Fine Gael councillor – the third FGer in a row to hold the position – and chum of the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe. Best reads One of the largest estate agents in Ireland has launched an internal investigation after one of its staff allegedly offered to split the sale of a new build home in Newtownmountkennedy in order for it to qualify for the Help to Buy scheme. Niamh Towey has the story , and it's our lead this morning. A telecoms company with suspected ties to a key arm of the Iranian regime asked Irish diplomats for help setting up business deals in the Republic with Eir, Vodafone and Three , Jack Power reports. Fintan O'Toole finds that he has more wives than Henry VIII – thanks to AI. Playbook As mentioned above, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in Japan for an official visit, with the agenda mostly dominated by trade and investment. China Correspondent Denis Staunton is covering the trip and has a preview here . Back at home, the Cabinet meets at Government Buildings this morning under the chairmanship of Simon Harris. Dáil business starts at 2pm with Leaders' Questions – Harris in the hot seat again – followed by the usual weekly row over the order of business. There's housing questions later, and a private members motion from Sinn Féin on the GPO and Moore St – which the party wants to see developed as a 1916 quarter. How long has this been going on now? Two Government Bills are due to conclude in the Seanad – the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill and the Finance (Local Property Tax and Other Provisions) bill. At the committees, there's a few things to watch. The foreign affairs committee will begin pre-legislative scrutiny of the Occupied Territories Bill when senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs come in. The Committee on Defence and National Security is also doing pre-legislative scrutiny on the bill to abolish the triple lock, while the Budget Oversight Committee – as mentioned above – have the Fiscal Council in. Senior wallahs from the Department of Arts and Media are in to talk about the Arts Council and the controversy over its abandoned IT project. Full list of committee and details of the Dail and Seanad sittings are here .
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Divisions emerge between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over college fees
Sharp divisions have emerged between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the future of third-level fees, after recent suggestions from the Minister for Higher Education James Lawless that the end of cost-of-living packages would mean that the fees payable by students would increase. Last night Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris sent a voice note to his party's TDs reassuring them that, contrary to the suggestions of the Fianna Fáil Minister, the budget would seek to reduce the costs of going to college. 'The budget will be agreed by Government with key input from the party leaders. But it does need to help families with the cost of putting a young person through college,' said Mr Harris. 'That's the programme for government that I've signed up for, it's the programme for government that Fine Gael has signed up for – one that commits to reducing fees.' READ MORE Mr Harris added: 'I know how middle Ireland is still really feeling the squeeze.' The annual student contribution of €3,000 has been reduced by a €1,000 grant from the Government as part of its cost-of-living measures in recent budgets. Mr Lawless said at the weekend that with no cost-of-living package due for this year, he will not have the funding to reduce the fees again, meaning that students could face a €1,000 increase next year. On Monday a spokesman for the Minister said that he intended to reduce the cost of going to college as committed to in the programme for government. 'It is important to move on from temporary measures and into a more sustainable permanent system, but this may take a few budgets,' he said. Sources said Mr Lawless intends to maximise assistance to those in need at the expense of universal benefits that all college students, including those from a wealthy background, receive. But senior Fine Gael sources scoffed at the idea that Mr Lawless would reduce the cost of college by effectively increasing fees and warned that the party would insist that programme for government commitments were kept. Fine Gael TD Maeve O'Connell said: 'Reducing the cost of education and helping hard-pressed families is important to Fine Gael and our party. 'Now is not the time to row back on commitments made by the party during the last election and by this Government,' she said, in an unusual criticism of a Minister by a Coalition TD. Ms O'Connell contrasted the cost of cutting the college fees with the cost of social welfare increases. 'To put this in context, for every €1 increase in social welfare rates, the cost is approximately €75 to €80 million. A €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fee costs €99 million. These are the choices that the Government will need to make as part of the Budget,' she said. Opposition TDs were quick to leap on the issue. 'It is incredibly unfair to leave students in limbo,' said Labour Senator Laura Harmon. 'College should not be a luxury. We need long-term thinking when it comes to education, not short-term accounting. This type of chaotic policymaking only adds to the stress already facing young people.' Sinn Féin's Donna McGettigan said the 'Government's decision to hike up student fees by €1,000 is absolutely outrageous'. Social Democrats spokeswoman Jen Cummins said: 'Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael need to get their act together and keep their commitments to students and families to reduce third-level fees'. She said that Mr Lawless's comments were 'a bombshell' for students and parents.
