Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issue of funding is an important one on which the Taoiseach and I are engaging intensively. We had the Cassells report in the previous Oireachtas. In an interesting decision, an all-party Oireachtas committee decided there was a need for another report. That work is now under way with input from the European Commission. It is due to land in the next quarter, and what I can tell the Chairman - and I know I speak for all of the Government when I say this - is that we will settle the question of adequately funding third level in a sustainable manner. I agree with the Chairman's view. Not to pre-empt the report, but I will tell her what we will not do.

We will not be doing what they have done in Northern Ireland, where students are burdened with student loans. That is the case for two reasons: first, students end up having to take on a lot of debt and, second, I think it is a barrier to entry for some. We know, statistically, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more averse to taking on debt for a whole load of logical and understandable reasons. I have my own strong views on it too. They may not be that different to yours, Chair. I will not pre-empt the report, but we are going to settle the question about how we properly sustain and fund third level education. Considering that the Taoiseach decided to establish a Department dedicated to it, I am confident that we want to properly sustain and fund higher education. I think we will see very significant progress on that in the latter half of this year. The idea of student loans for college courses at undergraduate level will not be a direction we will be going in.