Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is great to hear all three of the presenters today. While there may not be consensus here on how education should be funded, everyone would be in agreement that the three presenters are wonderful ambassadors for the youth of the country. I say, "Well done," on a fantastic presentations and how they care for the future generations.

The concerns I expressed earlier were particularly highlighted by Ms Hayes-Nally's presentation. When one thinks of a family of five ranging in age from 17 to ten, already Ms Hayes-Nally is worried about a burden of €100,000 being placed on her family. I note the love that her mother has given her for education and how obvious is the love that Ms Hayes-Nally has for her Mum, and that Ms Hayes-Nally is concerned that her mother may loose her daughter, as we expressed earlier the concern about emigration. How do all three presenters answer those who say this is not a loan as we know it? How do they answer the assertion that this is not a mortgage, it is not the typical debt and one will not be saddled with debt for life? How do they answer that?

Ms Hoey rightly pointed out that when we talk about access it is getting in, staying in and beyond. Often I have mentioned here the deficit in resources in college. Ms Hoey mentioned the path to resources in keeping students in college that is lacking because of that deficit. Ms Hoey referred to the USI having done research on publicly funded models in other countries. Would Ms Hoey, or indeed, Mr. McNulty, elaborate on what the USI found out from that and the impact it has had on the countries in question?