Dr. Charles Larkin:

Whatever I do not cover, Dr. Corbet will deal with in his response. Dr. Corbet will respond to Senator Ruane in respect of New Zealand and Hungary.

In terms of high debt levels and household debt, Ireland is still in the repayment paying down mode. If one looks at systems that have been brought on line, as Dr. Corbet said, there is a shelf life for policies. When these policies were introduced in other countries, in many cases the countries had very low household debt levels which have increased over time. One counter-example to that is the UK, which had a high household debt level to begin with.

The training levy is still an open question politically. Therefore, nobody really knows where that €200 million is going to go. In terms of overall higher education funding, that €200 million is an exceptionally small plaster to keep the higher education system operational.

In terms of equity issues, an income-contingent loan has to be kept simple. Complexity is problematic for those from poorer backgrounds with respect to financial instruments. They are very risk-averse against them. I have shown that, following the crisis, the upcoming generation has a greater level of risk-adversity than their parents. There has been a change in how people behave as a result of the crisis, which is not surprising.

We build a pay differential between genders into our model. Unfortunately, Ireland does not have legislation requiring men and women to be paid equally and that must be taken into account.

The income-contingent loan structure means that people who are disabled or leave the workforce at different points in time would not have to pay during that period. It does not eliminate the debt hanging over them. The real question is what to do about individuals who leave the labour market. If they have a mortgage-style loan, they have to continue paying, whereas if they have an income contingent loan, they do not have to pay. If the cost of their education is provided through a grant or some sort of fee remission scheme then they do not have that repayment anyway.