Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses for their very interesting opening statements. I thank Dr. Kennedy for being here and it is an absolute shameful disgrace that somebody in his position is at risk merely by appearing before an Oireachtas committee to tell the truth about how things are, which is a shame on a lot of Dáileanna, not just on successive Governments. To be in a position like that, where there are so many PhD students and workers, requires collusion within the system. People must stand up and speak out but the answer is not student fees or loans. We must dig much deeper within ourselves to find the answers to why such a situation has been allowed to happen.

I have a number of questions, the first being on the Higher Education Authority Bill. What specifically needs to be done through the Bill? The Bill will be an opportunity we will not have presented to us again to address some of these issues and to make funding conditional on not allowing the absolutely abhorrent situation to continue. If we do not achieve these aims, we will have all failed.

I want to give the delegates an opportunity to talk a little more about the capitalist model. I am greatly concerned that the funding model route we are going down is the capitalist route. I see different things creeping in that I do not have time to discuss today but that really need to be addressed.

On loans, we have not said that although there are social returns and returns to individuals and employers that need to be balanced out, there are billions of unpaid student loans internationally. There is a huge administrative burden associated with this. Most of these loans end up being written off. In thinking further about the student loan model, I am absolutely against it. Associating education — such a key public good — with debt rather than investment requires a deeper analysis. Many grants are replaced with loans. I would not like this committee to go down the route of thinking student loans are the panacea for so many things that need to be addressed.

Could Mr. Donohoe give his view on the measurement of the risk to the economy if we do not address immediately the chronic underfunding in the higher education system? I want to ask the representatives of both ISME and IBEC about the €817 million in the National Training Fund at the beginning of 2021. There is €817 million in unspent funds, yet we are here discussing the underfunding of higher education. The reserve is not designed to be countercyclical because of EU fiscal rules, but these rules were suspended during Covid. Therefore, there has been a window of opportunity to gain access to the reserve without a corresponding reduction in Exchequer funding. How do the guests feel about the fact that the reserve has been allowed to build up to €817 million and would reach €1.4 billion by 2025 if spending remained the same?

I have a question for Dr. Smyth on mental health, to which she referred. I am really concerned about this area. Money given during Covid was absolutely welcome. There is an illusion that there was extra funding this year when it was really funding from last year that was continued. While all this funding is very welcome, we do not have circumstances in which the third level institutes can employ the psychologists and avail of the mental health supports needed. We are buying these in on an ad hocbasis. That is not the way to address the severe mental health problems within third level institutes. If they are not addressed at that stage, it will have an impact on the wider economy and individuals. I am sorry for asking so many questions.