Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We should be standing up for ourselves and telling these multinationals that they will have to cough up a bit of money to pay for the educated workforce from which they make so much money, with profits that are off the Richter scale. That is not a hyperbolic description of their profits. Based on the productivity per worker in Ireland, it is all made here. Could they please contribute something towards these chronically underfunded universities, where students are on miserable grants?

I say no to student loans. Has the debt economy not done us enough damage without inflicting the debt economy on our students so they will come out of third level education owing €20,000 or €30,000 to the banks? What an outrageous suggestion. The Minister should get rid of the fees, make the multinationals pay their taxes to fund our third level education.

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