Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think this is envisaged as some sort of commercialisation. At the moment, people pay fees so there are student contributions and students or their parents must find them while they are studying. The report suggests that we look at an alternative where people do not pay anything while they are studying but there is a recovery when their income goes over a certain figure and that this is how they would contribute to the cost of their education. It is not applying some commercial model. It is using a different profile of collecting a contribution from students who participate. The report has pointed out that people who complete a third-level education have considerably higher earning capacity. That is the issue we need to assess. There will be different views in the House. I know some parties have very strong views. The Union of Students in Ireland has a view while others within the universities have a different view. It is our job as an Oireachtas to tease out those views and reach a consensus if that can be reached.

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