Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take it from the Minister's response that options one and two are being pursued but he failed to say whether he was pursuing option three, the income contingent loans. I take it from his response that the Department is pursuing the income contingency loans. That is regrettable and should not be done because it places a huge burden on students and does not contribute anything to accessibility or affordability for students. There is ample evidence from across the world that most student debt is made of interest charges that accrue at a later stage through the income contingency loans. The Union of Students in Ireland is implacably opposed to it. Many of the Members of the House are opposed to it. I am seriously worried that the Minister is pursuing option three in parallel with options one and two and is going to try to develop some sort of hybrid of all three as a way of lessening the burden. That is not acceptable.

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