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

I thank Deputy Broughan. Deputy Pringle earlier raised a rather similar question and I do not want to repeat myself. Peter Cassells chaired that expert group and looked at the pressure on higher education over the recent period where funding was effectively frozen and numbers increased. That has put the system under considerable strain. We are now considering how to establish a sustainable funding model for the future. Peter Cassells indicated a number of options, as the Deputy knows. I have not been sitting on my hands. I immediately worked on an Exchequer option with €36.5 million this year, a three-year programme with demographics built in increasing to €160 million over the three years.

With the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, I have set up an Exchequer-employer mechanism which will generate an additional €200 million by 2020, if approved in the budget.

The option of income-contingent loans involving the contribution of students is being considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills. Clearly we need to have political and social consensus on how we proceed. Peter Cassells has set out the merits of it in that people get a very substantially increased livelihood. If they get a third-level qualification, it dramatically improves their lifetime earnings and he is asking if people should contribute back.

People have raised other concerns, such as the cashflow impact and whether it would create a barrier for people from disadvantaged areas or whether there are other ways to ensure people from disadvantaged areas get access. Those issues are being thrashed out by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills. We are doing a technical evaluation of how it would work if it were selected. As Peter Cassells said, doing nothing is not an option. Therefore I have not done nothing. I am moving immediately on the areas where I have potential to act and have, I think, the support of the House. The view on the remaining element remains to be seen.

See this speech in context