Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to emphasise at the outset that no policy decisions have been taken in this area pending the outcome of examination of the Cassells report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills. The Cassells report, as the Deputy rightly states, considers a number of potential funding options, including the deferred payment of student fees. The report was referred to the Oireachtas committee on education and skills by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, in order to build political consensus on the most appropriate sustainable future funding model for higher education. I look forward to receiving the recommendations from the joint committee once it has concluded consultation and engagement with relevant stakeholders.

Arising from the future funding options presented in the expert group report, technical work relating to income contingent student loans is being undertaken by an interdepartmental group chaired by the Department of Education and Skills. This work of the interdepartmental group is intended to address some of the practical issues that will have to be considered if there is a policy decision in the future to introduce an income-contingent loan scheme. It is clear that doing nothing is not an option when it comes to the future funding of higher education. To this end, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, secured additional funding in the last budget of €36.5 million. This is part of a three-year package amounting to €160 million for the sector. This is the first

increased funding that was received for higher education since 2009.

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