Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State indicated she watched a programme on Sky last night. A report was published in the UK yesterday and it serves as a very clear warning about the proposed system. I disagree with the people who have proposed it but they have done much interesting work. Yesterday's report makes for devastating reading for working class children if the system is introduced here. In England, the amount of debt a student has as he or she exits the system is approximately £57,000. The banks are gouging people with interest rates in the UK with the cheap rate of 6%. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, can do the compound interest maths problem, as 6% is an alarmingly high interest rate. The equivalent debt burden would be over €80,000 in Ireland as we have many four year degree programmes. It would be disastrous for working class children. How could any working class person take on a debt of €80,000?

See this speech in context