Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will follow on from that point, because Deputy Kenny's question prompted a thought. The Department of Education and Skills has buildings which are sitting empty. One such building is the old education and training board building on Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire. It has been sitting empty for the last two or three years, which was an absolute disgrace in and of itself pre-Covid. Given that we now have a desperate need for space, workers should be sent in to refurbish that building so it can be made available for education at second level or third level as a matter of urgency. We should be looking at empty buildings in every locality that could, potentially, be available to give us the extra space we will need for primary, secondary and third level education.

Concerning the July stimulus next week, there is much understandable emphasis on small and medium enterprise and the need to protect and sustain jobs. The stimulus, however, should not just be seen as a private sector thing. In fact, a major area where there needs to be a stimulus is to strengthen and resource our public services, obviously in health but education is another key area and we could say the same about public transport. Those areas are necessary to deal with the current pandemic but they are also an economic and employment stimulus. The Government needs to be aware of that.

My specific question to the Minister, Deputy Harris, concerns the many third-level students who are facing blended learning. They are being told that they will only be doing one day of lectures on campus and then four days online. If that is the case, those students are asking why they should be paying €3,000 in fees for an undergraduate course or €6,000 in fees for a postgraduate course. It is simply not justified. I do not believe those registration fees, which are some of the highest in Europe, are justified at all, even pre-Covid. How will the Minister respond to the call from students who are stating that those fees should be dramatically reduced or abolished, given the diminished lecture hours they will be doing?

See this speech in context