Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that. How to do it in a sustainable manner is a question all of us in this House will have to face up to. This is not a partisan comment but I do believe there has been a generation of political cowardice in regard to the question of a sustainable funding model for higher education. We have the Cassells report. The previous Oireachtas, on an all-party basis, asked for an economic evaluation.

It is currently under way with the input of the European Commission and it is due back at the start of 2021. The year 2021 should be the year where we try to settle that question. I have my own views, which I shared with the Deputy at the Oireachtas education committee. I am very nervous of the student loan model because I think that can be a barrier, real and perceived, in terms of the level of debt people are taking on at a very early stage in life. I will await the outcome of the report which, as I said, is due at the start of 2021.

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