Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

It seems this week we are seeing yet another screeching U-turn from the Government. After its recent U-turns on rent pressure zones and tax and spending priorities for this budget, this time the change of tack relates to the announcement by the Minister, James Lawless, on college fees. On Sunday, the Minister took to the national airwaves to say there would be what will amount to a massive hike in fees this year, apparently from the €2,000 students paid last year to €3,000 this year.

As the Minister will know, this U-turn has caused widespread consternation among students, parents and families because the budgeting plans for households across the country, especially those with multiple children in third level, have now been thrown into doubt, and this during a cost-of-living crisis. The Minister knows the pressure households are under. Grocery prices have risen by more than 5% since this time last year. Average monthly rents are now at €2,000.

It is not just families and students who are concerned about the impact of this U-turn, as it appears the junior partner in the coalition of chaos, Fine Gael, is also in consternation about this announcement. The Tánaiste even suggested this morning, in what sounded like a desperate scramble to row back on the Minister’s plans, that third level fees would go up and then might come down again, all within one college year. There was no certainty about it.

It seems Fine Gael backbenchers have gone even further to distance themselves from the Minister, Deputy Lawless. We heard it on yesterday’s "Liveline" programme. A Fine Gael TD tried to do the impossible by simultaneously appearing to both defend and criticise the Minister and sounding shocked about the announcement, which is ridiculous, given that Fine Gael is in government and has no right to be shocked. The Minister mooted this in the spring. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, might remember that on 1 April, an article by Pat Leahy appeared in The Irish Times saying that the Minister, Deputy Lawless, had "signalled [that] the €1,000 could be cut this year, meaning an effective increase in fees for many students". Now, perhaps Fine Gael believed this was an April Fool’s joke, given the date, but this is no laughing matter. On "Liveline" yesterday, we heard the genuine distress and concern among so many families mere weeks before the autumn term begins. Students are now wondering if they will be able to afford to progress to third level at all. This is appalling for people.

At 6 p.m. next Tuesday, Labour has called a protest outside the gates of Leinster House, led by our higher education spokesperson, Senator Laura Harmon. Alongside students, unions and other political parties, we will be calling on the Government to halt this sharp hike in student fees. The Government may have U-turned again by then, and I genuinely hope it will have done so, but I take the opportunity to invite the Minister, Deputy Chambers's colleagues in Fine Gael to come to the protest. Indeed, he would be welcome, too, but his time might be better spent with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, trying to figure out a way to get out of this latest mess of Fianna Fáil’s making. The Government has a surplus of almost €1.8 billion in the National Training Fund. That money can only be spent for education purposes.

Will the Minister consider using that money to keep fees low? Will he commit that students will not have to pay this exorbitantly high increase?

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