Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)

There is now complete disarray and open revolt in the Government over student fees. Last night, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, announced he was not happy about this mess. He said he signed up to a programme for Government that clearly promised to reduce fees. He described the threat to increase them by €1,000 as a scud missile nobody was expecting. Can the Minister stop the pretence that what is going on is part of the normal budgetary process? Nobody is buying that spin, not even the Ministers of State in government. The Government promised to continue reducing student fees, but it is now threatening to break that promise and increase them by a whopping 50%. This is what is happening here. I ask the Minister to answer the question on this issue and to clarify this is not what is happening.

The Minister does not have to lecture us and the public on budgetary planning. There was enough of that yesterday. What we are talking about here is trust in politics and promises broken within months of them being made. The Minister has repeatedly cited economic threats as a reason to ditch commitments to students and their families, but the programme for Government was written only a few months ago at the end of January. We are not talking about the dim and distant past. Is the Minister really telling us that commitments made a mere five months ago are now to be on the chopping block?

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Government just does not get it. It does not get the immense pressure on students and families from soaring costs. It does not get the level of rising panic at the thought of having to find an extra €1,000, or even more for families with multiple students in college. The Minister spoke at length about the Government's budget process, but what about family budgets? Does he understand household budgets and that they relied on the Government's commitment to reduce student fees? Families made plans on that basis, but the Government is now ripping up that pledge and those household plans. This is at a time when every penny has to be counted to make ends meet. This is causing great levels of stress and anxiety. Where are families and students meant to find that extra €1,000? I am really struggling to understand what the Government is doing and why this fiasco is continuing to run and has not been sorted out. Is it because the Taoiseach is away and nobody else is capable of making decisions on this issue?

See this speech in context