Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)

When will the Government get its act together and level with parents and students? It has been five days since the higher education Minister took to the airways and dropped the bombshell that parents and students will have to find another €1,000 to fund college before September. He did not try to sugar-coat that news; it was quite the opposite. He said, "All of us in any walk of life have to play the hands we are dealt." It was utterly galling and incredibly tone deaf; a member of Government actively stacking the deck against students and families, essentially telling them to suck it up - that is what he said - and play the bum hand they have been dealt.

Elaine is one parent who is trying her best to play the hand she was dealt. She has one daughter going to college and another starting in September. She has already told her children they cannot go to college in Dublin because accommodation is too expensive and now she is worried about how she will cover student fees, which are increasing for her from €2,000 to €6,000. Elaine told “Liveline” that she and her family went on a foreign holiday recently. It was the third time they have been abroad in 22 years and now she really regrets that decision because she does not know if she can afford to send her children to college.

There are thousands of families all over the country in exactly the same boat that Elaine is in. They have built family budgets on commitments given by the Minister and his colleagues. They believed Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when they promised to reduce fees during the election. They believed the promises in the programme for Government that they would reduce college fees and they have been betrayed. They have learned that this Government cannot be trusted and that its promises are not worth the paper they are written on.

Students and families have been led down the garden path by this Government and they are absolutely sick of its games. I am astonished that the Minister thinks it is okay to tell families, “Wait until the budget and we will clarify matters for you.” That is four months away. Students and families cannot budget like that. They need to make plans now. They do not have a grand or three down the back of the sofa that they can easily pull out. They will need to scrimp and save and sacrifice to cover this increase. Does the Minister not understand that? Does he not get that?

This Government promised to reduce college fees and the Minister should have no problem today in clarifying whether it is going to keep to the commitment that it made. Will the Minister tell Elaine and all of those other parents out there whether or not they will see an increase in college fees come September? Will they be required to pay €2,000 or €3,000?

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