Seanad debates

Wednesday, 21 May 2003

Rural Development Policy: Statements (Resumed). - Third Level Fees: Motion.

 

10:30 am

Photo of Brian HayesBrian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I second the motion in the name of my colleagues. I welcome the Minister for Defence and his officials to the House but I ask where is the Minister for Education and Science. This is a very important debate and many colleagues on all sides have important contributions to make. I ask that the Minister should show up at some point during the debate to make his contribution and also to hear the sincerely held views of this House.

The reason we have elections is to enable people to determine, based on programmes, policies and manifestos, the kind of Government they want for the following four or five years. The reintroduction of third level fees is an idea that came after the election from the Minister for Education and Science. If the Fianna Fáil Party and the Progressive Democrats wanted this proposal, why did the debate not take place during the last election? That is what elections are about and they determine where people stand on issues such as this. I accept that it is a legitimate subject for debate and that differing stances can be taken on the issue. Trying to do this in the first year of office of a Government is a crude attempt to take money from people which will go into a big black hole. This is another stealth tax and it will be clearly shown as such during this debate.

I come from a constituency where there are many pockets of deprivation, where the level of participation in third level education is very low. I do not believe that the key issue in getting children from those communities into college is fees. There are many reasons why children from those communities do not go to college – peer group pressure, parental expectations, the level of support available at home for study, the lack of chance and the lack of expectation.

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