Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

Of course "free fees" is a manner of speaking; we do not have free fees at the moment. We have a €670 per year registration charge and I have not heard anyone argue on the basis of universalist principles that it should now be got rid of, except possibly the USI. The issue is whether fees in some way commensurate with the cost of the course, and indeed the benefits from it, could or should be charged to those well able to afford it. I accept that large numbers of parents paid fees with difficulty prior to 1996 and there have been a lot of tax cuts and pay increases since then. Nonetheless, there is a fairly general consensus that if fees are to be introduced they should be at a much higher threshold. The difficulty is that if that threshold is set too high the administrative costs wipe out the benefits and there is a repetition of the property tax syndrome.

Tuition fees only account for part of the cost of maintaining a child at college. There are clothes, books and travel costs and accommodation costs if they live away from home.