Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I assure Senator Healy Eames that this Government and the Greens within it certainly appreciate the importance of education and the need for it to be at the heart of any economic recovery and the need to keep the cost of entry into third level education as low as is humanly possible. There is no doubt that the registration fee increases have made it difficult for some and that further increases will make it more difficult. Therefore, they need to be kept as minimal as is humanly possible. The non-introduction of tuition fees is part of the programme for Government. Everybody understands this cannot be cast aside in any sort of willy-nilly fashion. I agree with Senator Ross that in large part, this is an investment in human capital and could be considered as capital-----