Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Senator for raising the matter and will begin by outlining the background to the reform programme that is being undertaken in the higher education sector. The national strategy for higher education to 2030, which was published earlier in the year, provides a working blueprint for enhancing and developing the system to ensure it can meet the challenges of the future. An implementation group is already in place to oversee and co-ordinate the strong partnership effort that is now required across the academic community, higher education leadership and the various agencies and interests that interact with various parts of the system.

It is estimated in the national strategy that an additional €500 million will be needed by 2020 and a further €450 million by 2030 just to maintain current levels of resource per student given the projected level of increased demand for higher education. It is estimated that demand will grow by over 70% over the next two decades. Given our current fiscal difficulties, it is clear there will be resourcing issues if we are to meet projected demand. If we are to maintain and enhance standards of quality in higher education we must now examine closely the sustainability of funding arrangements for the system. We have to reconcile future demand for participation growth with limitations on public resources and a need to protect and enhance core quality. Although the nature of these difficult trade-offs are described in the national strategy, more detail is required with regard to a detailed comparative analysis of international benchmarks for sustainable funding levels in this context. We need to know more about how the three parameters of numbers, funding and quality interrelate so that we can manage the tensions and trade-offs involved. This will allow us to support realistic and sustainable levels of growth in numbers and inform better choices on policy options for future funding.

The programme for Government provides a commitment to undertake a full review of third level funding with a view to introducing a funding system that will provide third level institutions with reliable funding but does not impact on access for students. We also need to ensure that we are extracting the full value and potential of all of the existing resources available to the sector to do better with less. In this regard, the Minister has asked the Higher Education Authority to undertake further work on the sustainability of the existing funding framework over the course of this year.

As the Senator will be aware, the previous Government introduced a new student contribution charge of €2,000 with effect from the 2011-12 academic year to replace the existing student services charge of €1,500. This increased charge will come into effect in the autumn. The Minister will be considering all the issues involved as part of the wider consideration of the implementation plan for the higher education sector. I thank the Senator for raising this matter.