Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, and the thousands of students who took ownership of the streets of this city yesterday. Their message was loud and clear - they do not want to see student fees being introduced and neither do their parents. The State and this society cannot afford them. We have seen the disastrous impact of student loans in every country in which they have been initiated, including the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. All of these countries have taken on a massive national debt and created mass indebtedness among young people. Student loans are a surefire way to limit and stifle access to third level education for young people, in the process saddling them with debt earlier in their careers. I commend the USI and the students who took to the streets in their thousands yesterday. Sinn Féin supports their call for a publicly funded education system. Our pre-budget submission outlined clearly a reduction in the student contribution charge of €500 in 2017. We seek a statement from the Minister for Education and Skills on the matter.