Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In all of my research into loan schemes internationally, as a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills, and during our debates on the Cassells report, I simply cannot find a jurisdiction where it can be claimed that such a scheme has been even remotely been a success, no matter what metric is used to measure it. In Australia, which has had a loan scheme for 20 years, the rate of participation from low socio-economic groups in higher education is a full 10% lower than Ireland currently and yet we are told that introducing a scheme in this country would not hamper access. In the United Kingdom, the number of mature students and part-time students in higher education has fallen off a cliff with the UK's Independent Commission on Fees accrediting the introduction of fees with the strong decline in university entrants from non-traditional families. How can we maintain education as a challenger of socio-economic inequality if this trend was to be reproduced in Ireland? In the Irish context, recently published research shows that 50% of graduates could be unable to pay back the value of their loan over a 20-year period, and a loan scheme would greatly increase emigration rates among young people. By introducing one, we would be effectively telling students to take on huge debts, collect their degrees and get out.

I note in the Government amendment that a reference is made to anyone calling for public funding for higher education to be able "to state where they would get the money to fund it", which I presume is a crude implication that those who oppose student loans are in some way fiscally illiterate. I reject this because the fact is that we have options for funding. I recently made a submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform related to the national training levy, which argued that since employers in this country benefit hugely from higher education, it is a logical step that they should be expected to pay more to fund it. There are alternatives to loans. All it takes is the political will and courage to investigate them.

Ultimately, I do not think that income contingent loan schemes are the right course for Ireland. If an income contingent loan scheme had been the only option for me when I returned to college as a mature student and lone parent, I would not be standing in this Chamber today. Moreover, I am convinced that, considering the wealth of international evidence, such a scheme is bad policy. I think that we can do better by young people and people of all ages that wish to access the transformative power of higher education. To conclude, education is our greatest investment and not our greatest cost. I am proud to support the motion today and will be voting against the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael amendments, neither of which rule out the adoption of loan schemes.