Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, also secured additional funding of €8.5 million for access measures in budget 2017.This will provide for new measures to support the national access plan. There will also be incentives for higher education institutions to engage directly with disadvantaged communities in order to attract more disadvantaged students. The maintenance grant will be reinstated for the most disadvantaged postgraduate students - a comment was made about postgraduate students - and there will also be measures to facilitate more lone parents in accessing higher education, as well as a new 1916 bursary scheme. The Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, and I will be in a position to announce more details of these measures shortly. The Department also announced earlier this year funding of €2.4 million to promote access to the teacher profession for students from under-represented groups. This has real potential to provide positive role models for disadvantaged students and contribute to breaking the cycle of disadvantage.

In terms of higher education funding as a whole, I welcome the recognition in the proposed motion that there is a significant funding challenge in higher education. The expert group on the future funding of higher education, under the chairmanship of Mr. Peter Cassells, was established to develop a strategy for funding the third level sector. It engaged in a thorough process of analysis and consultation, national and international. The report which was published in July 2016 outlines the funding challenges in the higher education sector and offers a number of approaches and recommendations for consideration in the medium term.

The expert group estimates that an additional €600 million per annum will be required to meet increasing student demographics and deliver high quality outcomes by 2021, with the additional annual requirement rising to €1 billion by 2030. The expert group identifies three funding options for consideration, including a predominantly State-funded system. This would involve a significantly increased core grant for institutions and the abolition of the student contribution. The expert group also identifies as options increased State funding with continuing student fees and increased State funding with the deferred payment of fees through income contingent loans. I again state no decision has been made in that regard. The report was referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, to build a political consensus on the most appropriate sustainable future funding model for higher education. I look forward to receiving the recommendations of the joint committee once it has concluded its consultations.

It is clear that doing nothing is not an option when it comes to the future funding of higher education. To this end the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, secured additional funding for the higher education sector of €36.5 million in budget 2017. It is part of a three year package, amounting to €160 million for the sector. It is the first increase in funding for higher education since 2009. The funding will provide for improved access to higher education, demographic increases, the reinstatement of the postgraduate maintenance grant for the most disadvantaged students and additional funds for research and skills.

The Department is also working closely with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to explore the potential for an increased employer contribution to further and higher education through the national training fund. This is a recommendation made in the expert group's report on future funding. In addition, the Higher Education Authority is reviewing the recurrent grant allocation model used to allocate funding to higher education institutions. It is expected that the group will present its report shortly. These are all important developments that will contribute towards a more sustainable funding model for higher education in the future.

I reiterate the Government’s commitment to promoting equity of access and opportunity across the education continuum. This is evident in the level of investment being made to promote educational opportunities for all citizens. There is a key challenge in providing a more sustainable basis for the higher education system in the future, but we are taking steps that will contribute to a solution to this problem. We have committed to providing an additional €160 million. We are developing the employer-Exchequer investment mechanism. We are reviewing the resource grant allocation model. We have referred the funding options presented in the Cassells report to the Oireachtas joint committee for its consideration. At this point in the deliberations of the joint committee it really is not helpful to seek to rule out particular policy options as that would undermine the work of the committee which is trying to build a political consensus on this complex issue. There is a responsibility on all if as policy makers to seek to work together to find the most appropriate future funding model for higher education. For this reason, I cannot accept the motion. The increased Government investment in higher education has been substantial. The ongoing exploration of a new employer-Exchequer funding mechanism could yield up to €200 million per annum. Doing nothing is not an option.

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor is right - the closing date for the submission of applications to SUSI is tomorrow. I, therefore, ask Senators to get the message out through their contacts. SUSI has an appeals system and students can pay their contributions in two moieties. Postgraduate maintenance grants are being reintroduced for the most disadvantaged groups this September. These are the main points I want Senators to pick up.