Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. The concluding statement from the SUSI group sums up what it is looking for.Wake-up SUSI is looking for equality of treatment for students from low-income and single-parent families who want to attend the higher education college of their choice. They want fairness for all.

That basically sums up why we are here this afternoon and what we are attempting to do. In common with others present, I am a member of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills and we had the pleasure of having the SUSI group appear before us. I compliment them on the way they organised themselves and on the presentation they gave to the committee. All members of the committee were impressed by their work and by the recommendations made by that group. All members of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills were in agreement with them.

All agree that education is the single big game changer, especially for those who come from a disadvantaged areas or single-parent families. It is imperative that no obstacle is put in their way in accessing third level education if that is the path that they decide to do down. The group has made recommendations, many of which have been comprehensively addressed by the Minister. In a general sense, the points they make, all of which are fairly reasonable, reflect their experience of dealing with this particular aspect of education. They talk about the rigidity and ruthlessness of the SUSI eligibility guidelines. I will give an example. I encountered a case recently in which two of a family with 11 children were going to college. They were slightly over the threshold and hoped that some consideration would be given to the size of the family to enable the two children to go to college. Unfortunately, that flexibility was not in the system. That might be something we should bring on board, that is, in such special circumstances some flexibility should be given. Members can imagine the cost of bringing up 11 children and trying to pay a mortgage. The disposable income they had was limited and neither spouse was on an exorbitant salary. This should be borne in mind.

The lack of clarity as to which courses would or would not qualify for SUSI grants also was mentioned. Again, I imagine a simple housekeeping exercise could be undertaken to make clear what courses qualify or do not qualify for grants. The other issue concerns private colleges as some people have no choice but to go to a private college. The numbers, however, are quite small and consideration could be given to making eligible for a grant those who attend and undertake courses at private colleges.

The role of education in the recovery of this economy cannot be overstated. We would not be where we are today if we did not have a successful third level reputation, which is something we should continue to hold dear. We are at something of a crossroads at present, in that everybody agrees there is a lack of funding in the third level sector. I compliment Mr. Cassells and his people on the work they did in producing the Cassells report, which laid out in stark reality what options face us in future on the funding of third level education. Any funding going into third level is money well spent and we get our money back time and time again when people gain employment and so on. The Joint Committee on Education and Skills is undertaking a huge volume of work at present by listening to the views of all the different stakeholders involved and may come up with a recommendation shortly with its views on the future funding of third level education. The one common theme for all its members is the last thing they want to do is to create any obstacles to the ability of young people to access third level education. That is vitally important.

Fees are one thing and the lack of fees is a big issue. We also must not lose contact with the fact that those from outside the major cities in which the universities are located have the added cost of trying to seek and find accommodation and then trying to fund it. It is a huge issue and in Dublin in particular, many families simply cannot afford at present to pay the rent landlords are seek or even the rents for which some third level organisations with own accommodation on campus are asking. That is sad because it is the difference between a child being able to go to third level or not. Clearly this must be looked at, especially for those students from outside the capital who must travel from rural Ireland on a weekly basis to attend college.

I mentioned the Cassells report and the Minister of State also should be cognisant of the point that third level is not for everyone. While some work is being done with regard to apprenticeships, it may be an area in which we could be doing a lot more work. The issue of trades might not be as sexy, if the expression can be excused, as going to third level college but it is vitally important-----