Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Joint Committee on Education and Skills on carrying out this report and I encourage the committee to further investigate the SUSI grant system because there is much to be done across the board for our students. There are recommendations in the report which we welcome and there are some about which we hold some reservations. We agree that there needs to be a review of the SUSI website to ensure that students are clear as to whether they are eligible and whether their third-level institution of choice is eligible in the context of SUSI grants.

The testimony of students who have gone through the process of applying through the CAO, completing their examinations and being accepted into a college only to discover they are not eligible to obtain the maintenance grant makes it clear that the system is flawed. The ambiguity and confusion relating to the system is unfair to students and their parents. Other major reforms not included in this report are required in the context of SUSI. A large number of students do not qualify for many grants based on the fact that gross income is used to calculate the rates. We need to focus on how the grant scheme can be reformed to ensure a more equitable system whereby more students from disadvantaged backgrounds qualify and are supported throughout their State-delivered education.

There are some matters that need to be teased out. We know that there are two parts to the SUSI grant. The first part is a maintenance grant to the student and the second is the State contribution to the institutional fees. Is the report recommending that students who attend private institutions be given access to both avenues of funding or simply the maintenance grant? If a student within the private education model is eligible for a SUSI grant, then there is a discussion to be held around access to the maintenance grant. We know that money which goes into the hands of a socioeconomically disadvantaged student will be important to his or her welfare and well-being. Sinn Féin has a concern, however, regarding the State directly financing and subsidising private third-level institutions and about money going from the State to directly benefit big business in the private sector. We are talking about a rolling privatisation of our third-level system and that cannot be on the agenda of anyone concerned about funding for our public sector. Rather than the State subsidising yet another privately-owned institution, we should be encouraging students to attend State-funded colleges and investigating the reasons why students feel the need to attend private colleges in the first place. What needs are our State-funded third-level institutions not providing that the private ones are? Anecdotal evidence suggests the facilities in private colleges tend to be of a lower standard than in our public third-level institutions.

There needs to be much greater regulation of the private college sector. Such regulation should cover the pay and working conditions of staff. I understand that precarious work, lower pay and low-hour contracts can be particularly prevalent in the private college sector, which needs to be tackled. I have also received expressions of concerns from a number of full-time staff in our public university, the University of Limerick, where there has been a growing trend toward precarious work and zero-hour contracts which can only be to the detriment of our third-level education system.

If we are to address the failings of the SUSI grant, rather than investing money into subsidising the private education system, should we not further invest in our publicly-funded education system? We could extend the grant threshold to students whose households earn more than €50,000 and increase the number of students who could then attend public institutions. We continue to hear countless stories of students not being able to attend public third-level institutions, let alone private ones, because their parents earn over €50,000 combined and can therefore not access vital grants. Those are the students and families we should prioritise. We should also ensure the disability access schemes to public colleges receive better funding. We could even put the money towards decreasing tuition fees in our public third-level institutions. In fact, we should scrap tuition fees altogether and this is one of the points that distinguish our party from the parties of the right.

We should reverse the horrendous cuts the education system has been subjected to over the past seven years. Under Fine Gael and the Labour Party, State funding of third level plummeted by an incredible 25%, grants were cut, students who were dependent on that assistance went for months without help and many dropped out of college altogether, having been literally priced out of education. Participation from those in the lower socioeconomic groupings in our society in public colleges is now at 26% while we have practically full participation from those born into the higher professional grouping. These statistics tell us that, at present, access to third level is not on merit but is a lottery based on which family and which area a person is born into. That level of gross inequality is, unfortunately, Government policy-driven.

It is the State's responsibility to ensure that all of our children shall have access to third-level public institutions. It should be the right of every young person in the country and we should not have to rely on private universities or private colleges to provide services which we cannot provide. As the largest party of the left in this country, Sinn Féin wants to build a consensus among progressive parties and garner broad support for an education system which would be fully publicly-funded and accessible to all citizens. Is this even on the Government's agenda? I have to say I do not think so. Many students cannot access third level, State-funded education and many others drop out for financial reasons. Our focus needs to be on greater reform to avoid these situations. Our guiding principle must be that asserted by the Union of Students in Ireland, that education is a right, not a privilege.