Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister of State read from notes on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, but what she read out were all of the problems with GEM. The solution seems to be that the Department is looking into the matter, which is not much for me to go back to the students with. While it is welcome that the Department is looking into the matter, students need to know what they are going to do and what will be available for them. I have read the statement from Bank of Ireland – we have had some back-and-forth discussions – that other options are available, but no examples were provided. The other options just seem to be what are available to everyone else, and as the Minister of State mentioned, those do not take into account the high level of intensity involved in these courses.

As far as I am aware, this is not happening because there has been a default. This is a stable loan facility and these are people who are repaying their loans. I am not a banker like the Minister of State was, but it does not seem to me to be a high-risk loan.

This situation is frustrating. The GEM scheme is unequal and continues the elitism of medicine. As far as I can tell, I have not been provided with an answer today that I can take back to those students.