Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to introduce a loan scheme for third level students in the short term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13588/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The reality of the economic situation and the public expenditure corrections which must be made in the coming years present challenges across all areas of public expenditure, including higher education. Moreover, the projected growth in demand for higher education over the next two decades creates further challenges for funding. Careful planning and consideration of available evidence will allow us to develop policy options so that the system can meet those challenges in the difficult years ahead.

At my request the Higher Education Authority (HEA) completed an initial study late last year on sustainability of the current funding system for higher education. The HEA report outlines the scale of recent reductions in funding and growth in student numbers, and provides some evidence on the possible impacts of this on quality of provision. However, the HEA has emphasised that the report is preliminary only and that substantial additional work now needs to be undertaken before comprehensive proposals as to how we can sustainably fund higher education into the future can be developed. The HEA is continuing its work in this area and further advice is expected later this year.

The implementation issues associated with introducing a student loan scheme were previously assessed by the Department of Education and Skills in the context of policy options for new forms of student contribution. A July 2009 technical report on these policy options, including the introduction of a loan scheme, is published on the Department's website.