Written answers

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Department of Education and Skills

Third Level Fees

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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439. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated annual cost of introducing 0% loans for all third level students, which are repayable when graduate salaries rise above the average industrial wage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35325/14]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The costs associated with the abolition of fees and introduction of a loan system would be dependent on varying factors including administrative costs of a loan scheme and tuition costs associated with type study i.e. full-time or part-time, undergraduate or post-graduate, varying fees associated with different course types and higher fees for international students.

The position is that the Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees, through my Department's free fees schemes, in respect of eligible full-time undergraduate students. It is estimated that some 129,200 students qualified for free fees in the 2013/14 academic year at a cost of some €310m. Students who qualify for free fees must pay a student contribution of € 2,750 directly to their higher education institution. Some 50% of students who qualify for free fees have the student contribution paid on their behalf by the Exchequer under my Department's Student Grant Scheme which is estimated to have cost some €126m for the 2013/14 academic year. Students who do not qualify for free fees must pay the appropriate fee level, as determined by the higher education institutions.

The Deputy may be aware that the question of introducing fees allied to an income contingent loan scheme has been identified previously, including in the Hunt report, as a means of addressing future funding issues in the sector while retaining free access at the point of entry. A technical report on options for the development of such a scheme was developed by my Department in 2009 and is published on my Department's website.

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