'Urgent need' for debate on third-level fees
Tuesday November 4th 2003
A DEBATE on the possible return of third-level tuition fees should take place over the next year or two, university presidents warned yesterday.
The Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) warned that Ireland's economic competitiveness was being damaged by cuts in third-level funding.
They added that state support had fallen in real terms by €1,240 per student between 1995 - when fees were abolished - and 2001.
Dr Seamus Smyth, President, NUI Maynooth said the CHIU had been opposed to the abolition of tuition fees.
Although the Government says that fees are off the political agenda for the moment, the university heads said a debate was still needed on the question of funding higher education.
At a news conference they suggested that a new review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development would deal with the issue of funding universities from a variety of sources, including fees.
They argued that the recent fees debate was unfocused and unsatisfactory and quickly degenerated into a wider taxation issue. A paper commissioned from FarrellGrantSparks (FGS) Consulting by the universities says that universities have been a major contributor to economic growth since 1998. The paper concludes that Ireland currently lies around mid-table in the ranking of OECD countries and we are set to fall farther behind. Spending per third-level student in Ireland is significantly lower than in the top-ranked OECD countries. The consequences of the persistence of this situation, will include a continuous erosion of the relative quality of our system, it said.
The report said there was an urgent need for a National Strategy, incorporating specific investment targets, for the funding of third-level education.
John Walshe
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