asked the Minister for Education if he will give further details of the proposed third level fees rises which will affect students in the regional technical colleges and the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Third Level Fees.
31.
My Department will be issuing a circular letter later this week to vocational education committees in relation to fees in regional technical colleges and colleges of technology indicating that annual fees in respect of full time courses should be as follows:
|
£ |
|
|
Certificate courses |
325 |
|
Diploma courses |
350 |
|
Degree courses |
550 |
|
Degree courses in architecture and engineering |
700 |
Can the Minister say what percentage increase is represented in each of the four instances? Can he say whether he regards the fees as excessive in view of the fact that the regional technical colleges and colleges of technology do not enjoy the same facilities in any respect as those enjoyed by the universities?
I do not have details of the percentage increases and it would take too long to work them out at Question Time. I do not consider the fees excessive. In many cases they are less than half the fees for equivalent courses in the universities. In addition, grant aid is available for students on the same lines as it is available to university students. A large number of students are totally exempt from paying fees by reason of their being recipients of payments under the European Social Fund.
With respect, that is totally misleading. Students are grant aided for two years of a certificate course but if they proceed to diploma or degree courses they are not grant aided. That red herring is brought up constantly. The Minister has said that there would be too much trouble involved in working out the percentage increases in the fees for the regional colleges and colleges of technology. I am not a great mathematician nor have I great back-up service, but I calculated the fee rise to be within the region of 25 to 33 per cent per course per student in a regional college and in the Dublin Institute of Technology. In the light of the commitment in Building on Reality that increases in fees would be just slightly above the inflation rate, would the Minister consider increases of up to 33 per cent in one year to be only slightly above the inflation rate? Even at this stage would he consider this whole matter with a view to redressing the position and preventing the grave hardship that increases of this order will cause? Surely there is some more equitable manner of dealing with the question of fees.
I do not know the basis on which the Deputy calculated the percentage increase. I do not have the figures so I cannot comment as to whether her calculations are correct, but if they are correct perhaps she has had all along the information she is asking me to provide.
I am the Opposition spokesperson on Education and my question was addressed to the Minister. With his resources in terms of personnel surely it is his job to answer the question which asked him to give further details of the proposed third level fees. If that involved working out percentages I am sure there are people in the Department who could have done that.
There are plenty of people in the Department who could do that. The Deputy asked for details of proposed third level fees and I have given her details of the cost of courses at third level. It would hardly be appropriate for us to begin doing sums at Question Time.