Vol. 475 No. 5
64 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Education if she will request the Higher Education Authority to investigate imbalances in the university sector in regard to its imposition of fees on students such as deferral fees for exams and for late payments of fees; if she will insist on the standardisation of such fees in order to have equity and fairness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5156/97]
Fees, such as deferral fees for examinations and for late payment of fees, arise in the main from the needs of the institutions to meet the administrative and other costs involved in making the necessary arrangements and providing the various services to students. These fees fall within the day to day operational arrangements in the institutions and it would be inappropriate for me, as Minister for Education, to seek to interfere in this area. The governance and management of universities is primarily a matter for the institutions within the broad constraints of the effective and efficient use of resources.
