Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2012
110. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has received the report from the Higher Education Authority on proposed funding options for the third level sector; if he has considered the report; when he expects to publish same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51295/12]
View answerThe 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. It must be acknowledged that the sector has accommodated significant increases in student numbers at a time when both funding and staff numbers have reduced.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, is undertaking a study on the sustainability of the current funding system for higher education. This study was initiated at my request and an initial report was published last year. This report makes it clear that immediate work is required to prepare for a longer term approach to a system that can be maintained through a sustainable funding base which will be able to address the continual expansion of the sector while protecting quality of education. The HEA is continuing its work in this area and I will be advised further as this work progresses.
I thank the Minister for his reply. The future of third level funding is something we will have to grasp in the coming period. In recent years third level colleges have made it clear that, without additional funds, they cannot continue to provide a quality of education for the numbers of students that are likely to enter the system in future. So far, the Minister's response to the need for additional third level funding has been, unfortunately, to raise the registration fee against what he had promised during the last general election campaign. In many ways, that puts extreme pressure on families who are already finding it difficult to send their children to college. They are doing their best to cope with the expense of raising a family and running a household and many of them are outside the grant threshold.
The Hunt report makes it clear that we will need €500 million per year over the next ten years. When therefore can we expect clarity from the Minister on how he will fund the sector in future?
First, I want to pay tribute to the third level sector because, despite declining current account support from the Department of Education and Skills, which will continue through this year, the number of students entering the college system is increasing. By and large, outcomes are still good and there has not been a marked deterioration in standards.
The Deputy will be aware that the HEA recently published a series of documents, which were posted on the website last Friday, including the landscape document. They also include the response the institutions are making to that document and some other international studies, as well as a longitudinal study undertaken by the ESRI. I will address the heads of universities, institutes of technology and others on Thursday morning on this topic, outlining my response to where the HEA currently is and what has to happen at a later stage.
At some stage we will have to address the issue of the long-term financial sustainability of our third level education system. At the moment, however, I do not know the level of course duplication between the 14 institutes of technology, the seven universities and other third level colleges. I want to see what room there is for economies, the discontinuance of duplicate courses and other means to reduce costs. It is not that I want to take money out of the system, I want that money to be better used. When we have those figures - it will take at least a year to begin to count them - we will know what is the real gap in sustainable funding. We will then address the question of how best to close that gap.
It is crucial that we address this issue. The Hunt report outlined an increase from 160,000 to 250,000 in third level students. That is the student body we need to see entering our third level colleges in the coming years. Unfortunately, however, if we do not have the correct structures in place many of those students will not be able to engage at third level and we will not reach that threshold. Many seeking third level education will not get that opportunity in life and, as a country, we will be the poorer for it. When can we expect a clear response from the Minister concerning the options in the landscape document?
As I said, I will outline my approach to the documents that have now entered the public domain to the main stakeholders at a meeting on Thursday. The Higher Education Authority will have until the beginning of March 2013 to finalise its response to the submissions it has received and the documentation that has already come in. In addition, I will confirm and elaborate on the national policy on Thursday.
Effectively, from March until the end of 2013, I envisage all those institutions will consider the recommendations for greater collaboration, regional clusters and possible comings together in a manner that would enhance and improve the educational infrastructure. My unashamed preference is to see voluntary co-operation and collaboration at a local level, rather than a talking-down from the top telling institution X to merge with institution Y. I do not believe any Member would recommend such a process. However, if at the end of next year, what comes back is unsatisfactory, I then will have no option but to start to take a more direct hand in guiding and cajoling institutions to cease duplication of courses or to co-operate more effectively. When that point is reached, one will then the real cost of providing quality third level education and the gap in funding. Thereafter, we must address how that will be funded.
