The government has failed to answer a simple question last week; will college fees go up this September or not?
The he said/she said debate has revealed cracks in the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael coalition after it emerged last week that the €1,000 reduction in student fees, which have been features introduced into the last two Budgets as a Cost of Living Crisis relief measure, will likely not be repeated in October’s Budget.
Ever since the Cost of Living Crisis became a permanent fixture of Irish day-to-day life since 2022, the government has implemented a series of measures in Budgets in a bid to keep financial pressures off families.
With major global economic uncertainty, and indications that Ireland’s budget surplus only exists due to corporate tax receipts, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told reporters this week that a Budget meeting between him, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers was “sobering.”
Martin’s comments follow recent comments from Donohoe, where he said, “work is now underway in the government, because it is clear that we live now in a world full of more uncertainty, and that uncertainty is creating a larger frequency for shocks.”
The coming weeks will see the final decision on the exact nature of Donald Trump’s tariffs on the European Union, and recent comments from the government indicate they are looking to rein in spending.
Dublin Bay North TD Cian O’Callaghan was quick to state that the government is in “complete disarray and in open revolt” over the student fees issue.
O’Callaghan, who also serves as the party spokesperson on finance, faced off against Chambers on the issue, stating “nobody is buying that spin.”
“The Minister has repeatedly cited economic threats as a reason to ditch commitments to students and their families, but the Programme for Government was written only a few months ago at the end of January. We are not talking about the dim and distant past. Is the Minister really telling us that commitments made a mere five months ago are now to be on the chopping block?
O’Callaghan stated, “it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the government just does not get it. It does not get the immense pressure on students and families are under from soaring costs. It does not get the level of rising panic at the thought of having to find an extra €1,000, or even more for families with multiple students in college.”
“Does he understand household budgets and that they relied on the government’s commitment to reduce student fees? Families made plans on that basis, but the government is now ripping up that pledge and those household plans.”
O’Callaghan said, “this is at a time when every penny has to be counted to make ends meet. This is causing great levels of stress and anxiety. Where are families and students meant to find that extra €1,000? I am really struggling to understand what the government is doing and why this fiasco is continuing to run and has not been sorted out. Is it because the Taoiseach is away and nobody else is capable of making decisions on this issue?”
Fellow Northside TD Jack Chambers stepped in for Micheál Martin for this week’s Leader’s Questions, and in his role as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil, Chambers explained the government’s stance on the issue.
Chambers said, “we acknowledge the pressure many families and students face; that is absolutely understood by everyone in the government.”
As for the raison d’etre of the debate, O’Callaghan’s question about whether the government will cut fees or not, Chambers could not give a clear or definitive answer about the timeline.
Chambers asserted that “what happened in previous years when temporary one-off measures were taken was that they were taken in the aftermath of the start of an academic year.”
Chambers delivered last October’s Budget, which took place a month before Fianna Fáil won the following month’s general election, in what pundits at the time regarded as a modest giveaway Budget that was clearly designed with the intent of wooing the electorate (and by most accounts, worked in that regard).
“Whatever decisions are made in the context of the budget around reducing the cost of education will be deducted through an academic year if a decision is made on that; this is what has happened in previous years when it came to temporary one-off or cost-of-living packages,” he explained.
“What we are saying is that the budget will inform what measures are taken relating to student contribution fees, SUSI grants and reckonable income. Affordability for students is a key priority for the Minister as part of the budget discussions that will take place”
Last week’s lead story in the Northside People hinted at tension in the coalition over the issue of what to do with the GPO; Fianna Fáil largely ignored the recommendations of the Fine Gael-appointed Taskforce.
The Taskforce explicitly mentioned that the public should be consulted and asked about what they would like to see happen with the GPO, and Fianna Fáil, largely throwing out what the Taskforce said, announced it would become a mixed-use building.
Differences of opinion on something as minor as the redevelopment of the GPO suddenly become a lot starker when it comes to the Cost of Living Crisis.
Local Fine Gael councillor Luke Corkery said that Minister for Higher Education James Lawless should “honour his commitments” laid out in the Programme for Government, which makes a clear commitment to reducing student fees.
“Going to college in Ireland is not cheap,” Corkery said.
“Three years ago, Simon Harris announced a €1,000 reduction in fees for undergraduates. Both he and Minister Patrick O’Donovan have retained that policy ever since.”
“Even if this Budget isn’t expected to contain the same cost-of-living package as before, we all need to recognise the need to bring down the cost of going to college,” he said.
“It was there – in black and white – in the Fine Gael manifesto, and now it’s in the Programme for Government. We intend to deliver that, and we must.
The Swords councillor said “now is not the time to start rowing back on our commitments” and has written to Minister Lawless asking for clarity on the issue.