Third-level fees: No funding earmarked to avoid the €1,000 hike this year, Taoiseach says
Micheál Martin
has reaffirmed the Government's commitment to reducing student fees over time, but he acknowledged there was no funding earmarked at present for avoiding a €1,000 increase this year.
For the past two years, a cost of living payment has reduced the student contribution of €3,000 by €1,000, but he said there would be no such one-off payment this year.
His comments come amid divisions within the Coalition between
Fine Gael
and
Fianna Fáil
over an increase in college fees.
Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader
Simon Harris
told his party's TDs that the budget would seek to reduce the costs of going to college after Fianna Fáil's Minister for Higher Education
James Lawless
suggested that the end of cost-of-living packages would mean that fees payable by students would increase.
READ MORE
On a visit to Japan, Mr Martin said: 'Last year and the year before we got a lot done through the cost-of-living packages, which were once-off packages which were not in the mainstream budget. So therein lies a difficulty.'
He said the Government had commitments on research investment, the Susi grant for third-level education and for third-level students with disabilities 'that they would get additional supports'.
'There's a broad range of priorities there. So it'll all go forward to negotiations,' Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach said the issue of student fees would be part of negotiations between individual ministers and the Minister for Public Expenditure.
[
Third-level fees: Divisions emerge between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over increase
]
The outcome of those negotiations would depend in turn on how much the Government decided to allocate to current expenditure for the coming year.
'It's early days in the sense that a lot will depend on the envelope that's agreed – in other words how much are we going to be spending this year on current expenditure,' he said.
'That will be have to be divided up between the ministers, and each minister will have a different set of priorities.'
On Tuesday, Mr Harris said this year's budget could still be used to help college students, but that there will be no cost-of-living package in advance of Christmas.
The Taoiseach was speaking in Tokyo at the start of a four-day visit to Japan during which he will meet prime minister Shigeru Ishiba.
[
'Punch to the gut': Students condemn potential €1,000 rise in third-level fees
]
Mr Martin will open Ireland House in Tokyo, the biggest single capital project the State has ever undertaken overseas, and visit the Irish pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka before meeting survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Mr Martin said that the medium-term financial framework for the next five years would be challenging after years when spending had risen significantly. He said that housing, disability and child poverty would remain the key issues and priorities of the Government.
He said last weekend he met the Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance
Paschal Donohoe
and Minister for Public Expenditure
Jack Chambers
to have an overview of the
National Development Plan
, budgetary matters and the medium-term financial framework.
'It was a sobering enough meeting, to be frank, in terms of the challenges that lie ahead, given the backdrop of tariffs and uncertainty in trade, and also the warnings we've received in terms of the once-off nature, or the temporary nature, perhaps, of certain corporation tax revenues,' he said.
Mr Martin declined to be drawn on a declaration of interest from former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin in running for the presidency as the Fianna Fáil candidate.
He suggested a decision on whether his party should contest the election might not be made for another two months.
'We will take our decision in due course. We didn't run a candidate last time, and we didn't run a candidate before that. But, of course, we're examining the situation and taking soundings. Your question is a bit premature in that respect,' he said.
He pointed to recent comments by former Labour leader Joan Burton who said that if she were a candidate or a party leader, she 'wouldn't announce anything until the 28th of August, from previous experience – there you are now.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Harris to tell forum that 10% US tariffs are 'new normal'
Tánaiste Simon Harris will tell a trade forum today that US tariffs of 10% on exports from Ireland will be the "new normal" but that efforts are continuing to agree zero for zero taxes in some key areas. The meeting takes place a week before the scheduled lifting of a pause on higher tariffs by the US president Donald Trump. The Government's forum is comprised of State agencies, business groups, unions and senior ministers. At present most Irish exports to the US now have tariffs of 10%. But there are significant exceptions including Ireland's pharmaceuticals sector and computer chip manufacturers. Those arrangements were in place temporarily pending a trade deal between the US and EU but they could now become permanent. The EU is reportedly negotiating to keep some sectors free of tariffs and accepting 10% duties on other goods. Today's meeting will also hear an update on the new strategy for the computer chip industry. The forum will also receive an economic assessment of impact of tariffs from Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe. There will also be discussion about how Irish companies can diversify into new markets. Ahead of the meeting, the Tánaiste said Ireland needed an agreement "that has zero-for-zero or as near as possible in as many areas as possible". "We cannot ignore the fact that every single day the trading relationship between the EU and the US is worth more than €4 billion," Mr Harris said.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 2nd: On overseas voting, AI, and Wimbledon
Sir, – As an Irish citizen living abroad, I am compelled to voice my frustration over the denial of my fundamental right to vote for our president (' Irish presidential election must be the last to exclude voters in North, Dáil hears, ' June 25th). This situation not only undermines my democratic rights but also makes me feel like a second-class citizen. Living outside Ireland, many of us maintain strong ties to our homeland – our family, heritage and interests are intertwined with the future of Ireland. Yet, when it comes to the time to participate in the selection of our president, we are excluded from the process that shapes our nation's future. This exclusion is not just a deficit in democracy but it is a significant gap in the recognition of our diaspora's contributions and voices as citizens. Voting is the cornerstone of democracy. It is not just a right, but a profound responsibility that connects citizens to their government and Ireland regardless of where they reside. The issues that affect Ireland – be it economic policy, social justice, or healthcare – also resonate deeply with us living abroad or in the North. We deserve the opportunity to have our voices heard and influence who gets to represent the entire Irish nation, including our diaspora. READ MORE I urge the Irish Government to plan for the referendum and to reconsider this exclusion and ensure that all Irish citizens, no matter where they reside, have the right to vote in presidential elections. It is time to recognise that our global community has a stake in and will play a huge role in Ireland's future on the world's stage. – Yours, etc, CIARÁN SCALLY, Oakland, California. Value of the Hpat Sir, – The question about the value of the Health Professions Admissions Test or Hpat (' Aptitude test downgraded by medical schools over 'gaming' , '' July 1st) is a timely one, as we are now seeing doctors reach consultant positions who were selected using it as part of their criteria for university entry. I suspect though that the scale of the problem is underestimated by the article. The idea that one cannot prepare for the Hpat is long debunked. Speaking to a parent earlier this week, I was told of an outlay somewhere between ¤4,000-¤5,000 on preparing for it, which had paid off with steady improvement over the last two years in repeated assessments. Almost every medical student now describes similar intense preparations, with demonstrable progress over time. It therefore clearly favours the more affluent student. Courses, online teaching, and subscription phone apps are available. Writing as a medical consultant who has interviewed many hundreds of other doctors for a range of posts, I have seen a plethora of CVs which list Hpat results among other achievements. There seems to be little if any correlation with performance in the job, with individuals in the top few per cent sometimes proving outstanding and other times dropping out of the career altogether. I have rarely heard anyone in the profession defend it as a predictor of performance. The more complex question to consider is of whether it's possible to determine a person's aptitude for medicine. It is such a multifaceted career that almost any type of mindset can find a role. The optimum mentalities required to be a psychiatrist, medical statistician, anaesthesiologist, general practitioner or pathologist must surely differ. Similarly, there are areas that require exceptional manual dexterity and areas that require little, if any. The burden of proof must lie with those who advocate or run this source of extra pressure on students to show its value. An assessment of those who first took the exam in its early years, around 2009-10, could be done now. If it does not show a meaningful benefit to patients or society from selecting medical students in this way, surely it should be dropped? It is costing students, or their parents, millions of euro annually, adding to pressure on young people and limiting access to a profession to the better off. These realities require serious justification. – Yours, etc, BRIAN O'BRIEN, Kinsale, Co Cork. Disadvantaging students Sir, – Am I correct in thinking that an additional 4.500 pupils sat the Leaving Certificate this year? That pupils will be disadvantaged regarding inflated grades attributed to previous years? And now, on top of all of that, the Government has announced that they are increasing the administrative fees from €2,000 up to €3,000? One would be forgiven for thinking that this cohort of students are strongly disliked by our current Government. – Yours, etc, CIARA O'REGAN, Killarney, Co Kerry. Imposter syndrome Sir, – 'I was kind of getting past my imposter syndrome, but it's come charging back now.' This was a comment from multi award-winning author, Donal Ryan, on discovering that he had won the prestigious Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for his novel Heart, Be at Peace. Those words, coming from such a talented and successful author, in an era where entitlement appears to be the order of the day, were admirable and refreshing. It can be somewhat nauseating to listen to people who subtly or vehemently convey to all and sundry the notion that the world continuously revolves around them. Wouldn't the world be a much better place if, like Donal, more of us parked our enlarged egos and sense of entitlement? – Yours, etc, PAT McLOUGHLIN, Co Limerick. Fintan's family and AI connection Sir, – Fintan O'Toole writes eloquently about the 'hallucinations' that AI has produced about his personal life (' I've had more wives than Henry VIII. It's news to me ,' July 1st). Large Language Models (LLMs) compose their 'facts' based on probabilities rather than certainties and there is no second layer of fact-checking that journalists, scientists and others concerned with the truth might expect . However, their onslaught is not inevitable. Reputable sources such as The Irish Times do not need to offer up their texts to AI's relentless harvesters. Technical means exist to block their crawlers or to trap them in an infinite hall of mirrors. Legal means exist to demand compensation or removal of illicitly sourced content. On a personal level, we can remove our data from those platforms that harvest it to produce AI slop engines. The future is what we make it and we do not have to consent to dwell in the afterlife of fact. – Yours, etc, RONAN McHUGH, Copenhagen, Denmark. Sir, – Reading Fintan O'Toole's tale of his algorithmically invented family, I couldn't help but feel left out. As a bald, six-foot former geography teacher with just one wife and no shadowy past, I clearly haven't given artificial intelligence enough material to work with. Still, if it's handing out fictional lives, I wouldn't say no to a brief spell as a jazz pianist or the forgotten third Gallagher brother. – Yours, etc, ENDA CULLEN, Armagh. Ass and car t economics Sir, – Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has announced that the design of State infrastructure henceforth 'will prioritise cost and efficiency over design standards and aesthetics' as a cost-saving measure. This decision is obviously based on the intellectual foundations of the 'ass and cart' school of economics which argues that if ass and carts could fly they should be used instead of expensive aeroplanes full of unnecessary well designed fittings. While the children's hospital is not complete, we are fortunate that the outer skin, designed with a great emphasis on aesthetics, is complete. Otherwise, we might be confronted with a hospital covered in farmyard corrugated iron sheeting. – Yours, etc, JAMES WRYNN, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Contactless travel Sir, – I am perfectly fine with contactless travel (Letters, June 30th) if it includes not being contacted by commuters' backpacks and mobile phones without headphones. – Yours, etc, ULTAN Ó BROIN, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Hacked off by airport drop-offs Sir, – When dropping off family members at Dublin Airport this morning (Monday, June 30th), I encountered the usual congestion and delay caused by people using the drop-off area at Terminal 1 to await and pick up arriving passengers. I cannot understand why the airport police or other authorised personnel are not deployed to put a stop to this practice. Those of us who abide by the drop-off rules are delayed and inconvenienced by a selfish minority who should be moved on and directed to the short-term car park at the relevant terminal. The chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has rightly been very vocal in recent times about planning shortcomings and other matters which affect the development and smooth operation of the airport. Perhaps he could now look at this issue which affects many airport users every day? On several occasions during the past few years, I have complained about this by email to DAA customer service. I have always received an automated acknowledgement, but never a substantive reply. I will do likewise about today's experience, but like St Paul writing to the Corinthians I am unlikely to get an answer. – Yours, etc, CYRIL McINTYRE, Celbridge, Co Kildare. Irish Rail and bikes Sir, – Why is Irish Rail so bike unfriendly? In the past all trains had a brake or guards' van where bulky items of luggage and parcels, and sometimes even livestock, were carried. Nowadays, it is only the 'mark 4' trains, which only run every second train, on the Cork-Dublin line, which have such vans. The advantage of the guards' van is that the bicycle can be wheeled on to the train and tied to a strap to prevent it from moving. This operation does not require any heavy lifting. The alternative, as provided by Irish Rail on the bulk of its other services, is the provision of two bike spaces located behind the seats in a passenger carriage. The design of these bike spaces is that the cyclist must perform a herculean type of manoeuvre to lift the back wheel of the bike into a rack on the ground while the front wheel is inserted into a rack which is about five feet off the ground. The result of carrying out this exercise a couple of times is shoulder pain for about a week. In Denmark and Sweden and other continental countries, full bicycle carriages are provided on trains which allows ease of wheeling the bike on to the train and storing it, in a level position, thus obviating the risk of sciatica or frozen shoulder. – Yours, etc, TIM BRACKEN, Cork. A double fault with Wimbledon Sir – Surely some other image could have been used to show the heat at Wimbledon yesterday (July 1st) rather than the photograph used of Leylah Fernandez, 'dripping' with sweat. Not very edifying, not very kind. – Yours , etc, ROSARY COX, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin. Sir, – It's strawberries and Pimm's time again at Wimbledon. Two weeks of great tennis. However, it's just not quite the same without linespeople calling 'fault'. What a shame. – Yours, etc, LAURA O'MARA, Co Dublin. Bringing the GPO to book Sir, – Like many people I have huge concerns about the future plans for the iconic GPO on O'Connell Street, which is not only one of Ireland's most important historic buildings but also has huge cultural significance to our nation and its foundation and Ireland's independence. Dublin City Council has for many years been talking about opening a large new main Dublin city library on Parnell Square. Now an ideal opportunity has arisen to locate Dublin's main city library right in the heart of Dublin in the GPO, in this city of books and literature. This would immediately revitalise O'Connell Street and help rejuvenate this part of the city. The library would be used by Dubliners and visitors of all ages as it is so accessible with buses and the Luas lines stopping beside it. The modest 1916 exhibition that already exists could be scaled up to tell this vitally important story and attract many additional visitors. Perhaps it could also provide a dedicated 1916 research area. There could be a bright children's section of the library to encourage all young Dubliners to read, study spaces, an array of event and exhibition spaces and even a small theatre like in Dún Laoghaire's Lexicon Library. A new city library in the GPO is an exciting prospect and one that I believe would work well and satisfy many people's concerns. The existing retail premises on the Henry Street side would be retained and the offices vacated by An Post could be repurposed for use by other companies and organisations. Many of the brave men and women who fought in 1916 were teachers, writers, poets and artists and this would be a fitting tribute to their legacy. All around the O'Connell Street area there are vacant commercial properties and we have watched with dismay how long it has taken for the old Clerys and Debenham's buildings to come back into use. We cannot let this happen to the GPO. It must be preserved and protected and its vital role in Ireland's history appreciated. – Yours, etc, MARITA CONLON McKENNA, Dublin.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Government ‘pandering to whims of employers' by choosing VAT cut over ending child poverty, Ictu conference told
A decision to cut VAT rates for the hospitality sector rather than use the money to address the issue of child poverty is the latest in a succession of major policy mistakes made by the current Government, delegates to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) biennial conference in Belfast heard on Tuesday. Outlining the details of ICTU's new economic policy, Dr Tom McDonnell of the union-backed Nevin Economic Research Institute said Ireland faced a looming fiscal crisis because the Government has become dependent on windfall corporate taxes receipts to fund day-to-day spending. 'If you have an economy that is in full employment, that has never performed better, you should not be running a deficit,' he said. The impact of the housing crisis on workers was repeatedly highlighted on the first day of the conference, with Mary Fogarty of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation citing the example of one newly qualified nurse living in Dublin who is paying 77 per cent of her take-home salary on rent. READ MORE There is 'very little prospect of a significant improvement in the housing crisis in the next two years,' said Dr McDonnell. The Government's commitment to cut the VAT back to 9 per cent for the hospitality sector was criticised by a succession of speakers, some of whom pointed to the estimated €770 million cost being almost identical to the likely bill for a proposed second-tier child benefit payment. 'We could be using that money to end child poverty forever,' said Dr McDonnell, 'but we're not going to do that.' The country's largest union, Siptu , said ending 'the scourge' of low wages was key to addressing poverty among families, with the union backing a motion that called for a renewed emphasis on increases to the national minimum wage and proportionately bigger pay increases for the lowest paid employees of private sector firms. 'There is a misconception that low pay is confined to the sectors we would traditionally view to be low paid,' said the union's deputy general secretary, John King, 'but the reality is that two-thirds of low-paid workers work outside of the hospitality, contracting services and retail sectors'. He said manufacturing, transport, private healthcare and 'even the high-income sectors of finance and IT have tens of thousands of low-paid workers' and the Government's response had been to 'pander to the whims of low-paying employers'. The morning session of the conference ended early, meanwhile, after organisers were informed on Friday that Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill would not be attending. Organisers were under the impression Ms O'Neill had had to attend a meeting of the Northern Ireland Executive instead but there was some annoyance when it emerged that meeting had taken place on Monday.
