Govt Fees Row: Coalition Concerns

The faces on the Government benches in the Dáil were strikingly solemn today.

The reason was not merely the result of grim warnings about major economic uncertainty issued by the equally lugubrious Jack Chambers.

It stemmed from a ferocious few days for TDs having to respond to calls from worried parents and stressed students.

Minister for Higher Education James Lawless awkwardly revealed on RTÉ’s This Week last Sunday that student fees were, as things stand, going up by a whopping €1,000.

Chaos ensued and the language has since then been far less blunt from Government.

Indeed, the outline of a solution is probably well advanced at this stage, but political damage has been done.

This evening the Tánaiste urged parents and students to pay the fees in installments and see what unfolds in the Budget.

Simon Harris’s words are a strong hint that the final figure will be below €3,000 and this time it will be a permanent reduction coupled with a promise of further cuts in the years ahead.

The roots of this controversy lie in the decision not to have a cost-of-living package in the next Budget, that after all was the mechanism which kept the fees lower for the last three years.

But the poor handling of an issue that affects so many families does raise questions about the cohesiveness of the Government.

And that is important if the economic uncertainty that the Minister for Public Expenditure cited today leads to the coalition having to make some unpopular decisions soon.

Ministers would do well to acquaint themselves with the guiding principles on this subject as set down in the Programme for Government.

It states that a reasonable balance must be found between the different priorities of the Government parties, adding that “this requires food faith and there should be no public discussion of government policy until there is agreement”.

Words that Minister James Lawless will no doubt have etched on his mind next time he takes to the public stage.