Labour restates opposition to return of third-level fees despite OECD call

The Labour Party has reaffirmed its opposition to third-level fees - despite the OECD call for their return.

Yesterday, the party's education spokesperson, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, said the decision by the Rainbow government to abolish fees in 1995 had helped to widen access.

The abolition of third-level fees has allowed "a substantial number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend universities and ITs; no case exists for their reintroduction", she said.

"Educational disadvantage will not be tackled simply by the return of the income pipeline the return of third-level fees would give to universities.

"Moreover it would, in fact, make third-level education less accessible to prospective students from low income backgrounds.

"When second-level fees were abolished in 1966, it took time for their effects to filter through and for staying on at second-level to become the norm.

"It is the same now with third-level fees, with the most recent ESRI statistics showing a significant increase in the number of students from poor backgrounds going to college."

She said Minister Dempsey's "significant climb down" on fees last year demonstrated the absence of logic and the lack of appetite for the reintroduction of fees within Government. Tuition fees should not be the scapegoat for whatever "funding crisis" exists in third-level, she said.

"If we are really going to open up access to third-level education, we need to bring those students from families where there is not a tradition of going onto college. Reintroducing fees closes more doors than it opens."

She added: "The education system must strive to create opportunities for all, and narrow the divisions that exist between social classes."