A student loan scheme would leave graduates with a mountain of debt and reverse progress in education, a student leader claimed yesterday.
The president of the Union of Students in Ireland, Mr Colm Jordan, told its annual conference the loan scheme was "seriously flawed". The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, is expected to face a stormy reception when he addresses the conference in Killarney later today.
Mr Dempsey's officials are completing a report on options for student funding. In recent weeks, attention has focused on the Australian-style student loan scheme, which is much admired in the Department of Education.
Mr Jordan said such a scheme would send education back 50 years. "Statistics show that one in three Australian women will still be in debt at the age of 65. About 15-25 per cent of people never finishing paying off their debt and many Australians actually leave the country to avoid paying off the debt."
The administrative cost of loans, including the costs arising from defaulting, also reduced the savings which were meant to be made in the first place.
By contrast, he said, a free fees system showed a commitment to higher education and a collective investment in skill. A loans system would send out a clear message to investors around the world at an already-perilous time for our economy.
USI research indicated that those with loan debts in Australia were less likely to buy houses, take out loans or have children because of the fear of further debt. "In addition to this, debt has been proven in the UK to have seriously deterred school leavers from furthering their education."
Mr Gareth Keogh, USI's education officer, said: "There needs to be a massive shift in thinking with regard to education. Every euro spent should be looked upon as an investment in our information economy and by extension our future as a country.
"A loans system would only feed the vicious circle of students taking on too much part-time work, studies suffering and students dropping out." It would, he said, act as a further disincentive to the parents and other children in the family.