Madam, - The suggestion by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe that college fees should be brought back because taxpayers should not "fund the people who could well afford to pay" is truly asinine (The Irish Times, September 10th).
Firstly, to imply that taxpayers and rich people are separate groups is ridiculous. For example, somebody who is earning €250,000 per year, paying 41 per cent income tax on most of it, pays around 15 times more to the Government than somebody who earns €35,000 and pays 20 per cent in tax. This is the way it should be; but for a Government Minister to even subtly imply that taxpayers are funding the rich is simply unfair.
Secondly, I can't think of a better way for a government to spend tax income than on education. Education, at any level, is not a luxury from which only the rich benefit. I have yet to do my Leaving Cert, but I'm really happy to think that society will be paying for my college education, because by investing in education, we are investing in our future and for a knowledge economy in Ireland. - Yours, etc.
CIAN McCARTHY, Dublin 6.