The Cassells report on third-level financing fails to paint the whole picture

The publication of the long-delayed and much leaked Cassells Report on third-level financing is both welcome and depressing.

It is welcome in that finally there is a clear and unambiguous analysis of the financial mess in which the sector finds itself.

It is depressing in that it took nanoseconds for the old habits of Irish policymaking, ideological biases and selective analyses, to emerge. It is also somewhat depressing that the underlying economic analysis of the sector is incomplete.