Further increases to student fees or the introduction of a student loan scheme have been ruled out , the Irish Examiner can reveal.

A Government decision on how to boost funding for third level is unlikely for at least another year as an economic analysis of options put forward two years ago will not now begin until 2019.

The €600m funding shortage predicted in third-level colleges by 2021 could be even higher due to an unexpected rises in student numbers, universities have warned.

Decisions and action are needed before a stalemate on higher education funding leads to further impact on students, the author of a key 2016 report to Government has warned.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is living in “some Russian creation” or “Trumpland” if he believes his strategic communications unit (SCU) can buy the news without any consequences whatsoever.

Since entering power in 2011, Fine Gael has spent almost €800,000 on photographers in what has been dubbed a “Republic of photo opportunities”.

A leading Fianna Fáil TD has has objected to comments made by his party colleague that those behind Ireland’s failed Rugby World Cup bid “couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery”.

The Government is set to make a second bid to replace the TV licence fee with a new charge to include Netflix and other online sites after admitting the existing system is “broken”.

Funding for education budget documents contain more than their fair share of fine print. Buried deep in the announcements last week was the detail of a 0.1 percentage point change in employers PRSI contributions.

The chief executive of IDA Ireland has labelled the European Commission’s threat to take legal action if Ireland fails to resolve the Apple tax controversy as “unwarranted, unfounded and contradictory”.

The chief executive of IDA Ireland has labelled the European Commission's threat to take legal action if Ireland fails to resolve the Apple tax controversy as "unwarranted, unfounded and contradictory".

Education Minister Richard Bruton will be unable, in next week’s budget, to deliver any long-term outline of a third-level funding model.

After years of cuts, consultation, reports and deliberations, politics has done nothing to stem the third-level funding crisis, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray 

A defiant Transport Minister Shane Ross has said the decision to reopen Stepaside Garda Station in his constituency was not “stroke politics”.

HSE director general Tony O’Brien has denied that the caregiver of ‘Grace’ was unfairly or disproportionately treated, despite underfunding her care to the tune of €600,000.

Employers are to be given a greater say in the use of the National Training Fund (NTF) which the Government wants them to contribute more to, Education Minister Richard Bruton will announce today.

Employers and unions agree that ringfencing a portion of corporate tax or business profits could be a better way to bolster higher education funding than a government proposal to increase employers’ PRSI.

The money that could be raised for further and higher education from a proposed hike in employers’ contributions is €30m less than what two Government ministers have suggested.

Employers could see the amount they contribute to a national training fund almost double by 2020 in a Government plan to raise an extra €200m a year for third-level education.

Laws may have to be introduced to force graduates, who emigrate, to pay a minimum amount off any deferred fees, the authors of a report into possible new funding models for third-level education have said.

Nama has been accused by US investment firm Pimco of “repeatedly mischaracterising” its role in the controversial sale of its Northern Ireland loan book.

Six left-wing TDs are facing potential Leinster House disciplinary action after breaking strict political emblem rules by wearing pro-choice ‘Repeal’ jumpers in the Dáil chamber.

Education Minister Richard Bruton wants the Oireachtas Education Committee to urgently consider the question of how to find the €600m extra a year needed to fund third-level colleges.

The urgency of solving the gap in funding of colleges requires more immediate action than awaiting the political consensus sought by Education Minister Richard Bruton, third-level figures have said.

It was a second day of locked doors and sealed lips as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continued talks.

One of just eight constituencies to remain unchanged by the latest Constituency Commission, Meath West remains a three-seater.

A man explained to a judge he was late for court because his washing machine broke down.

Third-level colleges will have to cater for more than 45,000 additional students every year in just over a decade if current participation rates are maintained, experts have advised.

In the face of rising family, commercial, industrial relations and community disputes, international experts on the art of mediation will gather in Maynooth today to give advice on how best to find working solutions.

Galway Plate hero Shane Shortall continued in top form when registering a double on Cassells Rock and Point Of Rescue in Bellewstown last night but also incurred a two-day whip ban.

THE Central Bank has made the first appointments to its new Risk Advisers Panel – the vehicle announced earlier this year to assess risk management standards at the main banks.

THE independence of Cork Airport is unlikely to be realised any time soon despite strong arguments that it is vital for its survival.

Two senior industrial relations trouble-shooters are to head up an inquiry into last month’s crippling electricians’ strike, it was revealed today.

CORK Airport Authority (CAA) will officially discuss at the start of next week the €100 million bill it would face under the findings of the Cassells report on the break-up of Aer Rianta.

FORMER trade union boss Peter Cassells yesterday recommended that Dublin Airport make a contribution of €10 million to Cork for pensions and other funding requirements in the separation of the two airports.

Industrial relations troubleshooter Peter Cassells has presented his report on the long-running row over who will shoulder Cork Airport’s €220m debt.

Only €1m was last year spent on providing alternatives for young people to discourage drinking on the streets, it was revealed today.