College fees ‘should be paid by well-off parents’

PEOPLE who can afford to pay college fees should be made to do so, according to the head of the country’s Institutes of Technology.

Dr Mary Meaney believes the Government should reintroduce fees by changing the way of assessing family income and improved grants schemes for students.

She was appointed at the weekend as chairperson of the Council of Directors of the Institutes of Technology. The council, representing the heads of the 13 ITs, has no formal policy on college fees, which is being reviewed by Education Minister Noel Dempsey.