Perennial debate reappears — this time more seriously

THE debate about third-level fees is one which ignites almost annually at this time of year — but the Government is giving the idea more serious thought than usual this time around.

Since the 2004 report on Irish higher education from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommended the reintroduction of tuition charges for undergraduates, government figures have firmly ruled out any return to the scenario abolished in the mid-1990s by the Fianna Fáil-Labour coalition.

However, previous Education Minister Mary Hanafin always qualified her remarks by saying if she had been in the portfolio at the time, ending fees was not a move she would have made.