Student loans deal is ‘best of a bad list’ say parents

PARENTS have given cautious backing to plans for a student loans scheme to replace free college fees, describing it as the best of a bad list of options.

Rose Tully, spokeswoman for the National Parents Council-Post Primary (NPC-PP) said while the organisation has no specific policy on the issue, it will be discussed at a meeting later this month.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe is increasingly expected to recommend a system where the Government pays each student’s tuition costs up front and recoups most of the money in loan repayments after he or she begins earning a certain income. Such a prospect was boosted by weekend comments from Green Party Communications Minister Eamon Ryan, who said he could accept a system which did not mean students having to pay while attending college.