Doubts over funding ‘hurting’ third-level students

The continued lack of a government decision on third-level funding and ongoing cuts to public investment will have a detrimental effect on graduates and on the economy, the chairman of a state body has warned.

The hard-hitting message from Higher Education Authority (HEA) chairman John Hennessy to Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan will increase pressure on her to act on recommendations of a near-complete review of how the system is funded.

In a letter accompanying the HEA’s 2014 annual report, he told her there is little prospect of any of those recommendations being implemented in time to prevent further serious damage to the higher education sector.