Student fee hike and loan scheme ruled out

Further increases to student fees or the introduction of a student loan scheme have been ruled out , the Irish Examiner can reveal. In a “highly significant” development, the Government has rejected two of three recommendations contained in a 2016 report into how a gaping hole in third-level funding is to be filled.

The Government said that “it is not enthusiastic or inclined to go down the road” of increasing current fees or to introduce a system whereby students take out loans to fund their education. For the first time, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made his hostility to increased fees and student loans clear.