FF: Higher education fees will be frozen at current level

Fianna Fáil will spend an additional €100 million per year and freeze higher education fees at their current levels should it be elected, while reducing primary teacher-student ratios to 20:1, the party said.

At its education policy launch at party HQ in Dublin, Fianna Fáil’s education spokesman Thomas Byrne said the plan was based on “not what we want to do or all that we would like to do, but on what we think we can do with the money that’s available”.

The party’s policy document further commits to tackling pay inequality for secondary school teachers, and the establishment of a new Department of Higher Education and Research with the goal of bolstering the rankings of Irish universities worldwide, which have been on the slide.

“The Government has been dismissive of those rankings, but they remain important,” he said.

One niche commitment would see the geography secondary school curriculum amended to focus on climate change.

Mr Byrne said that in power his party would commit to the full restoration of the post-graduate grant.

He argued that the additional €100 million mentioned represents a “step change” away from the status quo.

He argued that there is “something seriously wrong” with the demographic planning of the Department of Education, with some primary schools - he mentioned Dunshaughlin in Meath and Swords in north Dublin - being wholly undersubscribed with others battling unsustainable lists.

“We need to always plan five years ahead,” Mr Byrne’s colleague, and spokeswoman on equality, Fiona O’Loughlin said.

“People want politicians to do what they say they would do,” Mr Byrne said, adding that his party has shown its trustworthiness in “keeping to its commitments to coalition after the last election”.

Regarding the issue of one student in four in DEIS schools presenting as being homeless,

Read More:

He said that homelessness in education “has proven long term effects” on those afflicted.

“It would be a priority for us, one of the first things we would do is issue that circular. The issue was raised to deaf ears in Government,” he said.

“This is an issue that has been normalised over the past four years,” said Jack Chambers, Fianna Fáil’s communications spokesman.

In the future we’ll look back with shame on what has happened with homelessness under Fine Gael.

Meanwhile, Mr Byrne dismissed the idea of a grand coalition between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael post-election, something

Read More:

“Micheál Martin has said as much hundreds of times. We’re going into Government to get Fine Gael out, they’re out of touch,” he said.