Government must get its act together

WHEN the smoke clears in the row over college fees Education Minister Noel Dempsey is expected to shift his ground, abandon the controversial proposal to make the rich pay for third-level education and opt instead for a loan scheme under which students would learn now and pay later.

This scenario is extremely plausible because, despite the Taoiseach's support for his beleaguered minister, Mr Dempsey may yet be forced to defuse the bitter feud which threatens to undermine the once cosy coalition arrangement between the PDs and Fianna Fáil.

As the row rolled on in the Dáil yesterday there was a marked absence of PD ministers from the Government benches, a reflection of the party's opposition to the concept of middle-class supporters paying college fees.